32: To Shave or Not to Shave? That’s the Hairy Question

ROSIE: [00:00:00] Gosh. Oh, I don't know if I want to talk to you about this.

ROSIE: Oh, what is it, Rosie? Well, I guess I said that now we have to talk about it because I know we're both very opinionated and we talk too much. So before I ask the question, we have to keep an eye on the time. Okay. What's the question? But do you agree? We keep an eye on the time. No, I have to. Yeah, of course.

ROSIE: I mean, this is nature in our podcast. Okay. Okay. And this was an idea you put down in our notes, I think, or maybe it was me. I forget. Body hair.

ROSIE: I like that. You've got a very cheeky, flirty smile on your face. 

Roula: Body hair. Okay, shoot. What, what do you, why, why do you want to talk about body hair? 

ROSIE: Because everybody has an opinion on this. And [00:01:00] I think recently there's been a shift in social opinion for some people. It's becoming more socially acceptable.

ROSIE: In some circles, not for the majority, for women to have leg hair or armpit hair or pubic hair or facial hair. But there has always been judgment around that from me also, right? I think probably from you too. So what are your thoughts on body hair, especially for women? I'm talking about women in particular.

ROSIE: I don't like it. Yeah, I knew you'd say that. Yeah. 

Hmm. 

Roula: I did try to let my armpit hair grow as, as a rebellious feeling. Okay. Experiment. Yeah. And then I'm like, yeah, I don't like it. 

ROSIE: Yeah. I don't like the feeling of having [00:02:00] hairy armpits or hairy legs. But I fucking hate that it grows back and then I have to shave it and yes, it's my choice that I shave it But oh my god, it's annoying.

ROSIE: Oh my god I mean if you don't like to wash your hair, 

Roula: let alone you have to shave your body and you're tall so you have long legs It 

ROSIE: really does it's this whole frickin thing and my mum was Greek so, you know, just put two and two together I've got thick coarse hair and it's it's just Annoying is very, this is also 

Roula: cultural.

Roula: I mean, your mom is a Greek, Greek and Lebanese teach us to wax our legs hair from the moment we have our period 10 years, 11 years. Yeah. That was same for me. Yeah. It's, it's paired. So you have your period and you start. Waxing. No one shaves. Everybody waxes. I don't because it hurts like [00:03:00] hell. Um, I used to 

ROSIE: wax.

Roula: It's, it's cultural and we do have dark hair. So if I let my hair grow, you won't see my skin. You would just hurry dark hair. Is this something I want? No. Is it? No. Yeah. 

ROSIE: Yeah. 

Roula: And then I came to the Netherlands, everybody is blonde. You don't see their hair, 

ROSIE: but yeah. Yeah. I've always felt self conscious about it.

ROSIE: Like as a teenager. You could just tell I was hair, like on my arms, for example, I don't wax my arms or, or remove the hair because I find it too difficult to maintain. So I leave my arm hair there and it's fair hair, right? Oh, good. I'm glad not that I was asking if it was bothering you. Thank you very much.

ROSIE: But it is noticeable, right? It's fair, but it's noticeable. I have. [00:04:00] Lots of arm hair. And I used to be self conscious about that. And every now and then I am now, and I have removed it before. Oh my God, I feel so sexy. Like the smoothest arms and they just look amazing without hair on it. But I don't maintain it.

ROSIE: Cause I'm like, I just can't be bothered. It's a couple of days and it's already growing back. Even if like it's been waxed or you use the hair removal cream or whatever. I'm just like, I can not be bothered. to do this. Another contrast, big contrast 

Roula: between us. You don't like to wash your hair and you don't bother to shave your arms.

Roula: I wash my hair every day and I shave my body every day. It's my shower routine in the morning. Oh my 

ROSIE: God. Oh my God. Oh, wow. Wow. Since I was, I don't know, 14 or 

Roula: 15 years old. And I say to my daughter, If I get sick in bed, [00:05:00] you have to make sure you take care of my hair, of the hair on my body. Oh, 

ROSIE: bless. I mean, when mum was sick, I would shave her legs for her when she was sick in the bed.

ROSIE: Like, I think, I think that's kind of nice. Yeah. 

Roula: You know, you mentioned for, for women, um, if, if there is like an open kitchen and there are cooks, male cooks with a lot of hairy arms. I find this, um, not hygienic because hair in the arms can also go in the food. Yeah, that's true. Um, well, mostly they wear long sleeves if they're like proper cooks.

Roula: Um, there are also the places where you order a pizza or sushi or whatever. They just with tank top, they're making the, the food or the shawarma. And then I see their hair, the, their hair on their body. Um, and I find it a little bit, Oh, I don't want this, but this also brings me, brings [00:06:00] me why I liked my, well, my ex, he was hairy, but he had beautiful red hair.

Roula: It was like, gold, incredibly beautiful. Yeah. And my, my husband now, he doesn't have a hair on his chest. And that's what attracted me to him in the first place. Yes. He was very, we're dancing actually. And he was wearing an overhand. shirt open, the buttons were open and like my eyes popped up out of my face, like, no hole in chest.

Roula: I love it. Freaking hell. 

ROSIE: Oh yeah. Visually. I think I, I like the look of no hair, like, but that's so funny. We are so different, right? When, sorry, give me a [00:07:00] second. Tele, enough. Get in your crate, in your crate, please. Disciplining my dog. What's your dog doing? Just, I don't know what she's doing. Making a racket.

ROSIE: I don't know if you could hear it. No, but this is how I discipline my kids. Get in your crate. I think I need to report you to child safety. Oh my God. No. We're sitting here for minutes. Yes, right. We better get to the topic that everybody is like, come on, we're circling around the topic. Pubic hair. 

Roula: Yes. You start.

ROSIE: Oh, for fuck's sake. I guess I did bring up this topic, didn't I? Right. I think, oh my god, it's personal preference, right? And I don't think there should be pressure to go one way or the other. I have done both. Like, all natural, Brazilian, nothing there, in between, like, [00:08:00] whatever. And I think a lot of women have probably tried all sorts of different things.

ROSIE: But there seems to be this underlying belief, men and women, that it's unhygienic and it's unhygienic. to have pubic hair and that is disgusting. 

Roula: This is so wrong. Pubic hair is there for a reason to protect from germs, from bacterial infections. So pubic hair is healthy. Having a bush, it's not necessary.

Roula: You don't need it. You don't need it like all over. 

ROSIE: However, let me just say, exactly, unless you like it, if you 

Roula: like the 70s style, you like it. Um, I have no idea how it was in the 40s and 50s. Um, you know, I don't know, like, I think in the year 2000s, it was more Brazilian. And then, uh, I don't know, I don't know what I'm talking about anyway.

Roula: Pubic hair is healthy. Yeah. It's there for a [00:09:00] reason. So having some pubic hair, it's protect us. 

ROSIE: Right. It's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing. 

Roula: No. 

ROSIE: What about people who choose to have, to get rid of it all, wax it, laser it, shave it, whatever they're doing? 

Roula: If this is their preference, it's fine. I mean, I'm not here to, to give them an advice on that.

Roula: I can't advise. You know, my unsolicited advice is more on 

communication. 

Roula: But not on, on this, on this. Not on pubic hair? You're not comfortable 

ROSIE: giving advice? 

Roula: No. No! No, I'm well. I'm actually curious to know if people with blonde hair has also blonde pubic hair, because I've never seen it in real life. 

ROSIE: No.

ROSIE: It's dark. No, I 

Roula: don't. 

ROSIE: Mine is, yeah. People say to the But you have Greek blood. I do, but I have blonde hair. Yet I have black eyebrows. This is, I don't know what I'm talking about. And black pubic hair. And I've had people ask me, oh, do you dye your hair? Because I've got dark [00:10:00] eyebrows and fair hair. And they saw your pubic hair and 

they 

Roula: were like, are you fake blonde?

ROSIE: No, I've never had that happen. That would be interesting. Um, but I think for a lot of people, it does match, right? You have to avoid these questions. Oh my God. There's a saying here. Tell me if there is over there too. Um, what do people say? The, do the curtains match the Or do the drapes match the carpet or something like that?

ROSIE: Yeah, yeah, we do have it. 

Roula: I don't know when to use it. Just No! I remember hearing it, but I don't know in which context it's used. 

ROSIE: Yeah. Yeah. Do pubes go grey, Roula? Oh yeah, they do. 

Roula: I can assure you. No! Not as grey as the hair. Yeah. Oh, that's fascinating. I mean, just like the facial hair, it also goes grey.

Roula: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

ROSIE: Yeah. 

Roula: For men and for women. 

ROSIE: Yeah. [00:11:00] Yeah. Fascinating. Gosh. Well, any, any other, I feel like I've been asking all the questions and doing most of the talking here. So over to you. For once, 

Roula: I 

ROSIE: love that. 

Roula: It's actually, before we started recording, I went into the setting of the video and there's an option where you can add mustache and beard.

Roula: And I was playing with it.

ROSIE: I think I'd look quite attractive with like just a little bit of stubble, like a, you know, two o'clock shadow. I reckon I could grow facial hair if I was a guy. Um, yeah, I reckon I could, Hey, I wasn't looking ruler has, uh, is it a goatee? Oh, it makes you look like you have a really fat upper lip. I'm not sure.

ROSIE: I like that. Ooh, yeah, that one's okay. How are you doing that? 

Roula: Uh, well, there are some effects in zoom. Where? Where are you going? [00:12:00] No, no, I'm not going to tell you this because it's going to take time. We already recorded our time for now. People, if you're watching us, let me know what you think. Go watch on 

ROSIE: YouTube.

ROSIE: Yes. Roula has a very sexy, she's got very sexy facial hair right now. I think it's pretty cool. I just, I cannot make it dark. Oh, now it's darker. Oh, it's darker. I don't like the mustache. It's got it in the wrong. I don't like that. 

Roula: They don't have an option without the 

ROSIE: mustache. Oh. 

Roula: Oh, oh, 

ROSIE: uh, 

Roula: uh, uh, uh, uh, I like this one.

ROSIE: That 

Roula: one's good. All right, everybody, thank you for listening, for watching. Take care of your, of your hair, whatever it is. I wanted to say take care of your pubic hair. Oh yes, you should. And remember, hair is there for a reason, and uh, 

ROSIE: bye! Bye, but it's your choice, 

Roula: okay? It's your choice, yeah, yeah. No advice on this [00:13:00] one.