I think it's a matter of context, Laga-- when you meet someone you instinctively find attractive then later on, you find yourself going "buzzah?" and trying to figure out the why of it.

If I had to define a type for myself I'd say tall, lean, dark hair, light eyes.

The Hub has dark hair. Everything else... NSM. *g* Short, stocky, dark eyes. And yesterday, at that Dear Author thing I was featured at, there was a link to a picture that included him and someone mentioned how hot he was. He was blushing like a FIEND when I told him, then looked quizzical and said, "Well, there's no accounting for some people's taste."

After which I slapped him.

And then when I read discussions like this, I wonder -- just how much goddamn hair does the average unshaven cooter have? Because I never shave my bits, and yet the hair is pretty limited

Hah! Possibly because you're blonde, dear. Often blondes have less body hair in general. As someone who has, ahem, seen, several...yes, most have more than that. And some of us are on the hairier end of the spectrum, and what with society being on the "ew hair, gross" kick right now....

and what with society being on the "ew hair, gross" kick right now....

Yeah, well society in general needs a sound kick in the ass.

Sounds like a course for Buffista Academy: Kicking Society's Ass for Fun and Profit.

Was that Killer Joe, Sophia?

Yes! I forgot you know the playwright! It is a really great play, although I feel the director was maybe trying a bit too hard to a) relate it to Greek tragedies and the house of Atreus and b) be edgy, since he didn't have the actors play there own parts until the end of the process.

Sounds like a course for Buffista Academy: Kicking Society's Ass for Fun and Profit.

It would fill up quickly, I'm sure.

Am I the only one totally amused by the thought that the school's initials also stand for Bad Ass?

Hah! Possibly because you're blonde, dear. Often blondes have less body hair in general.

Heh. This is both true and not true for me. I am blonde and fine-haired above the waist. Except for my eyebrows, which give a clue about below. Ironically, my best friend growing up was a brunette of partially Japanese descent, and she used to taunt me with her total lack of a need to shave. It's really not an option for me.

I find this conversation deeply unsettling since I have a bikini/upper thigh wax scheduled for tomorrow (and they just called to confirm the appointment as I was typing this). I used to get it done all of the time, but the money got to be too much. Since we're going to be in the tropics and I'm likely to be in a bathing suit a lot next week, though, I thought perhaps it was time. The regrowth on those two areas is much worse for me when I shave than when I wax, so I'm looking forward to the result. Not looking forward to the pain. The upper thigh is fine, but the bikini area is owey. However, I've been referred to this woman in Burbank who supposedly gives the best and least painful Brazilians in LA (she's won awards and shit), so I figure a mere bikini should be easy for her. FTR, I have had Brazilians, and though I like the result, I find the pain nearly unbearable. So, yeah, nsm.

Right? I know I should be chagrined for (over)sharing all that, but the shaved-cooter phenomenon is a topic I can never shy away from ranting about discussing.

It's a huge thing in erotic romance right now, Tep-- it'll often constitute this whole scene where the hero cajoles the heroine into shaving or waxing--ostensibly because it'll feel better for her when they're doing the deed.

Seriously, how on EARTH can a little bit of hair make sex feel NOT good? I can accept a lot of things in fiction (if not in real life), but you have to make me believe it. And I most emphatically do not believe that a woman's pubic hair makes sex feel less good than it could. Feh.

But it also often incorporates a voyeuristic or control aspect, especially when the novels have a D/s aspect and the hero orders her to keep herself shaved for him.

The kinky people of my acquaintance are all far more exhibitionistic than I am* (which is to say, I'd wear a ski suit if I could; I don't need strangers seeing me without clothes, and I *never* take off my underpants at a play party ever ever EVER) (and I'd really be okay if other kinky people would wear more clothes than they do, but that is, admittedly, All My Issues). Er, anyway, every woman I've seen w/o undies is totally shaved, and all I can think is, I get kink, I get d/s stuff, but -- do you all have to *conform* to some sexist issue? Can't your power exchangey stuff be unique? Make her wear a propeller beanie or something!

No one ever goes for it.

*(The Boy is also rather an exhibitionist, and the first day we were at the beach -- with his entire family -- he told me that he almost just took his wet swim trunks off while he was on the back porch, out of habit.) (He didn't actually do it, which I think ultimately enhanced the vacation by removing that potential awkwardness that can arise when your son/brother/uncle gets naked on the porch.)

Hah! Possibly because you're blonde, dear. Often blondes have less body hair in general. As someone who has, ahem, seen, several...yes, most have more than that. And some of us are on the hairier end of the spectrum, and what with society being on the "ew hair, gross" kick right now....

Yeah.

I hadn't realize until, I dunno, college maybe, how little hair a lot of women have, not just in the cooter region, but on their legs. I hate to shave (takes forever), so I epilate the lower legs and only do anything to the uppers if I'm going to be swimming, which is rare. All my hair is thick and curly, except for the hair on the top of my head, which is thick and only slightly wavy. (Seriously: even my eyebrows are curly. And yet? I didn't get the curly hair, my sister did. Yet her eyebrows are straight, and I suspect she could have gotten away with never shaving. Me, on the other hand, I swear, I got all the fucking body hair my brother was supposed to get.)

Seriously, how on EARTH can a little bit of hair make sex feel NOT good? I can accept a lot of things in fiction (if not in real life), but you have to make me believe it. And I most emphatically do not believe that a woman's pubic hair makes sex feel less good than it could. Feh.

Dude. Trust me. It can. Too much can get in the way in ways that are NOT comfortable. But you don't need to shave it all off to fix THAT.

Me, on the other hand, I swear, I got all the fucking body hair my brother was supposed to get.)

Both of my kids are hairy, although Nate's fair and Abby's dark.

But what really got me was some second grader telling MY daughter that if she didn't do something about her brows, she was going to wind up with a unibrow.

When Abby told me that, it was all I could do not to turn the car around and go after the little twit, but it's probably bad to go postal on a seven year-old.