I don’t think there’s any way I can write this without sounding slightly sexist, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway for discussion. It’s probably more of a cultural issue, come to think of it, but let me pose a query: do you think women should shave their legs? It’s an open-ended one, for sure, and one’s answer will probably take on shades of culture, femininity, pride, sexual politics and even religion, depending on who answers. Be that as it may – the culture I grew up in was one where a woman with hairy legs was gross. Right or wrong, that’s just the way western culture works. But as any expat can handily remind you, when you live overseas you ain’t in western culture, so get with the program or leave. But the other day I happened to sit down next to a lovely young Thai girl in Paragon shopping mall, who was all kinds of pretty, until I noticed her legs, which were about as hairy as mine were when I was 16. So right or wrong, I snapped a picture.

I’m not saying that all women have to shave their legs, or should be expected to follow western models of hygiene, or should do anything other than what makes them feel comfortable. However, I will say that the general consensus is that women with hairy legs are not very sexy – otherwise there would be no need for these nylons which are currently hot in China, and supposedly prevent men from physically assaulting women.

"Hey baby, want to come back to my...ARGH!"

“Hey baby, want to come back to my…ARGH!”

Anyway, a quick bit of Googling will turn up this article from The Straight Dope which says that, essentially, leg and armpit hair removal for women never used to be a thing until the early 1900’s, when it became socially acceptable to bare a bit more skin, and companies sensed an opportunity to sell razors, soaps, creams, and whatever other beauty products they could peddle.

Now I’m not some nutcase who runs around taking  pictures of strangers and I realize it’s not cool to take secret pictures of people, but there’s no identifying information in this picture, so it’s probably okay. I thought it was interesting that such a pretty girl – she was probably about 20 or 22 – would dress to the nines like she did but go around with some pretty hairy legs. It’s a bit hard to see, but she was definitely rocking some fuzzy gams:

I can't think of anything pithy to say, so I shall say nothing.

I can’t think of anything pithy to say, so I shall say nothing.

I’ve asked this question to Thai friends before, and the most common answer is that women with hairy legs don’t like it, but they leave it alone because once you shave or wax your legs, the hair grows back thicker. Okay, I believe that – but if you have hairy legs and don’t want hairy legs, shouldn’t you shave or wax anyway?

I’m not judging – I just found it strange that she would spend so much time on grooming when it came to hair, makeup, fake eyelashes and wardrobe, but not bother with legs. But tell me – am I wrong? Am I missing something? Is this a new trend? Is it a female empowerment thing? Weigh in below.