A little light culture: Casual feminism

Casual feminism is the most common kind of feminism but the type that receives the least critical attention. And it's not hard to see why when you look at it. Consider for example, Samantha Escobar who writes about leg shaving over at the YourTango site.

The article is ostensibly about a survey of readers habits. The survey itself is of dubious value but that doesn't matter as I am most interested in Escobar's treatment of it. The first thing we see of that treatment is that she falls over herself trying to make the article say the opposite of what the survey says. Here is the introductory paragraph:

Recently, I've been thinking about how the changing seasons affect my beauty habits. A few examples: I wax my bikini line during bathing suit season, I don't exfoliate as much in the winter and I wear a gel moisturizer instead of a cream one in the summer to avoid oiliness. But one that I've noticed myself and many others tend to do is shaving less during the colder seasons, when we can cover up our stubble (or forest) with long pants or tights.

You have to read well into the piece before you find out what readers actually said and, given all the build up, it's a bit jarring to read that "88 percent of respondents said they remove hair from their legs year-round". Oh well, so much for that theory. But why spend so much time dwelling on it if you know it's false? It's perfectly acceptable to say, we expected X but learned Y but Escobar simply drowns the results she didn't expect with exposition of what she did expect.

An unkind person might wonder if Samantha Escobar believes what she thinks is more important than actually reporting.

Okay, so we know that readers of YourTango—a group overwhelmingly dominated by young women—mostly shave. And that isn't terribly surprising is it? It's exactly what you would have guessed. Who is to blame for this? Well, we know who Escobar wants to blame:

But seasons aren't the only factor that played a role in shaving routines. Many respondents also said their shaving habits depend on their relationship status.

 Notice, first of all, that Escobar will not let her pet theory that women don't shave in the winter go even though the survey says they do. Reality doesn't play a big role in her beliefs. Okay, but what of her claim that "many respondents" do it for their boyfriends?

In fact, 12 percent stated they typically only remove leg hair for special occasions and another 10 percent said that they would likely never shave if it wasn't for their significant other. Forty percent of respondents, however, informed us that a significant other played no part in their shaving routine; they simply did it because they wanted to — while 36 percent said they did shave, but their significant other wouldn't mind either way (lucky).

Uh, only 10 percent said that they shave because of their boyfriends wishes and the conclusion is that "many" say "relationship status" plays a role? I don't think so. Here is a lesson in journalism and interpreting statistics for Escobar; how that paragraph should have been written. Before I begin, note that Escobar is confident that the groups do not overlap. She says "an other 10 percent". The percentages in her example add up to 98 percent, the missing two percent being result of rounding.

The  largest group of women said that their boyfriend's opinion has no influence on their decision to shave their legs. Fully 76 percent said they would shave anyway. Forty percent said they do it because they want to and 36 percent said they shave anyway even though their significant other "wouldn't mind either way". Twelve percent said they shave only for special occasions and only ten percent said they wouldn't shave at all if it wasn't for their significant other.

In fact, Escobar's own attitudes give the game away. She doesn't like doing it at all but she does when it might show. She says she waxes her bikini line in the summer meaning, when she is on the beach and a whole lot of people will see her she doesn't like the idea of her pubic hair sticking out around the side of her bathing suit. What she cares most about is what complete strangers might think of her and not what her boyfriend might think.

Here is a little not so idle speculation. Suppose Escobar was invited to a girls-only weekend at an isolated cottage with a very private beach such that she knew the only people who were going to see her in her bikini were other women. Do you think she'd wax her bikini line before going? I don't know her but I'd be willing to bet it's an absolute certainty that she would.

What's operating here is our old friend shame and, as The Last Psychiatrist would add, it's semi-regular companion narcissism. Escobar cares little about the desires and feelings of some "boyfriend", that is she cares little about any other person at all except insofar as that might affect her social status. She treats pleasing another human being—one whom, in theory anyway, she is supposed to be in love with—as a burden and inconvenience but willing does what it takes to complete strangers from thinking her gross or laughable. You couldn't get a clearer example of narcissism than that.