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Hairless: Breaking the Vicious Circle of Hair Removal, Submission and Self-hatred
Razors, tweezers, wax and hair removal creams: these are the tools for the initiation rites that signal the passage from girl to woman. Today the only acceptable places for a woman to have hair are on her head (preferably long), her eyebrows (not too wild) and eyelashes (not too sparse). All kinds of cosmetics are sold to achieve the desired effect of localized luxuriance. At the same time, the industry of removing hair everywhere else on the body advances relentlessly. Hair is no longer a sign of joy but a battleground of cosmetic surgery.
In this short book, the Catalan writer Bel Olid draws on her own experience to dismantle preconceived ideas about the supposed benefits of waxing and shaving and to lay bare the social penalties that are meted out to any woman who allows their body hair to grow. With clarity and courage she exposes the contradictions and hidden costs of hair removal and issues a rousing call to women everywhere to throw out the razor and rediscover the joy of hair.
In this short book, the Catalan writer Bel Olid draws on her own experience to dismantle preconceived ideas about the supposed benefits of waxing and shaving and to lay bare the social penalties that are meted out to any woman who allows their body hair to grow. With clarity and courage she exposes the contradictions and hidden costs of hair removal and issues a rousing call to women everywhere to throw out the razor and rediscover the joy of hair.
Kindle Edition
First published November 4, 2020
About the author
Bel Olid
116 books79 followersBel Olid (Mataró, Maresme, 1977) is a writer, translator and literature and creative writing teacher.
They have been very active as a translator into Catalan and, to a lesser extent, into Spanish, mainly of children's books, from German, English, French, Italian and Spanish.
They became known as an author in 2010 when they received the Documenta Prize for their novel Una terra solitària and the Rovelló Essay Prize for their study Les heroïnes contrataquen. Models literaris contra l'universal masculí a la literatura infantil i juvenil. Two years later they received the Roc Boronat Prize for La mala reputació, a collection of short stories which was very well received by readers and critics alike. In 2016 they published another short stories collection, Vents més salvatges, the picture book Gegantíssima and they were awarded the Apel·les Mestres Prize for Viure amb la Hilda (i els seus inconvenients). In Vides aturades (2017) they portray the testimony of people seeking refuge in Europe. In Feminisme de butxaca, kit de supervivència (2017), which reached its fourth edition within a year, they reflect on gender discrimination in our society. In 2018 they published their first book of poems, in a bilingual edition Catalan-Spanish: Ferida, udol, viatge, illa, in 2019 Follem? De què (no) parlem quan parlem de sexualitats, and in 2020 A contrapel: O per què trencar el cercle de depilació, submisió i autoodi.
Bel Olid regularly collaborates in many branches of the cultural media and written press. They were president of CEATL (European Council of Literary Translators' Associations, 2013-2015), and, from March 2015 to March 2022, president of Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).
They have been very active as a translator into Catalan and, to a lesser extent, into Spanish, mainly of children's books, from German, English, French, Italian and Spanish.
They became known as an author in 2010 when they received the Documenta Prize for their novel Una terra solitària and the Rovelló Essay Prize for their study Les heroïnes contrataquen. Models literaris contra l'universal masculí a la literatura infantil i juvenil. Two years later they received the Roc Boronat Prize for La mala reputació, a collection of short stories which was very well received by readers and critics alike. In 2016 they published another short stories collection, Vents més salvatges, the picture book Gegantíssima and they were awarded the Apel·les Mestres Prize for Viure amb la Hilda (i els seus inconvenients). In Vides aturades (2017) they portray the testimony of people seeking refuge in Europe. In Feminisme de butxaca, kit de supervivència (2017), which reached its fourth edition within a year, they reflect on gender discrimination in our society. In 2018 they published their first book of poems, in a bilingual edition Catalan-Spanish: Ferida, udol, viatge, illa, in 2019 Follem? De què (no) parlem quan parlem de sexualitats, and in 2020 A contrapel: O per què trencar el cercle de depilació, submisió i autoodi.
Bel Olid regularly collaborates in many branches of the cultural media and written press. They were president of CEATL (European Council of Literary Translators' Associations, 2013-2015), and, from March 2015 to March 2022, president of Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).
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