No woman should feel pressured into shaving '“ Lesley Keating

On the positive side, I totally get this because anything that enhances a woman's body image is great by me. 

But, the problem I have is that I actually feel more body-confident if I have waxed my legs and shaved my armpits.

Let's be clear, I'm not being anti-feminist here, I'm just exercising my own freedom of choice.

So, even if it is for charity, I'm not participating. I would rather just make a donation but carry on using an epilator, razor and wax. 

To be honest, it's actually lucky the initiative has come during the winter.

Most women would agree it's very convenient to skip a few days' hair removal in cold weather, under the cover of a pair of jeans or opaques.

However, I'm pretty sure they'd also think twice if they had to go natural in a pair of skimpy shorts or a bikini in high summer. 

No, we shouldn't have to feel pressured into hair removal but, yes, we still should have the right to do it if we want to.

Let's not beat about the bush (sorry, no pun intended). It's all about empowering women to be body confident and promoting positive body image, but that surely has to include those who prefer to run a razor over their armpits in the shower every day too? It doesn't make them any less feminist if they want to go hair-free.

Personally, it's all a step too far for me.

I really have no problem if others want to grow their leg hair long enough to plait it but I'm just not trotting along to my yoga class with armpit hair waving in the breeze.  

I really admire women who won't be dictated to by society into conforming to a stereotype.

We all have the right to be who we are, so good for anyone who thinks depilation is a chore and relishes a month off.

But I've made my choice.

 

Had enough of Brexit? Drone on about something else then

Both Gatwick and Heathrow have now been compromised by drones. What's going on? 

It's either something sinister like Russian intelligence-gathering or a nutter. It can't be an accident, can it? 

What exactly could someone really hope to gain? Aerial airport views can easily be found on Google Earth. There's a limit to what can be achieved with a drone and, if this was a sinister, covert mission, why not turn the lights off? On the other hand, there are probably idiots who think it's a laugh to disrupt an airport then sit back to watch the '˜fun' unfold.

My money's on Theresa May trying to deflect attention from Brexit.

 

GP was worried about the heavy breathing on my phone

The other day I had to call the surgery about a prescription and was told the doctor would call me back. 

The call-back happened to coincide with returning from a walk with our dog Milly who was still a bit over-excited. I was worried she might interrupt with a bark or whine during the call, so I put it on speaker-phone, popping her up on my lap for a cuddle while we spoke. 

The doctor suddenly asked if I was experiencing shortness of breath or respiratory symptoms which I thought was a bit random but confirmed I wasn't. It was only after I hung up I realised he must have heard Milly's heavy, rapid panting over the speaker. Heaven knows what he must have thought.