Are human ethics learned or rational? Do we have a right to be happy, or should we earn it? Are hairy legs “empowering” for a woman – or just hairy? Many of us will die without knowing the answers to these existential questions. But actress Claire Foy has, at least, come to a conclusion on the leg hair dilemma.
For her latest role in Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, the 38-year-old Crown star plays a woman in an isolated Bolivian Mennonite colony. This meant “no hair and make-up at all” and “polyester dresses” throughout filming. She and her co-stars, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand and Judith Ivey, were also urged not to shave their legs.
“I thought not worrying about shaving would be a real moment of empowerment but actually it was horrible,” Foy told Graham Norton on Saturday night, “and reminded me of puberty.”
It was an off-the-cuff, jokey comment, but I’m always surprised that any female grooming act should still come with so much baggage. Or that any lack of grooming should be considered a statement of defiance. After all, we’ve surely moved on from the fat, hairy feminist trope?
It was almost a quarter of a century ago that Julia Roberts sparked “a widespread conversation” after turning up to the Notting Hill premiere with hairy armpits. It turned out she didn’t give a fuzz.
How little ingrained perceptions seem to change, no matter how loud the “conversation.” Just the other day I listened to two friends in the pub argue over whether dyeing hair makes a woman a “bad feminist”. Cosmetic surgery prompts the same disagreements, because the basic point of contention is the same: should women be prettying themselves for men? (The answer to this, you understand, is always a resounding no). Then: is it OK if it’s just for you, and not conforming to patriarchal expectations, blah, blah…?
Personally, I’m a little bored of that argument. I’d rather shake things up a bit and ask why it’s not OK to want to look pretty for men? Whatever your perception of pretty involves. Not be forced to or expected to, but actively want to, as a woman.
The problem there is that a certain demographic will always be ready to assure you that this too is down to unconscious patriarchal bullying. You can’t possibly actually want to look attractive for men. Please them. So it may be easier to call the whole leg hair question off, and move on to something less complex like: what is human purpose?
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbHLnp6rmaCde6S7ja6iaJufocKuusisq6xnYmV%2FdHuPa2ZpaV%2BptbO71qKloGWRrK66edGasaiqXZ7Ar8CMn5ymoZ6ewLV5wJyrZpyVm7aiusKeZKytopq5unnMqK2enF8%3D