That said, I do tend to like my legs shaved. Part of it’s the same reason you mentioned: they feel _so_ good texture-wise (I’m a nut for textures too). Part of it is the hair on my legs is thick and dark and not soft, even when it grows out. I have PCOS, so I’m a bit hairier than the norm. *grins sheepishly* I shave my armpits for the same reason. The hair isn’t soft or pleasant to my own touch.

As for pubic hair, I don’t like the way I look shaved (though I do it occasionally, again for the interesting feel of it). I do tend to trim, though. The whole ‘landscaping’ thing, while it can be very pretty for others, doesn’t work on me. ;)

I actually go a step further and shave my arms; I tend towards very thick and dark hair on my arms (very like a guy). One day for a lark I shaved it off, and realized I liked the way it looked and (more importantly!) the way it felt. I’ve been doing it since.

That said, excellent and very interesting post.

I’ve never associated my body hair with gender expression, though I was always aware that I was supposed to shave certain parts of my body because I was a girl. Shaving never made me feel more feminine, and eventually deciding not to shave certainly has not made me feel more butch. Shaving always just seemed like such a pointless chore — the hair would just grow back again, so why bother? I did it all the same, grudgingly, all through my teens, because I was sure that *not* shaving would mark me as unattractive or disgusting, that boys wouldn’t be interested in me, that my friends and family would be embarrassed by me. Then, somehow, I got over it, and threw my razor away. Now I hardly think about it at all.