As we grow up, we often find ourselves asking questions about why things in our society are the way they are.
And when the answers don’t satisfy us, it isn’t long before we start to think that just because the world works a certain way, that doesn’t mean it needs to. For an increasing number of women out there, one piece of conventional wisdom that’s seeming more outdated every day is the expectation that they should regularly shave their body hair.
Not only is the fact that this expectation cropped up to capitalize on a marketing opportunity less than compelling, but there aren’t many convincing arguments for why women should be ashamed of their body hair. And that goes double when you consider that this expectation doesn’t often apply to men .
As a result, we can see that a growing social movement exists around encouraging women to let their hair grow.
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And as one short but dramatic series of TikToks illustrates, it’s not hard for circumstances to align in such a way that women who aren’t even looking to join that movement end up demonstrating why it exists.
Be advised that a video featured in this article contains explicit language.
On January 13, a woman who goes by @bonedrymilkers on TikTok uploaded a video that began with her sending her boyfriend a picture of her hairy legs.
As she would later explain, she did this because she thought it was funny how much hair had grown on them since Christmas and that it would be a mildly weird thing to show him.
In response, he told her that she should shave them because it’s “kinda gross.”
And while she kept up something of a jovial tone and said she would shave soon, it was clear that this was a stronger reaction than she expected. So she said there was nothing so serious about embracing her “winter coat.”
But as we can see in the full video here, her mood soured entirely when he said, “No you should be embarrassed it’s really just unhygienic for a female.”
But while he didn’t share any colorful theories about why leg hair is somehow more hygienic for a man, the real heart of the matter seemed to be that it was a turn-off for him.
And when she expressed her shock, he went on to ask why she’s “like this” and to talk to him when she shaves.
The way this conversation spiralled downward compelled her to post this video, but his side of it also prompted concern from her followers — who saw his behavior as a red flag.
This led her to post a follow-up in which she and her boyfriend discussed the matter further and she told him why she didn’t like his reaction.
And as we can see, she mentioned that she posted their texts on TikTok. And while he was shocked that she did this, he seemed just as surprised that people agreed with her and said he didn’t want her legs to have the same feel as his.
After some further discussion about their relationship that you can soon see in the full follow-up, the boyfriend ended up asking, “You sent me a random picture of your leg hair, and I’m the bad guy for saying no thanks?”
But as she would explain in turn, the problem wasn’t that he had preferences, but that “no thanks” hardly described how he was speaking to her.
This led him to ask whether he’s allowed to share his opinion with his girlfriend, which then led to a phone call the woman described as “anticlimactic.”
But as we can see by the video’s end, it ended with the couple breaking up, which many of her commenters had advised after the first video.