Are blind people hairy legged?

May 13, 2005 6:56 PM

Questions of the Unverse: Do blind people shave thier legs?

So i have to prove my girlfriend HORRIBLY wrong on this one, as to me it seems obvious that they would enjoy the clean shaven look as much as the next person (if not more)...but like all truly perplexing things in the universe i was getting nothing from google...so oh all knowing mefites, how wrong is she?

while we're at it, do they also read metafilter?

posted by NGnerd to clothing, beauty, & fashion (27 comments total)

I don't have any close blind friends, but I'd imagine they'd be like any other group of people: some shave, some don't, women more so than men.

Honestly, when I'm at that bad in-between stubbly stage, what bothers me isn't so much how my legs look but how they feel. So I'd guess that some blind folks would also like the feel of smooth legs, perhaps even more so than sighted folk.

What, do you have a bet with your girlfriend on this?
posted by lisa g at 7:23 PM on May 13, 2005

Being blind doesn't mean you can't have a sense of touch as well.
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:36 PM on May 13, 2005

My brother is blind and he never shaves his legs.
posted by mischief at 7:38 PM on May 13, 2005

Do sighted people shave their legs? It depends on who you ask. Same goes for blind people, I'd imagine: it depends on their personal tactile preferences (and their partner's). The proportion of the blind who do shave is probably lower compared to that of the sighted population though.

(Say hello to C for me, M!)
posted by DaShiv at 8:02 PM on May 13, 2005

I believe that if I were blind, I would probably have them waxed. By someone else. Who could tell if they'd missed a spot.

But here's what I know from a previous friendship with a blind person (who was male, and did not shave his legs, but did shave his face, and did so with an electric razor, because it was safer): that they can't see themselves doesn't mean they don't want to present themselves well, and feel good about how they look. He worried about whether his part was straight and his clothing matched. He worried about keeping in good physical shape for appearance as well as health reasons. If he had a date, he'd get someone to check and make sure he was wearing matching socks.

That concern for appearance is not going to be true of all blind people, obviously, but it's not true of all sighted people, either.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:07 PM on May 13, 2005

I used to shave (my face) inside the shower without using a mirror, and never miss a spot or cut myself. I'm willing to bet blind people can do the same.
A blind man that used to come in to a cafe where I worked was always clean-shaven, and I imagine blind women shave their legs, too. You don't need to see to shave.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:11 PM on May 13, 2005

it seems obvious that they would enjoy the clean shaven look as much as the next person[...]do they also read metafilter?

I am not an expert, but I am under the impression that blind people, for the most part, are not given to enjoy particular "looks".
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:02 PM on May 13, 2005

for god's sake. Of course they do.
posted by FlamingBore at 9:24 PM on May 13, 2005

sure they would--a "look" is presenting yourself to others a certain way.
posted by amberglow at 9:25 PM on May 13, 2005

Without my contacts or glasses (as I often am in the shower) I am pretty damn blind - enough where even the US gov't would have to buy me glasses because I'm disabled - and I shave my legs. By touch. I can't imagine how you'd even use your eyes to shave your legs.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:31 PM on May 13, 2005

I do, and I'm a guy, but I can certainly see. It's the feel that matters.
posted by blasdelf at 9:38 PM on May 13, 2005

You try to be funny and look what happens. :) I stand corrected, then. I wasn't at all thinking about "look" in the sense of one's own presentation to the world, but rather in the sense of other people's presentation to the blind person. And it would seem that the different personal appearance tastes of, say a goth vs. a businessman wouldn't really up registering all that much to a blind person.

Obviously many/most people care about their own image. But I would think that much that is "image" or "look" may be lost on a blind individual (while understanding that there are certainly other cues like speech).
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 11:07 PM on May 13, 2005

I'd guess they don't. For one thing, blind people don't enjoy the "shaved leg look" or any other "look" by definition. So the question is to the tactile benefits of shaving. While it's possible that some folks enjoy the tactile sensation of freshly shaven skin over smooth, old growth, I'm guessing they're few. If you leave leg hair alone for a long time it gets thin, soft, frayed. If you keep shaving it it gets thick, sharp, and painful. So as long as you don't have to look at it, I'd guess: leave it alone, especially since shaving the legs is a pain in the ass. Your girlfriend knows more about that than you do, silly boy.
posted by scarabic at 11:29 PM on May 13, 2005

Shaving your legs is a kind of rite of passage for many girls, I know it was for me and my friends. It had nothing to do with looks really. And since freshly shaven legs are one of life's simple pleasures I see no reason why a blind woman wouldn't continue the practice. For man, I'd suspect it's much easier to shave blind than trim a beard blind.
posted by cali at 2:36 AM on May 14, 2005

There used to be, and may still be, people who taught blind people to apply makeup.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:37 AM on May 14, 2005

do they also read metafilter?

It wouldn't surprise me if we have a few blind readers. MetaFilter is fairly ideal for use by a screen reader.

And second the no need to see to shave. I also shave in the shower with no mirror and it's not hard at all.
posted by Mitheral at 8:04 AM on May 14, 2005

He didn't shave his legs, but my blind ex-boyfriend always had neatly trimmed facial hair.
posted by Ruki at 8:05 AM on May 14, 2005

thanks guys, i can now cowtow it over catherine for at least 5 or 10 minutes before she mentally beats me about again (ok, she's arguing that since no blind women wrote in we're going on extrapolated data...damn her logic!!!)
posted by NGnerd at 10:01 AM on May 14, 2005

Hm, I'm guessing your girlfriend hasn't read your profile page. Or maybe she did.
posted by PY at 12:22 PM on May 14, 2005

Western society tells us that women who bare their legs should shave them. It's a social custom that is generally followed. If a blind woman is wearing a skirt in a business situation, I imagine she would shave her legs. If a blind woman is wearing a bathing suit at the beach, I imagine she would shave her legs.

"Image" is still important to people who can't see.
posted by muddgirl at 12:36 PM on May 14, 2005

Shaving without vision is totally possible. I used to shave my head with a razor and I could never position a mirror in such a way that I could see the back of my dome. I had to do it all by feel. The first time is slow going but it gets really easy. Comparatively, legs are very easy things to shave so I bet that the blind do it just fine.
posted by Jon-o at 12:53 PM on May 14, 2005

Some of you folks must have anatomy quite different from mine or else I am a complete idiot or something, because I find shaving my legs quite difficult. The bizarre surfaces of the knee are a woe unto themselves, then there's the back of the knee which I somehow manage to cut if I use a regular razor.

And I always, always, miss at least one spot. I swear I check carefully, too. And it should really stand out because I shave about once a month these days, if that, so the hair is quite long.

I'm not saying the face is a picnic because I've never shaved one, just that (some) legs are not always that easy.
posted by beth at 3:08 PM on May 14, 2005

I'm the same as mygothlaundry in that I would be legally blind without my glasses. And so in the shower where I cannot wear them, I shave my legs entirely by touch. I would imagine a blind person could do the same thing.
posted by veronitron at 3:13 PM on May 14, 2005

My legally blind college roommate (congential problem getting worse with age, may get a guide dog soon) definitely shaved her legs, and presumably still does. And uses make-up, and blow dries her hair, and all that. She manages just fine.
posted by Asparagirl at 5:35 PM on May 14, 2005

PY...ooops, thanks for the heads up on the old profile (i ended up meeting the engineer girl so it all ends well). I'll just be glad that i can see when i shave my face from now on (though it still won't save me from cutting myself

thanks all
posted by NGnerd at 8:17 PM on May 14, 2005

This question reminds me of when I was a teenager and I would drive my father on errands. People would look at me and ask me questions that they should have been asking him. As though somehow being blind made him less than human and incapable of making his own decisions and caring for himself.

My father married an exceptionally beautiful woman, raised and provided for his three children, had successful careers as a musician and small business owner, hosted his own radio show, and in general is more highly functional than me, his sighted offspring. Personal grooming is the least of his challenges, as I would imagine it is for this guy or the blind fellow I saw shredding down a black diamond mogul run a while back.

He is also one of the most computer literate people I know. I haven't turned him onto mefi, but he finds his way around the net quite nicely.
posted by Manjusri at 9:29 PM on May 14, 2005

Here's another data point. Ray Charles shaved his face himself (I've seen pictures). I doubt that shaving legs is much more difficult.
posted by epimorph at 11:51 PM on May 14, 2005