We All Conform Sometimes

I want to highlight a comment left on yesterday’s post about shaving:

Anonymous said...
I don't agree with you in general on the whole shaving issue but, given that your stance is what it is, why shave even if you are going swimming? If you truly believe that women should not shave their body hair, why comform just because some of that hair will be visible? Why not stick by your guns and go the way God made you? If this is going to be your crusade, you need to take some risks. Otherwise, you lose some of your right to criticize others (something you obviously very much enjoy doing).
That is a very good point, and usually I don't bother and I wear board shorts (which are really short) and hope for the best. In the future, I will wear trunks, which I am excited about.  In this case, I feel that my in-laws paid for me to go on this trip and they are the type of people who would be somewhat mortified if didn't achieve some modicum of social acceptability and people stared at us.  (I don't mean that they are bad people, I just think they’d be uncomfortable.  Unlike my parents, who at this point are more or less resigned to the fact that they’re daughter is a freak and will generally do semi-socially unacceptable things, the in-laws are still getting used to it.  Although they also have come a long way in accepting that I am just not going to conform to social norms, especially for people from Long Island, so I am not complaining about them, nor do I think they judge me harshly.  I just figure I can try a little bit in this case.)  

Plus, I personally have interest in walking around with pubes hanging out for all to see.  I may not believe that people should shave their crotches (and that goes for men and women), but I don’t need to see it either.  Men have great ways of hiding it (trunks) immediately available to them (although I wonder what men who wear Speedos do about the situations), but women are left with only revealing options.  (Meaning: have you seen any bathing suits since the 1940s that cover the thighs?  If so, let me know where I can get one, as I also hate having my giant stretch mark covered fat thighs exposed to the world.)

While I believe that this has come through clearly in my writing, I also want to point out that I may be quite critical of other people, but frankly, I am even more critical of myself.  When I set the bar high for others, I expect myself to meet that standard and also exceed it.  I certainly acknowledge that I am as flawed as any one else, and sometimes more so.