To Shave or Not to Shave

[Virginia]

Ok, Beauty, before you kick me off the forum, I promise to be more subtle next time, but I had to give some options, if someone asks why you ain't got no hair on your__________ (fill in the blank.)
Love ya and nite, nite girls,
Deborah

[Beauty]

lol..

You didn't do or say anthing wrong!

Beauty

[Geena]

I would say just do what is right for you. I`ve kept my legs shaven since I was 16, and no one has really ever noticed. If someone asks why I shave my legs, I ask them why they want to know. That usually diverts the conversation to something else . -swg-


Hugzzzzz,
Geena

[Jessie]

ALRIGHT Geena - Way to go gal. When I got back to work from my vaction and have had shved my beard off several people asked the same question. I believe I told them Just because. But you all know the real reason.

Jessie

[Jamie Ann]

  1. Ain't none of your business!
  2. Bite Me!
  3. It fell out because I have a highly communicable disease!
  4. I am an athelete and my sport ________ requires that I shave.
  5. I was born this way - what's your excuse for your stupidity?
  6. Thanks for noticing, must have been something I ate!
  7. I think it is something in the water around here.
  8. I have hair you just can't see it!
  9. My wife made me do it! She thinks its sexy!
10. I am a cross dresser so again - bite me!!!

     LOL!    Number 3 sounds particularly good. You could add, “It’s that damn Ebola virus that’s going around. It’s so-oo-o easy to catch ....”

     More seriously, some variant of #4 might work well for someone who could pass as a swimmer, bicyclist, power-lifter, or triathlete. Of course, numbers 1 and 10 are what we really should say, but I would be lying if I claimed that I do not worry about discrimination. For certain occupations, the general public still demands that people uphold a “straight and narrow” image. One of the things I like best about this forum (besides the fact that those who post here are persons I can learn from) is that it presents us well to the public. Look at some of the other sites, where discussions of fetishes, pedophilia, and pornography predominate.  What are the consequences of that? What does it encourage people to believe?  Would you want your young son or daughter to (say) attend a camp where the counselor was a known [pedophile|fetishist|pornographer|whatever]? Well, of course not!  Part of the reason we even have to ask the question of what someone would think about shaved legs is that some people associate us with scary perversions such as the ones I mentioned; and, as Penny T reminded us (please see her post in the “new members” area), people still do lose their jobs because of those negative beliefs. That is part of the reason I admire Shannon, Sharon (SO), and Beauty so much — this site is much, much closer to the truth about crossdressing than a lot of the sites out there. In the long run, we need to assure people that we are not a threat to their children or to any important social value.

     On a lighter note, I suppose we could add a #11 to Deborah’s list: “Thanks for the wonderful compliment, but my wife and I are monogamous.”

[Virginia]

Jamie Ann is right - those of us who have been lucky enought to find this site are really blessed; not only because of the control that is exerted by the moderators to keep the "trolls" at bay, but the gilrs here are just wonderful !!!!!!!!!
Love,
Deborah

[Bernice]

Well, ladies... you all have a lot more courage than I do. Shaving for me is strictly a wintertime luxury. It gets mighty hot in Kansas. And we have a lot of busybodies, not the least of which are managers and supervisors looking for any reason to fire someone. My boss is straight out of the 1930's, and feels - like Henry Ford did - that employees are literally the personal property of the company, and that there is no such thing as a personal life divorced from work. Most of them know with just one look that I am not a competition cyclist or swimmer.

Actually, if I may be a little disgusting - when the dewpoint gets above 70 degrees and you are dripping wet no matter what you do, hairy legs seem to me to be a little cooler than shaved legs - in the slightest breeze, I think due to the increased surface area for what little evaporation there may be.

For those who say nobody notices... I notice. Of course, I stay quiet about it, but I am very quick to notice, which is another big reason I just stay in the closet during the daylight hours of summertime.

A question: How far up your sideburns do you dare shave? I feel I have to leave at least a half inch, or I get the third degree (nosey ignorant questions). This really limits the wigs I can wear...

Hugs,

Bernice

[Virginia]

Bernice, Honey, you may get this reply from several of your sisters, or not. Anyway, not knowing how long you have been at your job, or the job market and I hate to wax philosophical on you, but briefly. Bernice is a part of you, you love her , cherish her and admit her to your "other" life, you have to begin weighing the affects that you current job has on her. If you can live with it - sorry, but "deal with it!" If you feel her "growth" is being stymied then you ask ourself, "how important is Bernice to me?" and if she is enough you look for other employment. I know you have thought about this, but life is too short to be unhappy, expecially with how you place sustenance on the table.
Love ya,
Deborah

[Julie M.]

This thread has resulted in some great responses, especially the rascally Deborah who'd rather throw ya than know ya (if you don't like her attire!). Way to go girl!

Since returning to OZ I have been happier than I have in a long time. It truly is a magical thing having Julie active in my life again. The hair thing has really been bothering me. It so limits what you can wear without looking like an amazon. It's bad enough to have contend with broad shoulders and big chest (relative to the look I want) but add to that hair and it gets downright depressing.

Since I am a swimmer it's pretty obvious when body hair vansihes. I don't socialize at the health club but I do see the same people a lot. The male side also kicks in when I see an attractive lady swimming and I just wnat to look attractive to her. Not that I'd ever do anything, it's just wanting to look nice. That's probably the femme part wanting that but since I'm en homme I guess I feel I should play the part.

So I have been debating the pros and cons. On the pro side I get to wear whatever I want and even show some cleavage . The women's clothing departments suddenly are less limiting. On the con side is the wife - she loves my body hair and then the pool thing. I could get over that simply by reminding myself the ladies there probably could care less if I had body hair or not. The wife however is another story.

Lately I have been trimming chest and underarm hair. Maybe if I do it slow enough, no one will notice!

Love,
Julie

[Carol Ann]

Hi Bernice, you ask how high up to cut sideburns. I for one have none as I keep my hair high and tight. Now I notice you wear glasses, so shave up to where your glasses are. I get a lot of ribbing about my legs but all in good fun because they are white not because they are shaved. At a church picnic I was told I needed to wear nylons so my legs would have some color . Carol Ann

[Lizzy B]

I guess I'm fortunate in that I'm very fair and have blondish hair which I have let grow a bit and is resting just below my neck line...I do a lot of running, bike riding and swimming and though my leg/arm hair is blond and usually not noticeable, I keep them shaved most of the time which especially helps in swimming. No one has ever said anything to me at all about it and I'd probably ignore it or just say I do it for sports if it came up.

[Karen Marie]

i see that some of we girls are still nervous and aprehensive about
certain aspects of our femininity.it's understandable .if you feel nervous
about it,wait awhile.my hair is rather long and i have no sideburns.i've
never seen a problem with it.my wife and i do a lot of bike riding and
walks in the park.my legs are always shaved smooth.when the weather
is warm i almost always wear shorts on our shopping trips.for myself,
it really keeps me in touch with my femme self to have smooth legs and
show them.i've had some looks before,but not any problems.take your
time to work through your aprehension.as some of the girls have said,its
being able to blend the two sides of you into one.
bunches of hugs,karen.

[Bernice]

Deborah:
Thanks always for your advice. Unfortunately, at my age (50) and with my skillset, the job market is non-existent. I've been in the same job 16 years, 8 for the current employer. I've been looking for a new job for about three years. We do what we have to do - to survive. Not always to enjoy life.

Switching topics slightly:
As for wearing glasses, this actually started because I thought they gave my face a more feminine look. Who in their right mind would wear glasses like that if they (a) were not a GG, and (B) didn't need to wear them? Perhaps only me. (Oops, my secret is out now).

Oddly enough, as the magic age 40 rolled around, and Presbyopia appeared right on schedule, my eyes began to need them for up close anyway, so it worked well for me. I just got lucky, just with like my natural men's shoe size 12.5AA, which gives me real comfortable options for heels. Shoot, I even have a treasured comfortable (in nylons) pair of classic leather Sebago pennyloafers, in 12AAA.

Hugs,

Bernice

[Caroline]

My husband shaves during the cold months, shaves everything. In the summer he lets the leg hair grow back so he can wear shorts, swim without drawing attention. By October he will be shaving again. He is jeleous that I can shave all year round. He says summer is no fun. I told him if you want to shave then shave, just have a reason ready when people ask (friends and family). He does keep it trimmed to a pretty flat state.
Honey

Hi Honey,

The perfect excuse for your husband shaving his legs in summer is for him to claim he's a racing cyclist, you know, like Lance Armstrong.

You don't need to be a professional cyclist to do it, as amateurs at every level do it to. This excuse will work even if he's not in the first flush of youth, because here in UK we have a class of racers known as 'Vets', i.e. fat old guys like me who still ride a bike occasionally, and I'm sure they exist in the US too. Many cyclist also swim, because it's great complementary training for riding a bike, so people at the pool will think nothing of it.

Regards,

Caroline.

[Cami]

Funny I just found this Post. My Wife & I were just talking about this a few minutes ago. My activities take me outside during the summer and I can't avoid wearing shorts. So for the summer months I stop shaving my legs. As for other places, well my Wife just said she liked my chest shaved so I think I will keep it that way for a bit just for her .