Pregnant Woman's Boyfriend Suggests She Shave Her Belly; Reddit Has Some Other Suggestions

Sabrina Rojas Weiss
Updated ·4 min read

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Everyone’s body is different, but one thing we have in common is that pregnant bodies change in interesting, often unexpected ways. One woman on Reddit wasn’t exactly surprised that her baby bump has gotten a bit fuzzier during pregnancy. What she wasn’t expecting was her boyfriend’s suggestion that she shave her belly, lest his mother and sister discover that she is an actual mammal. Oh, boy, are we here for those responses!

“I was about to jump in the shower when my boyfriend said I might want to shave my belly,” _darksoul89 wrote in the Pregnancy subreddit, recounting a conversation they had before his family came to visit. “Now, it has gotten pretty hairy since I got pregnant and I’m Italian, so my hair is quite dark, but still? Are you suggesting that it’s gross and I should be ashamed of it? I told him he might want to shut his mouth instead and ignored him, but am I overreacting here?”

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Having thicker, luscious hair on your head is one of the common side benefits of pregnancy for many of us. It’s caused by all the hormonal changes that are helping your baby grow and your body adjust to that new life inside you. That growth can also come along with thicker, luscious body hair for some. (And others can experience quite the opposite! Bodies are weird like that!) You can choose to love that hair along with all your other miraculous changes, or you can remove it by waxing, shaving, or electrolysis.

Related video: Amy Schumer shares pregnancy story in ‘Expecting Amy’

But should you get rid of that hair because someone else is bothered by it? Hell no, say the readers of this Reddit post.

“Maybe he should shave his eyebrows so people know not to take him too seriously,” Alexluxaflex wrote.

“This is your body,” BunnyVet12 added. “Even if you weren’t going through the process of growing a human, he would have no say over your hair or lack thereof. Additionally, skin is so sensitive now, so I imagine it will be quite itchy and prone to acne when it regrows after shaving!”

While several women wrote in to share that they were displeased with their new hair growth and were choosing to shave it, they emphasized that it was their choice, not someone else’s. There was also a slew of commenters celebrating their hairy bumps.

“I also have a few darks hairs under my belly button, and it was so interesting to see them grow apart when my bump got bigger,” bballgame2morrow said.

A few shared their thoughts on fighting the cultural, Western-influenced norms about women’s body hair.

“Growing up, I got teased for my hairy arms so I started shaving them when I was 14,” arqueli315 wrote. “It was only 13 years later I finally got the courage to stop shaving them. Before an interview, my husband said, ‘Are you going to shave your arms for the interview?’ I completely broke down and it killed my self-esteem. He and I talked about it and he was ignorant to the matter. We were both raised with the western belief that body hair on a woman is unattractive and he was never faced with the issue himself to overcome it. I just explained to him why it hurt me and that I heard that as, ‘It doesn’t matter how qualified you are for the job, your body hair could potentially cost you the role.’ He listened to me and understood and doesn’t say anything about my body hair now. It of course still hurt me and it set my self-confidence back, but he learned from it.”

Perhaps _darksoul89’s boyfriend is also completely ignorant of how comments like this affect women, some stepped in to say in his defense.

“My SO just gave birth a couple weeks ago; she couldn’t even see what was going on down there when preggers and often employed me to assess and sometimes do the yard work,” Zomblot wrote. “Maybe he was just looking out for you with visitors, thought maybe you’d care. It was just a suggestion. You know, teamwork?”

That’s a possibility. Still, we’re like this suggestion better:

“If you do, shave a message into it in all caps: DON’T TOUCH,” PrincessCadance4Prez wrote. “Or if you’re feeling French, FUCK OFF. Put that extra real estate to good use since he’s obviously not paying attention to the ways you’re already expressing your feelings.”

Keep your children safe once they’re out of your body with these kids face masks.

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kids face masks

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