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So some women in China, recently flashed their armpit hair for a competition, which got me thinking,what is expected of women in China when it comes to having hair under there?
最近一些中國女性會在比賽中露出腋毛，這讓我們不禁好奇中國人對女性有什么要求，特別是腋毛。
Do they shave? If you’re a Chinese woman, do you shave?
她們需要刮嗎？如果你是中國女性的話，你刮嗎？
I’d love to know because data on this is so limited.
我很想知道這個答案，因為關于這個研究的資料太少了。
But it seems that, in general, Chinese women don’t really shave their armpits.
但是我猜大多數的中國女性是不需要刮腋毛的。
Although, things are starting to change.
盡管事情開始發生改變了。
“Growing up, I’d watched older girls walk around with hair peeking out of their armpits.
從小到大，經常在路上看見有些大點兒的女性，她們的腋毛從腋下露了出來。
Chinese tradition had no demands in this respect,armpit or leg hair was just part of your body and nothing to be ashamed about,” says one Chinese woman of her experience in the early 2000s.
中國傳統對這方面沒什么講究。腋毛和腿毛是身體的一部分，沒什么難為情的。這是一位中國女性對于20世紀早期的經歷所發出的言論。
But today, some reports say that about 40 percent of Chinese women shave, noting these women tend to be younger and of higher socioeconomic status.
但是如今，有報道表明40%的中國女性是刮毛的，并表明這些女性多是年輕或有較高的社會經濟地位。
As one 40-year-old house cleaner in China puts it, shaving is "for girls with money and influence.”
正如中國一位40歲的清潔工所說，有錢有影響力的女人才刮毛。
But for Xiao Meili, the competition’s founder, it’s about so much more than that. It’s about agency.
但對于比賽的創始人肖美麗來說，不僅僅只關乎這兩項，這關乎女性的權利。
Women should have the right to decide how to deal with their bodies, including small details like armpit hair.
女人們應該有權決定怎么對待她們的身體，包括腋毛這種小地方。
You can choose to shave it, but you shouldn't be forced to do so under the pressure of stereotypes.
你可以選擇刮掉它，但你不應該在陳規的壓力下這么做。
Her advocacy for gender equality in the hair department, stems in part from increasing Western pressures to groom.
她在毛發部所發表的性別平等的倡議在西方人清理腋毛的壓力不斷增加下提出。
But how did this difference come about in the first place?
但關于這個差異在一開始是怎么產生的呢？
Why is it that about 80 percent of women in the United States report shaving when the majority of Chinese women do not?
為什么80%的美國女性需要刮毛，然而大多數的中國女性不用呢？
Well first, shaving for women didn’t really become a thing until 1915 or so, but over the years, hairless bodies became the norm.
首先大約1915年前，刮不刮毛不是問題。但是幾年后，光滑無毛的身體成為了普遍現象。
To the point that today, women who don’t shave are viewed as more aggressive and even immoral.
甚至如今，不刮毛的女性被認為是粗野、不雅的行為。
China, however, was largely isolated from the US when these ideas were taking hold;
然而中國與美國在很大程度上隔離，這些思想沒能傳入中國。
So, they were not exposed to the same pressures and ideologies.
所以他們沒有面臨同樣的壓力和思想。
And, most traditional dress included sleeves that covered the underarms;
而且許多傳統服飾含有袖子，都遮住了腋窩。
during the era of Kaifang women were encouraged to appear androgynous with the Mao jacket and Lenin coat，shaving wasn’t fashionable like it was in the Western world.
在解放時期，女性被鼓勵穿著性別特征不明顯的衣服（中山裝或列寧裝）。刮毛不像西方那樣流行。
Even with all the Western influence today, Chinese women are actively encouraged not to shave.
即便如今在這樣的西方觀念影響下，中國女性也不鼓勵主動去刮毛。
Some doctors deem hair removal unhealthy and others view it as bad luck.
一些醫生認為刮毛是不健康的，其他人也認為這是不吉利的。
Globally, we have a complicated relationship with hair，glorifying the locks atop our heads while literally burning it off at the legs.
世界各個地方的人對體毛有復雜的態度。人們贊美頭上濃密的毛發，卻要真的馬上除盡腿上的毛。
Clearly, when it comes to underarm hair, this relationship is even hairier，but the question still remains, why are we so obsessed with hair in the first place?
顯然如果是腋毛的話，問題就更復雜了。但問題仍是為什么我們在一開始就和體毛較勁？
I would love to know your thoughts.
我很愿意聽聽你們的想法。
