Episode 2 | Body Image WTF?! | Girl on Girl

[@pretty.odd.]

Update. Excellent episode. I constantly struggle with the whole "am i doing this for me, or because I've been told i should". Sometimes it's both. I shave my legs because I honestly like the way it feels/makes me feel but also because I don't want people to stare at me if my legs get prickly. It's complicated growing as a feminist.

[@HelenaCheryl]

+thisisthedelia very true, i dont know when shaving legs for women started in western society, might have a look now actually to see.. In the case of pubic hair like they were discussing in this video- the notion that pubic hair isnt attractive on women has come from the rise in the removal of pubic hair in the 1980s in the porn industry, during the fear of the AIDS epidemic many adult actresses wrongly worried that it could be spread through hair rather than bodily fluid. With the rise of the internet and online porn this new idea of women that who were sexually desirable had less/no pubic hair became popular. The porn industry is mostly run by men. So although I get when people are saying they do it for themselves, but you do have to wonder where the idea that you have with yourself that you feel better hairless comes from. Porn and its ideas have very much filtered through into just everyday thinking, I dont think it necessarily means you have to watch Porn to be influenced by it but it definitely plays a part in shaping what we now in western society view to be sexually attractive. I will however say that no pubic hair has its practical reasons too when engaging in oral so theres that... but seen as the idea of no pubic hair in western society comes from porn and the directors are men who will be telling the women how they want them to look, we kinda cant just say I'm just doing this for me the idea has been planted from somewhere and whether or not we consciously have picked it up or not lots of us have, im guilty of finding my body with more hair less desirable for sure

[@pretty.odd.]

Helena Another great example of how complicated and nuanced the conversation can be. I personally believe it's nearly impossible (in American society at least) to disentangle the two. I think the ideal that has become part of our culture originates from a male dominated industry and is therefore "to blame" for our feeling of NEEDING to be hairless, specifically when discussing pubic hair. I think it then gets perpetuated by media etc. So i dunno if it's possible to ever do it PURELY for yourself, at least for me as a person right now. BUT i definitely think we as women can reclaim beauty standards in general and make them our own and adhere (or not adhere) to them purely for our own happiness....one day :) EDIT: when i placed "the blame" on the fact that the standard originated within male dominated industry, I failed to explain that this is problematic within the world of a patriarchy and only perpetuates men's power over womens bodies (in a society).

[@HelenaCheryl]

+thisisthedelia I like that attitude, reclaiming beauty standards and making them our own.

[@pretty.odd.]

Helena Ideally one sweet day we'll all be able to just be without issue or concern. You want hairy legs? awesome! You want bald legs? awesome! it's all awesome. It'll be great :)

[@aristurtle]

I have struggled with my weight since I was 16. I put on a lot of weight after I quit classical dancing (because of a much later diagnosed hypothyroidism problem) and I hated myself for a long time. I have gradually put on more and more weight since I was 16 (I'm now 24). For a long time I hated the way I looked and refused to do anything about it because I thought the universe was against me (teen angst ). Other people would walk around eggshells about my weight but a lot of them would say mean or passive aggressive things to my face. It wasn't till I was 22 that I finally decided to take control of my own body and lose weight for myself rather than for anybody else. I also started to be more confident with my body. I learned that being sexy or beautiful or pretty was not something exclusive to being fat. It's more about how you see yourself and your body. I wish I had seen videos like these when I was younger :) Thanks for this Hannah!

[@ComedyJenna]

Just discovered this awesome show, gutted that it's not being made any more but looking forward to watching all the old videos :) Luisa is hilarious in her stand up!

[@EternalFail]

I love this show so much and I hope it never stops! We need more stuff like this on KZbin

[@brucebartup6161]

Thanks for this. More to think about. Spread positive messages about body image is it? ok. Your challenge is acceptable. Your image, of your body, is beautiful. The healthier it is, the sexier it is. The sicker it is, the sadder it is. As sad as a fish without a bicycle. And that's sad. :)

[@Jenny_Little_Wren]

Good episode :-), so good to see people highlighting these issues! I don't shave my legs, never have... I consider it every now and then but know I would be doing it so as to look socially "normal" and not "gross"... I trim/wax my ladyparts and do that even though I'm not in a relationship/looking to sleep with anyone. Being a student I haven't had the time to attend to that "zone" recently and I did end up having a one night stand the other night... and I felt really quite embarrassed by my hairiness... this shouldn't be the case... women and men should be able to do whatever they want and feel totally confident about it!

[@oldsoldier4209]

Another grat episode. I've hated the way society trains and pessures women since high school(almost 20 years). I've actually been dumped by women because I didn't support their negative self image. WTF? But, Hannah's point about bikini waxing should apply to everything. Are you doing it for the approval of others, or to make YOU feel better about yourself? If you're not oing it for you, it's time to rethink what you're doing.

[@junenovae]

The thing about thigh gaps is that I have it (alongside an eating disorder) I am obsessed with it but yet I do not think thigh gap is more or less beautiful than not having it, BUT I feel almost attacked and insulted by all those people saying that wanting a thigh gap is stupid, ridiculous and that girls who are obsessed with it should reconsider their priorities because I didn't ask to be sick with an eating disorder and get absolutely obsessed by it and I do no think I got sick because other people were showing their thigh gaps (although it is probably the case for some people, I am just me). What I want to say is that of course it is a very unhealthy obsession but the girls who are obsessed by thigh gaps are not all superficial stupid young teenagers who wants to look like I don't even know who. For me it's like saying "girls who are obsessed with having long hair and eyelashes are stupid, it's not important you can have short hair and be a feminine woman" and forgetting about the fact that some people have alopecia or trichotillomania etc and do wish to have long hair. Obviously there are girls who don't have eating disorder but still think a thigh gap makes you beautiful, but do not forget that it is easy to generalize and therefore putting people in a category in which they do not fit and offend them. (Everything I've just said is absolutely not in a mean way, I think you are both amazing and intelligent and a true inspiration!!) (I apologize for the mistakes, I am not a native english speaker)

[@chloesiv1247]

oh my gosh, I'm australian and i saw her on tv when that was on not knowing it was her, that so cool!

[@micamarti8]

I´m loving these series, please keep doing them! Kisses from Argentina :)

[@AstronautsWantedTV]

+Micaela Martí Don't worry we're not done yet! xoxo ;)

[@rhyskawka5650]

Episode 2 finally haha, oh god is the 'compulsory' thigh gap a new trend now xD

[@lindsaykcampbell]

+RhysKawka Let's give it a miss, shall we? :)

[@SuperCeejay14]

I love Luisa so much! I actually saw her do the "Am I Right Ladies?" Show in Edinburgh and I thought it was excellent! This is a great video, loved it :)

[@abiwhitaker4149]

LOVE this series!!

[@AstronautsWantedTV]

+Abi Whitaker

[@ruckuslike]

love these!

[@lindsaykcampbell]

+Brianne Will you do the show with us when we come to NZ??!

[@AstronautsWantedTV]

+Brianne

[@MissFiono]

I cannot be bothered doing all the things I'm told I'm "supposed to do" to "look good". I would rather have that extra 15 minutes in bed than put on make-up everyday. I think I'm quite lucky that my skin behaves itself most of the time so I wonder if I didn't if I would wear it more. It means the days when I do put some on for, say, a friend's wedding or something, it's a special occasion. In Scotland it's too cold to have your legs out most of the time so it comes in handy to have an extra layer of fuzzy warmth underneath tights/leggings etc. I shave my pits for hygiene regions and only do my legs when it's warm out and makes me feel less disgusting ;)

[@lovestruck-dl9kj]

LOVE THIS

[@xzonia1]

I never heard of the thigh gap thing before... good thing, I guess, since mine always touch these days. Lol. My body has a naturally high acidity level, so my own sweat literally eats away at my skin and leaves rashes on my body (so I try to stay cool as much as possible). It'd be great to try that stop sweating procedure you mentioned... what is that called? I try to look presentable, but otherwise I don't worry about my appearance too much. This was interesting and I learned a lot! Great video! :)

[@amyamyamy17]

How about body image as it relates to femininity? Like how some women won't get tattoos or lift weights or get short haircuts because they think it will make them look too masculine.

[@lindsaykcampbell]

+amyamyamy17 I think the whole concept of masculinity and femininity and how we interact with both in the modern world would make a great GonG episode topic. Had a really interesting conversation with some male friends the other day about how we define "masculine" and "feminine" qualities these days...and it was perplexing and fascinating.

[@richardrobinson4688]

I kinda think my previous comment answered some of this. I will say I never thought about that thigh gap thing. Until now. Never bothered me then and still doesn't. It was still at attention and ready. Kept that from sounding the least dirty as possible. I always thought to myself," I'm lucky this woman wants to be with me." I guess I've never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I used to be bad at relationships but got better as time went on. All except the part about asking someone out. Still bad at that. You both have a great day.

[@lipsmackergal5]

I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with waxing down there, but I would say that hairless pubes have become really popularized by pornography, and that having hair is seen as gross, disgusting, even though it's natural. But if you want to get a Brazilian or whatever I think it's totally fine, do whatever makes you feel good!

[@AstronautsWantedTV]

+Jasmine Pathak Love that--do whatever makes you feel good!

[@idudheebsbzdudbdhddh]

Feminism is a movement created way back when, when it was actually meaningful, today we see people calling blatant sexism and passive aggressive elitists feminism

[@AmyNapsALot]

I personally don't like baldness down there, and I do kind of agree with the child argument. I really don't like the look of it, the feel of it, nothing, and for me, I don't understand why people find baldness so attractive. But this is just what I think, it's my personal preference.

[@AmyNapsALot]

No. Like I said, personal views, personal preference.

[@pretty.odd.]

WEEEE! FINALLY :D

[@GymKarla]

*compliment haha

[@SoniaOReilly]

What a snazzy overalls Hannah

[@Silver1226]

i AM physically uncomfortable if my legs are unshaved, as well as emotionally uncomfortable if some one sees, or especially feels my legs hair. BUt that's mainly because I am uncomfortable when I am fuzzy, so I feel like my fuzzy legs must feel like velcro to others? And I really want to try getting waxed at least once, but I worry that I will go into one of these places and just watch skinny girls cringe at this fat chick and pray they dont get stuck with her (i.e. me) >__

[@lindsaykcampbell]

+Katherine Cunningham Don't let skinny girls get in the way of your life experience!

[@bridgethoosic]

They disabled the "Can a Muslim be a Feminist" Comment section. Censorship so you don't have to hear the truth. Your show is pathetic.

[@pimperdaddy]

I agree. They hate men when they should hate the media that promotes what they hate (not the truth overall) and they should not be so mentally weak to be brainwashed into believing this shit.

[@alib1598]

just no