Mythbusting Mondays: The Hairy, Bra-less Feminist

Myth: Feminists don’t shave and burn bras.

If you’re like a lot of people, the description above isn’t just a stereotype: it’s the truth. All feminists are lesbians. All feminists hate men. All feminists hate children. The list goes on and on.

I’m here to help debunk this myth with the help of history and YouTube. Let’s begin.

The myth of the hairy-legged feminist started in the 1960s with the onset of the Second Wave movement. Some women who were trying to gain equal footing with men began rejecting cultural femininity, which included wearing dresses, using makeup, and yes, shaving. This rejection of beauty standards was a rejection of the patriarchal standards that had been established as a means of forcing women to conform to what men thought was “beautiful”.

So yes, there is some truth in this myth, but let’s debunk it now. By the 1980s, feminism experienced a cultural rejuvenation with the Third Wave movement, which embraced contradictory ideologies and told women that yes, you can still be a feminist and shave your legs. You can be a feminist and wear a dress. The importance of your body hair and dress is secondary to your system of beliefs. The Third Wave emphasizes that there is no singular definition of what it means to be a feminists, and instead encourages us to define feminism according to what we find important. So, if you’re like me and most of the women I know, you can still be a feminist and shave your legs. Or don’t: the choice is yours.

Now let’s tackle the bra-burning phenomena. In 1968, feminists activists held a protest outside of the Miss America pageant in Atlanta, where they threw bras into a trashcan in a demonstration against chauvinistic beauty standards. No fires were set, no bras were burnt in the making of this protest. Bra-burning never happened. Myth: busted.

I will now leave you with a video that demonstrates the amazing ability to be both yourself and a feminist. It’s also posted below by former writer Freida Frye, but the message is one worth repeating. Please to enjoy.