I read an article today that said we we seem to be finding more and more things to be ashamed of especially in the U.S. and that this new trend includes hair removal along with our weight, our acne etc.

But  I think it’s not a new trend, by any means, to be ashamed of our perceived physical imperfections.

30 odd years ago I was certainly not too fond of my crop of teenage spots and unwanted hair. Luckily time moves on and  I grew out of the acne and found easy solutions to deal with the hairy bits.

Even Jane Austen’s heroines knew where they stood in the beauty stakes,  and how that might affect their attractiveness to husbands, although they may not have been able to run off and have laser hair removal, a nose reshaping or breast augmentation and do something about it.

Perfection is not required for people

So looks have always been important – maybe it’s just that now we have a whole heap of images of the beautiful people wafting in front of our eyes day after day and the girls never have mustaches nor the boys hairy backs.

The more that we all strive to look good by removing hair and other so-called imperfections, the more it becomes the norm to do so. It’s not just the beautiful people – “everyone” is doing it.

Should we stop trying? No, I don’t think so. It’s good to care about grooming and make the most of yourself. It only becomes damaging where obsession takes over. You don’t have to remove every hair on your body to be attractive, nor do you have to look like an air brushed star on the beach. Take care of yourself but don’t go over the top.