The Edge 268_The Edge 172.qxd 18/01/2019 10:19 Page 9
The Edge only asks - and the question is open to both ladies and gents, naturally - is because (apparently) women were being encouraged to go ‘au naturel’ last month, in a charity drive called ‘Januhairy’. Partially on the grounds of learning to accept themselves, or so it seems. But that’s total codswallop, right? I mean, surely a lady ‘accepts herself’ whether she chooses to sport an armpit beard, or she doesn’t? So long as she smells okay, The Edge can’t see what difference a bit of plumage makes one way or the other. Only a student called Laura Jackson has been touting for women to have a month off and cease shaving their body parts in a project directly inspired by ‘Movember’ (which encourages men to grow moustaches in November to help publicise men’s health issues - although really blokes will generally grab any opportunity to look like a bit of a twat for a laugh). Miss Jackson reckons she had a “great response” (really?) from women all over the world who signed up to take part by letting their hair grow under their arms, legs and bikini line (the latter being far better known as ‘the lesser seen pubic bush’), particularly these days, or so it seems. The third year drama student at Exexter University came up with the idea after growing out her own body hair for a stage performance. “This isn’t an angry campaign for people who don’t see just how normal body hair is,” she said. “It’s simply an empowering project.” Call The Edge a bit of a dumb northern bloke, if you like, but what’s empowering about growing your armpit hair, or allowing your pubic mound to sprout, ladies? Surely it’s simply a matter of choice. Like, it’s my particular choice to shave my head, as being bald on top, I’d look like Coco the clown if I let my hair grow like ‘hedges’ above my ears and at the back, right? And where armpit hair is concerned, sure, I trim mine, as sometimes it gets too long and it’s not as if it’s curly and lustrous any more. In fact, it looks like it’s been bloody electrocuted. Chest hair I tend to leave, but my wife does slap some of that Veet stuff on my shoulders and gills (the back of one’s ribcage) from time to time, before rubbing it off (and all the hair) with a pan scourer, as when she used her hot wax treatment on me once, I honestly almost screamed the house down (how on earth so you do that to yourselves, ladies?). And when it comes to a bloke’s forest above his hinge-end, well, some of us want to look as big (or as young) as we possibly can, so we trim/shave it, whilst others prefer the caveman look. It’s simply whatever floats your boat, surely. Personally speaking though, if I saw a lady raise her arm in a ballgown at a right posh doo and reveal a fair old bit of sproutage, I’d be over as fast as my legs could carry me to see whether I could buy her a drink. I simply think men are curious about women who are seen to be breaking the rules, but I honestly haven’t a clue how women see such matters.
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