I don’t know about shaving, but I know girls who have removed their arm hair other ways (Nair springs to mind). I’ve thought about it myself, since mine is sorta dark, but I can’t be bothered.
I Nair it every now and then, but I certainly don’t shave it. Count me in as thinking it’s oogy.
I shave my arms (yes, I live in Colorado, but no, I have not found it to be a Colorado thing). And no, I do not have razor stubble. The second I felt anything like that I would re-shave.
I tried Nair, but it burns my skin. Ouch.
The reason I do it is that I have very dry skin, and having it hairless makes it easier to keep it moisturized. The lotions seem to sink in better.
I have annoying body hair. It’s straight and dark, and pretty thick on my legs. As a result, it can actually be a bit of a pain to apply sunscreen, which I simply must do if I’m going to be out in the sun for more than an hour. I love to hike, mtn. bike, etc., so that means I’m smearing on a lot of sunscreen. Major pain.
So one day I’m digging through a drawer for something else, and come across an old beard clipper I picked up someplace years ago when I toyed with the idea facial hair. Hmmm, thought I. I gave my legs a once over, and went on a mtn. bike ride. I certainly didn’t shave all the hair off, just shortened it a bit so it didn’t paste all over me when I smeared on my Elmer’s SPF 45 Sweat-Proof Body Spackle. Much better. Next time, I took at look at my arms. What the hell, I shrugged. Again, major improvement: Not girly looking, but not a sticky mess either.
I only do it infrequently; but occasionally, shortening the body hair on my legs and arms can make skin care a little more convenient.
I wax my arm hair simply because I don’t like how it feels. I also live in Illinois. Oh, the irony.
Augh, no. I didn’t think it could get any worse than the Brazilian wax thing, but now we can’t have ARM hair?! Then again, my arm hair is really blonde and really fine so it’s not that noticeable anyway, but still, what’s next? No, seriously . . . What is there left to shave?
I do shave otherwise . . . I keep a close tab on my armpits, but I only shave my legs if anyone has to see them. Good thing I pretty much always wear pants! 
Er, I’m a girl, in case you weren’t sure.
Boy here. I shaved my arms a couple of times. I´d sprained my wrist and was eager to get back to fencing. Athletic tape and arm hair do not mix. They´re like two things which don´t mix in a proverbial way. Like athletic tape and arm hair…
Anyway, so I shaved them a couple times while I was taping (both arms, because otherwise I´d have an imbalanced drag profile and would probably fall down when walking in stiff winds) and then a couple of times afterwards because, well, I had these razor blades I wasn´t using and it´s kind of relaxing. And much easier than face shaving. I can see my arms…
As far as cyclists, they shave because when you fall down, you get easier to clean wounds hairless than you do hirsute.
And the definition. I´ve got to say, I had ripply forearms when they were bare, but with hairy they´re just normal. 
Tenebras
My sister used to shave her arms, and now waxes them, I believe. I don’t think it’s all that uncommon a practice, as many salons offer arm-waxing. If you’re self-conscious about your arm hair or just prefer to be smoother than the average bear, it’s not that big a deal.
I “waxed” my arm hair, leg hair regularly when living in Sudan and West Africa because it was cooler and your skin feels really great [cleans off dead cells, softer skin]. Also, you feel cleaner.
I also find it sexier to have hairless arms and legs. I can’t stand hairy men; give me direct skin to skin contact. I don’t do it now because I’m older, hair is skimpy and blond.
Well, I inherited the typical straight, black hair from my Native side, and very pale skin from my European side, so I’m cursed with dark arm hair against pale arms. Not pretty. I don’t shave them, I use Nair so it grows back softer. I’d rather go through the trouble than have people be disgusted by my gross arms.
Oh yes. I speak from painful experience: Road rash on hairy legs is not a pretty sight. Plus, instead of sliding on the pavement when you dump, you do a jerky skid on hairy skin that literally rips stuff off of you. I don’t know if dirt-rash would be as bad with hair, but I’ve considered that making my leg hair a little less long for rides has multiple benefits, probably.
:eek:
Am I the only one that hopes vanilla is being funny???
I mean, it’s not like taking off a SWEATER, right???
Right??
I wax it off. Most of the women I know who are of Indian or Arab descent wax it off. Frankly, I think I am more self-conscious about being from the hirsute belt and other people don’t really notice but that doesn’t prevent me from systematically ripping hair over all different parts of my body.
I did a couple of times when I was 13, just out of curiosity. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I’m pale with dark hair-and while my leg hair seems very dark (yes, I shave my legs), the hair on my arms is very thin and light brown. I only notice it if I have to put on a bandaid and later take it off-ouch!
Guy here. Never did, never will, never heard of anyone here where I come from (Niagara region of Ontario) doing it. I find it ridiculous, but…whatever floats your boat. I prefer a woman who doesn’t feel like she has to follow what fashion or popularity seems to dictate. If she wants to shave anywhere because SHE wants to, that’s one thing. But it drives me crazy when women feel they HAVE to shave because otherwise, society will frown upon her.
As for being afraid hair grows back darker…that’s just another thing to have in your head so you’ll keep it shaved.
CITE:
I was chatting with the niece of one of my friends. She commented that she had a rash on her arms. It came up that she had used a depilatory and that it had burned her skin. She went on to say that all the girls at her high school (Norview in Norfolk, VA), shave their arms.
I had never heard of this before, but I guess it’s a lot more common than I thought.
Well, I’m a dude, and I have to do arm hair grooming. See, I have big patches of hair on my upper arms, and the hair there is not normal arm hair. Normal arm hair lies flat against your skin and is generally pretty smooth, and only grows to a certain length. But I’ve got these stupid tufts of hair that just keeps on growing. So every few weeks or so I just run the scissors over them, chopping away until it blends with the rest of my arms.
But why a guy who’s not a swimmer would shave his lower arm hair is beyond me. As for women, there are some who are cursed with fair skin and lots of dark hair who, yes, probably would look better if they waxed. But other than an extreme instance like that, I don’t mind female arm hair much.
I agree that for guys, cosmetically at least, it’s pretty dumb to shave arms unless you’ve got a real hair farm there and want to avoid Sasquatch jokes.
But for almost every guy with hairy-arms-of-manliness, there can be practical benefits to at least mowing the hair lawn down a little to keep it under control. Swimming, cycling, etc., there are benefits to be had, not the least avoiding lots of pain.
Only below the nose? Does this mean that the fashion models are now sporting tufts of nose hair? I wasn’t aware.
I was aware that some guys shave their chests, but their arms? Is this common now? I hate to sound culturally programmed, but that’s kinda gross to me. I’d never date a guy who shaved his arms or chest.
In an insomnia and caffeine-induced waxing frenzy me and my sister waxed our arms, but we didn’t wax all of them. We have very fine blonde hair, but it also grows like a mofo, so 1 swipe of waxing was just enough to leave the shorter and softer hairs but take out the long and unsightly ones.
My arms were smoother and looked slimmer for months, and I can still see the effects 1 year later. To be honest, I’m thinking of doing it again.
So not completely smooth and overdone, but I can understand waxing away some of the hair if you’re like me and have alot of it.