- Gender studies professor encourages class to challenge social norms on appearance
- Students say they were shocked by reaction from family and friends
Female
students at an Arizona university have been offered the chance to earn
extra credit by not shaving their armpit hair for a whole semester.
The
unconventional offer was made by women and gender studies professor
Breanne Fahs as a way to get her students to challenge social norms.
Male
students on the Arizona State University course are also able to apply
for extra credit, but to qualify they have to shave all their hair from
the neck down.
Course challenge: Students, from left, Kurt
Keller, Emily Dysart, KC Lindley, and Grace Scale show off their new
looks on the gender studies course
Fahs,
who is director of the Center for Feminist Research on Gender and
Sexuality, encourages her students to document their experiences in a
journal for the 10-week semester.
Social experiment: Professor Fahs offers female students extra credit for not shaving their armpits
She
said the social experiment helps students analyze society's attitude to
genders, with female students facing ridicule for having hairy armpits,
and the men gaining insight into how much pressure is put on women to
stay hair free.
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