oh SNAP! oh, no she di'int!!! Girl, you did NOT just... WHATEVER! (the previous to be exclaimed in a semi-hysterical/faux-ebonics manner. think Justin Timberlake video.)

...but yes, very funny. ha ha, Joe is hairy. and you know what, i'm going to buy one of those motherf**kers. because, goddamnit, shaving your back is physically difficult and time consuming and it's about time that somebody came up with a device to make it easier. and i, for one, applaud them. it's an odd double standard, really. it is common knowledge that women's legs and underarms are regularly shaved to make them smooth, that their natural state is hairyness, yet the shaved leg is seen as the norm and the hairy leg the deviation from the norm; as if a woman had to go out of her way to make her legs hairy. she's thought less of if she takes no action. the man with the hairy back, however, can't win. just the knowledge that his back is hairy damns him. if he does nothing it's "eeeew, he's got a hairy back!". if he shaves his back it's, "eeeeew, he has to shave his back!".
so i'm gonna get one of those machines. and if it's a well designed, useful product i'm going to use it often. and proudly display it next to my tweezers and soap and deodorant and hair products and the thingy that cuts nose and ear hair (don't get me started on the ear hair)and nail clippers and all the other items that i use to try and look presentable. and EVERY SINGLE time i shave my back i'll think of you, baby. every hair that falls from my shoulder will say "Thank you". thank you.

Heh. As I read your comment, all I could imagine is you doing it in your Revival Preacher voice.

Did you know why North American women shave their legs? The practice only started in the 1930's during WWII when all nylon went into parachute production leaving none to cover women's legs. Women would shave their legs, dye them or tan them and use eyebrow pencil to draw a seam up the back to make it look like they were wearing stockings. Then, when the war was over, the hairless look of legs stayed. Remember, it was only during WWII that there were both short skirts and a nylon crisis. Flappers had hairy legs, just hid them under their pantyhose. I think it was the flappers who started the trend of shaving their armpits.