Interesting

[curiousk]

Yesterday, I was watching the show " 600 lb Life" on TLC.  The person that the show was about was a woman named Krystal.  She was morbidly obese and in need of weight loss surgery.  She has a condition called PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome.  This condition causes her to grow facial hair to the point that if she doesn't shave at least every other day, she'll grow a full moustache or beard.  So shaving her face is a part of her daily routine because that's the easiest, accepted way to deal with facial growth for a man or woman.  I don't believe that she would be shamed for taking this course of action to handle this problem.  

This ties into us men who choose to wear a bra for our breast growth.  We believe the best way to handle having enlarged breasts is to wear a bra and that's acceptable.  We have breasts that are large enough to need the support that a bra brings so it's an accepted part of hormone imbalance that gives us boobs and some women facial hair that requires shaving.

Just thought the parallel was interesting.

[SideSet]

 I agree. Through nothing she did, she grew facial hair like a man, so needed to shave like a man.   If she didn’t shave, just imagine the beard she would have on her face. 

 Through nothing we did, we grew breasts like a woman, so need to wear a bra like a woman. If we went around braless, just imagine all the nipping out and jiggling on our chests. 

In both cases, best to do with the opposite gender does than to try to stay within strict rules  for our assigned genders. 

 She shops for razors and shaving cream, and anybody  seeing her I can tell they are for her because she needs to shave just like a man does. We shop for bras and anybody seeing us can tell the bras are for us because we need to wear a bra just like a woman does.

[taxmapper]

Blows out alot of established norms eh? 

[curiousk]

I agree. Through nothing she did, she grew facial hair like a man, so needed to shave like a man.  If she didn’t shave, just imagine the beard she would have on her face.

 Through nothing we did, we grew breasts like a woman, so need to wear a bra like a woman. If we went around braless, just imagine all the nipping out and jiggling on our chests.

In both cases, best to do with the opposite gender does than to try to stay within strict rules  for our assigned genders.

 She shops for razors and shaving cream, and anybody  seeing her I can tell they are for her because she needs to shave just like a man does. We shop for bras and anybody seeing us can tell the bras are for us because we need to wear a bra just like a woman does.

You nailed it.   Probably the first few times she had to go out to buy razors and shaving cream, I'm sure she was embarrassed and self conscience, but it got easier for her to do after a few weeks or months.  While she still might be slightly embarrassed, she still goes out and buy razors and shaving cream.
I have no embarrassment to go out and shop for bras or try on.  They are for my comfort first and appearance second.  Acceptance of your situation allows you to freely seek out solutions and in this case, wearing a bra helps control enlarged breasts.  Best decision I've made. 

[Dale Warnio]

While bra shopping, I have been told a number of times  by sales associates that you would be surprised how many men they have fitted for bras. 

[aboywithgirls]

It is very interesting. I can draw a parallel to that with my own life. I was just 16 years old when I was professionally fitted with my first bra. That's about the average age when teenage boys start shaving. I was clearly not on that path. lol

[curiousk]

Honestly, I could have been doing the same thing as you.  I probably didn't start shaving until my early 20's.  No reason to shave before that.  I probably could have gotten fitted for a bra when I was 11-12 years old.  Watching that show got struck a cord with me, how similar the situations were.

[Traveler]

Honestly, I could have been doing the same thing as you.  I probably didn't start shaving until my early 20's.  No reason to shave before that.  I probably could have gotten fitted for a bra when I was 11-12 years old.

Amazing how we all have overlapping situations.  It’s not all the same with each of us, but there are a lot of similar stories.
I was pretty hairless too until my 20’s and could pass the pencil test by 13-14. Getting my hormone profile recently has explained so much about my situation. Haven’t watched the show but it sounds like it’s another example of our differences aren’t that different.

[Evolver]

There is an aspect of this where I'm going to stick my neck out and go against the grain here.

Although I can obviously see the similarities in personally using a product in a way that does not fit the normal gender styereotype, whether it be a razor or a bra, the outcome is different.

The lady in question is buying and using shaving products to temporarily get rid of her facial hair, but men with gynecomastia do not buy and wear bras to get rid of their breasts! They do it to manage the breasts that they have learnt to accept and make themselves more comfortable.

If the comparison is purely between female facial hair and male breasts, then every time Krystal shaves it is like a man with gynecomastia undergoing a double mastectomy. My point is, the purpose of her shaving is different to the purpose of a man wearing a bra. She doesn't accept her facial hair. She's doing it to comply with her expected gender stereotype regarding physical appearance. To me, the perfect comparison would be for her to accept her facial hair, grow a beard and mo' and buy a grooming device product to keep it trimmed in her preferred style, just like some men buy different styles of bras to contain and shape their breasts in different ways.

[taxmapper]

Well I will throw in this. 

We have all heard of and seen various pictures and memes of the "Bearded women" of the old timey freak shows of the 19th century. 

Men with breasts have been shown throughout history without a single nod of an eyebrow upward. (buddha?)   But the core of this is that established norms say women do not grow facial hair and men do not have boobs. So ergo, a woman shouldn't be shaving her face and a man shouldn't be wearing an over the shoulder bolder holder.  
otherwise she is seen as a mutant of some sort and he is looked upon as a cross dressing freak. 


Yet, here we are, and thus the comparison IMO is valid.   


The grand irony for me is that I actually want mine to get larger.  Go figure that! 

So to me the lady has an issue that in reality if we are as open minded as some would claim, this would almost be a non issue. 

[Johndoe1]

For the "what it is worth", IMO, she has not accepted her facial hair by the fact she is trying to keep it shaved to look "female". How many of us have tried to hide our chests to appear "male"? (my hand goes up). Has she admitted she has facial hair and should do something about it? Yes. But admitting is not the same as accepting. I admitted I had breasts for years, but have only come to accept them in the past few years. Now we don't know if she indeed did come to accept the facial hair and then decided like many men she would rather shave than deal with the hair (again, my hand goes up).  I accept my facial hair (what I have), but for me, I would rather not have a hairy face, so I shave. But in my younger days I did grow out my hair and had a beard. I currently have neither. Does that mean I don't accept my hair on my head or face?

Something to stir the pot because I can!

[FredL]

The parallels are more like this:


Neglect. Woman letting beard grow out without maintaining it = Man letting boobs hang freely.

Accept. Woman Getting a beard trimmer and maintaining a beard = Man wearing bra for support and shape.

Conceal. Woman getting a razor and shaving beard = Man wearing compression garment or loose, layered clothing to hide.

Rectify. Woman getting electrolysis, or solving the underlying problem = Man getting surgery.

[gmast]

For the "what it is worth", IMO, she has not accepted her facial hair by the fact she is trying to keep it shaved to look "female".

Seriously?  If a guy thinks he looks better without a beard and shaves, he hasn't accepted his facial hair?  Oh look, its posted on April 1.

[Johndoe1]

For the "what it is worth", IMO, she has not accepted her facial hair by the fact she is trying to keep it shaved to look "female".

Seriously?  If a guy thinks he looks better without a beard and shaves, he hasn't accepted his facial hair?  Oh look, its posted on April 1.

[p.r.1974]

Having been blessed/cursed with very little body hair my entire life, I would have chosen to have more while growing up, and less now. I choose to shave my face due to the patchy and sparse look, because I present the best version of myself this way. I also wear bras for the same reason. As we develop and accept who we become, our opinions and how we present ourselves changes.

With the woman shaving, and the male wearing a bra, the common thread appears to be societal blending by not drawing as much attention. A full beard on a woman and swaying boobs on a man, with current societal binary gender designations, would attract the eye of some. The difference is that most people seem to asses and move on, while some pass judgement and harass before moving on.