Boyfriend faces backlash over 'harsh' grooming request: 'Such a spineless idiot'
A 22-year-old man is sending Reddit users into a frenzy after sharing how he shamed his girlfriend into shaving her legs.
On April 23, Reddit user shavingaita shared his story in the AITA (Am I The A******) forum.
He explained that though his girlfriend “isn’t exactly the hippie, free-spirit, ‘my hairy body is beautiful’ type,” she also isn’t in the habit of shaving consistently.
“She pretty much only shaves when the hair is physically irritating her skin,” he wrote. “It doesn’t necessarily bother me because I love her for who she is, but I do have a preference toward smooth, silky skin. Who wouldn’t, right?”
“I feel like I’m being shamed”
Well, recently, shavingaita was showering with his girlfriend when she made a comment about how she needed to shave her underarms.
“Once she finished that up, she turned to her legs and said something along the lines of, ‘I think these are gonna be up next soon. That hair is starting to bother me too,'” he wrote.
The Reddit user said he didn’t really want to wait until his girlfriend felt like shaving.
“Even the lightness of the strands couldn’t cover up how much was there. It was bad,” he recalled.
So, shavingaita decided to confront his girlfriend, albeit, he admitted, “a bit harshly and sarcastically.”
“I said, ‘Yeah, you think it’s time to shave your legs? How long has it been?’ She looked at me for a moment then started getting weepy-eyed, so I asked her what the deal was and she said, ‘I thought it didn’t bother you that I don’t shave. It hasn’t been an issue this whole relationship and now I feel like I’m being shamed,'” he wrote.
After the incident, shavingaita’s girlfriend allegedly decided to go ahead and shave her legs. However, after she came out of the shower, she acted quiet and upset, he said.
“I’m frustrated that she’s acting mad at me for agreeing that she should do something she already said she wanted to do,” shavingaita said.
“She IS mad and she has every right to be”
Shavingaita’s tale inspired some intense debate in the comment section, particularly among people who believe men shouldn’t tell women what to do with their bodies.
“Every time I read stories like this I’m amazed at how men who are supposed to be in love with their girlfriends still manage to [prioritize] their preference for a certain body type or certain grooming habits over their girlfriend’s own personal preferences and physical comfort,” one comment with more than 16,000 upvotes read. “Even if you don’t care about the trouble and pain shaving causes her, have you ever stopped to think that because her legs grow hair means it’s supposed to be there? That it’s natural? That you shouldn’t be such a spineless idiot and try to make her think that it’s gross to have hair on her body?”
“Good God. I’m also pissed off by ‘she’s acting mad,'” the comment continued. “Dude, she IS mad and she has every right to be. [Apologize] to her and pray that she ever lets you touch her again.”
“I can’t believe he felt it was appropriate to make a sarcastic comment about her leg hair. She wasn’t asking for your feedback, dude, she just said that her leg hair was starting to bother her,” another user added. “It wasn’t a question. She didn’t want your opinion. It sounds like this dude was just dying for an opportunity to voice his preference and didn’t care much how he did it.”
As they say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, shut up.
If you liked this story, check out this story about a man who stoked controversy when he criticized his girlfriend’s weight.
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