[O]ne female student told ASU News that cultivating a hairy existence was a “life-changing experience.” Friends were repulsed. Her mother was horrified. But she came away from the experience empowered by her newly politicized perception of grooming habits. “It definitely made me realize that if you’re not strictly adhering to socially prescribed gender roles, your body becomes a site for contestation and public opinion.” …

According to [professor Breanne] Fahs, the “labor-intensive” assignment “gives men some insight into what women who shave go through.” The apparently torturous act of grooming is something women–guided by societal norms and media representations–are powerless to fight. Men must “go through” the same horrors to understand the plight of their female classmates because, Fahs says, “male students tend to adopt the attitude of, ‘I’m a man; I can do what I want.’” (One ape-like man, she told the ASU student newspaper, “did his shaving with a buck knife.”)

I think bears should protest the assault on core human rights here. And I am emphatically not reassured by the fact that bearded bros (and ladies) apparently get a pass: ASU men can receive the extra credit simply by “shaving all body hair from the neck down.” Imagine.

(Photo: Anti-pervert hairy leg stockings for girls. The Dish thread on the expectations of women to shave is here.)