Recently pictures of dyed armpit hair have sprouted on the internet. Although there might be more noble causes, a “Free Your Pits Manifesto” has accompanied the pictures. We have, it seems, a movement. Regarding women dyeing their unshaved pits, I have, however, no opinion. Yes, that makes me a bad blogger.
What I do find interesting is a line from the manifesto: “Whether you shave or not, women should be allowed to make decisions about their bodies without judgment from others.” Notice that the right requested is not the right to dye their pits, it is the right to do so without anyone judging their decision.
Although the issue itself may be trivial, the logic and rhetoric being used illustrates how easily demands for tolerance can lead to tyranny. The right to be free from judgment can mean three things:
1) freedom from people rudely shoving their judgments in our face
2) freedom from even hearing someone’s judgment
3) freedom from anyone even making a silent judgment
The first kind of freedom is just a freedom from rudeness. This would be nice for all folks—not just those with blue armpits. I’m not sure it needs a manifesto.
The second kind of freedom slides down the slope into censorship. Not only do I have the right to flash blue pits, I have the right to do so without anyone raising an eyebrow or voicing disapproval. If they dare judge my blue pits as ugly or unsightly, I can shame them into silence by calling them “intolerant”, “pit bigots”, or the “body-hair Gestapo.”
The third kind of freedom from judgment is truly scary and Orwellian. You are not even allowed to think a negative judgment. Approval is demanded. If you are silent, your silence may be interpreted as disapproval and judgment. This moves beyond the censorship of speech into censorship of thoughts—all in the name of tolerance.
Of course those seeking to be free of others’ judgments seldom mean it, for judgments can be either positive or negative. The goal is not, I think, to prevent people from judging their blue pits as beautiful. This judgment would be welcomed. To truly not judge others means to neither approve nor disapprove of how they look or behave. When we say someone is kind, attractive, or godly, we are making a judgment.
So this right isn’t about judgment, it is about the right to act without criticism. It is the demand that all dictators have made. It is cowardly in several ways. A courageous rebel weathers the disapproval of others, fights through the criticism leveled at them, and blazes her own path. Blue armpit hair may or may not win the battle for broad acceptance, but its champions have no right to skip the battle.
In many areas of controversy, especially those regarding sexual morality, our society has moved toward the third kind of freedom from judgment: the freedom to silence and slander those with whom we disagree. We really do need greater tolerance—tolerance for free and open debate.
