# Women's leg hair and the existence of God **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275 "2014-08-23T05:02:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/41 "2014-08-24T00:49:34Z")
I give this OP a “+1” for the thread title alone. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/42 "2014-08-24T00:52:11Z")
Why do men have leg hair? Is that somehow more sensical than that women do? If so, you are confusing culture with biology. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/43 "2014-08-24T00:56:05Z")
I had been on the fence about JohnClay for a while, but this thread has convinced me. He has done a fine job of maintaining the suspension of disbelieve for years, but his is beyond the pale. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/44 "2014-08-24T05:07:08Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Why do men have leg hair? Is that somehow more sensical than that women do? If so, you are confusing culture with biology. Leg hair makes men manly. Same with beards. Bearded women probably aren’t seen as attractive no matter what culture it is. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/45 "2014-08-24T05:08:39Z")
You are incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/46 "2014-08-24T05:09:37Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Why do men have leg hair? Is that somehow more sensical than that women do? If so, you are confusing culture with biology. BTW if we’re talking about the God of the Bible, culture is very important… I mean in the Bible the first humans were farmers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/47 "2014-08-24T05:12:11Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I had been on the fence about JohnClay for a while, but this thread has convinced me. He has done a fine job of maintaining the suspension of disbelieve for years, but his is beyond the pale. Yes my wording of this topic is a bit attention-grabbing but for almost all of my relatives and inlaws it would be relevant… I mean they believe that God is a great designer. Many of them also believe in young-earth “creation science”. (I used to as well) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/48 "2014-08-24T05:13:56Z")
> [@susan](#): > > You are incorrect. What about sexual selection? I thought traits that people find sexy would be selected for… ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/49 "2014-08-24T05:16:05Z")
John, God put hair on women’s legs and in their pits for one reason and one reason only. He did it to piss YOU off. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/50 "2014-08-24T05:16:56Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Why do men have leg hair? Is that somehow more sensical than that women do? If so, you are confusing culture with biology. I had a hunch it was true and wikipedia has some cites from anthropologist studies that human body hair is not universally distributed among ethnic groups and “races”. > **[Body hair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_hair)** > > Body hair or androgenic hair is terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is different from head hair and also from less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in colour. Growth of androgenic hair is related to the level of androgens (male hormones) and the density of androgen receptors in the dermal papillae. Both must reach a threshold for the proliferation of hair follicle cells. > From childhood onward, regardless of sex, vellus hair covers almo... > [@](#): > > According to Ashley Montagu who taught anthropology at Princeton University, the Asian people, San people, and black people are less hairy than white people and Montagu said that the hairless feature is a neotenous trait.[12] > Androgenic male hair distribution around the world. > > Rodney P.R. Dawber of the Oxford Hair Foundation and Clinical Lecturer in Dermatology said East Asian males have little or no facial or body hair and Dawber also said that Mediterranean males are covered with an exuberant pelage.[13] > > Anthropologist Arnold Henry Savage Landor described the Ainu as having hairy bodies.[14] > > C.H. Danforth and Mildred Trotter of the Department of Anatomy at Washington University did a study using army soldiers of European origin where they concluded that dark-haired white men are generally more hairy than fair-haired white men.[15] > > H. Harris who published in the British Journal of Dermatology said American Indians have the least body hair, Chinese and black people have little body hair, white people have more body hair than blacks and Ainu have the most body hair.[16] Funny anecdote but in my wife’s family no one has arm or leg hair, and the men have no chest hair not one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/51 "2014-08-24T05:19:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Just…just stop. > > Why does anyone have hair? Why are you asking this cluelessly inappropriate question? If God exists and he designed things for a good reason then there are reasons for things like hair. Believers don’t necessarily think we can know his reasoning. BTW in the Bible hair was the source of Samson’s strength and in the NT it says that women should have their hair covered in church. [http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles\_of\_paul/instructions\_for\_womenhttp://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles\_of\_paul/instructions\_for\_women/1co11\_05a.html](http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles_of_paul/instructions_for_womenhttp://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles_of_paul/instructions_for_women/1co11_05a.html) (see also the next two panels) It says a similar but opposite thing for men: [http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles\_of\_paul/instructions\_for\_women/1co11\_04.html](http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles_of_paul/instructions_for_women/1co11_04.html) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/52 "2014-08-24T05:22:46Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > John, God put hair on women’s legs and in their pits for one reason and one reason only. He did it to piss YOU off. I’m especially pissed off by hair just below the belly button, on the nipples (for women) and on the face. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/53 "2014-08-24T05:33:22Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I’m especially pissed off by hair just below the belly button, on the nipples (for women) and on the face. …have you checked for a penis? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/54 "2014-08-24T05:36:31Z")
Unless there’s something I missed in the forum policy or membership, complaints to divine beings about design flaws probably need another board. Yeah, yeah, omniscient, blah. I just have a feeling he/she/it isn’t taking instant action based on this thread. (Cookie recipe if anyone catches the tv reference) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/55 "2014-08-24T05:58:51Z")
I don’t expect divine intervention… after all if God existed he allowed the Holocaust - and Job’s troubles. It has something to do with free will apparently. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/56 "2014-08-24T13:04:48Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > If God exists and he designed things for a good reason then there are reasons for things like hair. Believers don’t necessarily think we can know his reasoning. BTW in the Bible hair was the source of Samson’s strength and in the NT it says that women should have their hair covered in church. > [http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles\_of\_paul/instructions\_for\_womenhttp://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles\_of\_paul/instructions\_for\_women/1co11\_05a.html](http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles_of_paul/instructions_for_womenhttp://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles_of_paul/instructions_for_women/1co11_05a.html) > (see also the next two panels) > It says a similar but opposite thing for men: > [http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles\_of\_paul/instructions\_for\_women/1co11\_04.html](http://www.thebricktestament.com/epistles_of_paul/instructions_for_women/1co11_04.html) So: this is your equivalent of “If God is All-Powerful, can he make a rock so big that even _He_ can’t lift it?” …cuz, that was clear. Dude, you are performance art. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/57 "2014-08-24T13:46:28Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So: this is your equivalent of “If God is All-Powerful, can he make a rock so big that even _He_ can’t lift it?” > > …cuz, that was clear. > Dude, you are performance art. That is all. See my post #19: > [@](#): > > Can God make a Chick so Hot He can’t Pick Her Up? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/58 "2014-08-24T14:10:19Z")
I should’ve seen that the SDMB’s own Joseph Campbell 😉 would’ve pondered the Big Questions already. Sorry I missed it! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@The\_Wino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wino)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/59 "2014-08-24T14:25:35Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’ve never seen an adult that didn’t have armpit hair, women included. Amount varies though. So if a woman has none she is shaving it or getting rid of it somehow, which is a fashion that isn’t even that old. My great-grandmother was half-Native American and did not have armpit, leg hair or pubes. My husband is 100% South American Indian and does not have a single armpit or chest hair, has no leg hair below the knee, but does have pubes. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275/60 "2014-08-24T16:01:09Z")
> [@The\_Wino](#): > > My great-grandmother was half-Native American and did not have armpit, leg hair or pubes. My husband is 100% South American Indian and does not have a single armpit or chest hair, has no leg hair below the knee, but does have pubes. Huh interesting, I thought armpit and pubes on women and armpit and pubes and at least some beard was almost universal on men(seen claims either way that Native American men had none or plucked). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-leg-hair-and-the-existence-of-god/696275.md?page=4)