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A big hairy deal: Mo'Nique gets people talking: To shave or not to shave? [BC-NXT-SHAVING:DE](Detroit Free Press (MI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Because I am the descendent of hairy people, I am quite familiar with the issue of hair removal. I shave. I wax. I pluck. It all started in middle school when shaving my legs became not only a rite of passage but a way for me to feel more like one of the cool and pretty girls who didn't have leg hair. It progressed from there. And while it can all be a pain _ I have the scars to prove it _ I am loathe to stray from my decades-old routine. I feel more presentable and prettier when my legs, my underarms and my face are relatively hairless. In January, I was reminded not everyone feels the same way. Mo'Nique, the 42-year-old comedienne-turned-dramatic actress with her portrayal of an abusive mother in the movie "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," showed up at the Golden Globes ceremony. With hairy legs. Which she flaunted for photographers. And sent the blogosphere spinning. A couple of fashion and style bloggers pointed out that in 2006, Mo'Nique went on "The View," showed off her hairy legs and told the hostesses: "I must show America what a real leg looks like ... because it's too much in the morning, every morning, to shave, to cut, you got Band-Aids, baby. ... I really think hair on a woman's legs is a black woman's thing." Hairy legs are the norm in many European countries. Whether they're the preference of one racial group over another in the United States is open to debate. I spoke with several women about the subject, including a 50-year-old African-American woman who said she grew up believing shaving was a white girl thing. But Camille Mitchell, a 59-year-old black woman who owns a Detroit public relations company, says, "I've never heard anybody say they like hairy legs." If you're home in sweatpants, it might be OK to skip a shave or two, but, she says, "not out in public, where you're wearing a dress. ... You can't wear stockings with hairy legs; it would just look awful, all mashed up with the stockings on." Mo'Nique's hairy legs remind me different people have different ideas of what's acceptable and practical in terms of grooming and beauty. Many of us color or straighten our hair. We polish our nails and spend vast amounts of time picking out the right lipstick and perfect mascara and blush to give us a natural glow. Some of us opt for Botox. Others go for laser hair removal. Mo'Nique may be showing America what a real leg looks like, but since when is beauty about being real? ___ (c) 2010, Detroit Free Press. Visit the Freep, the World Wide Web site of the Detroit Free Press, at http://www.freep.com. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. _____ TO SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEXT Items in the What's Next package are not included in your MCT News Service subscription. You can subscribe to the What's Next package or purchase the items a la carte on MCT Direct at www.mctdirect.com. To subscribe, please call Rick DeChantal at Tribune Media Services at (800) 245-6536 or [email protected]. Outside the United States, call Tribune Media Services International at +1-213-237-7987 or e-mail [email protected]. _____ PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099). KeyWords:: BC-NXT-SHAVING:DE BC NXT SHAVING DE |