Hair out of place : women with body hair negotiating everyday spaces

Author

Kimberly Rose Stetson

Date of Award

12-1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Geography

Major Professor

Lydia Mihelic Pulsipher

Abstract

This study focuses on women who choose not to remove leg or underarm hair despite the norm in U.S. society for women to do so. Qualitative interviews were conducted with ten women in order to understand their motivations for not removing body hair, as well as to understand how having body hair affects women's perceptions of themselves and the various spaces that they move through on an everyday basis. The Results of this study are presented in participants' own words and demonstrate that women with body hair are "out of place '' in certain contexts and therefore subject to regulation. How participants define the spaces in which regulation of their body hair occurs is also discussed.

Recommended Citation

Stetson, Kimberly Rose, "Hair out of place : women with body hair negotiating everyday spaces. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1999.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/10029