Hair removal

[grain of mustard]

What do you think of people who get waxed by hair removal professionals (laser, wax, machine, etc.)? Is this okay? I've heard of people who work in this service. Some wax their private parts, etc. Is it wrong to wax someone or ask to be waxed? Note: This isn't prejudice. 

Edited Sunday at 11:26 AM by grain of mustard

[carlos]

What Bible principles do you think could apply to this, Raul? Is the action of waxing itself what you think might be objectionable, or rather exposing your private parts to someone else in order to have them shaved or waxed?

 

Interestingly, it seems that Joseph had to shave all the hair in his body to appear before Pharaoh, as was the custom among the Egyptians:

 

Quote

*** w15 11/1 p. 9 par. 3 Did You Know? ***
Was shaving limited to the beard? The magazine Biblical Archaeology Review suggests that some Egyptian ceremonial customs required a man to prepare to appear before Pharaoh as he would to enter a temple. In such a case, Joseph would have had to shave all the hair of his head and body.

 

 

 

[Brother_Bliss]

2 hours ago, grain of mustard said:

What do you think of people who get waxed by hair removal professionals (laser, wax, machine, etc.)? Is this okay?

 

Grooming is a personal conscience matter. 

 

2 hours ago, grain of mustard said:

I've heard of people who work in this service. Some wax their private parts. Is it wrong to wax someone...?

 

Also a conscience matter. It's not like we can't be doctors and nurses because we might see some private parts.

[Pionner_who]

It's a job like any other. What causes the error is sexual intent. Imagine a brother who is a veterinarian and has to perform in vitro fertilization. There would be touching of intimate parts, but without sexual intention.

[grain of mustard]

Your comments were very wise and thoughtful. They gave me a sharper understanding of the moral principle and intention behind the work. Thank you very much. But consider hypothetically that the Christian professional knows the client has ulterior motives, yet he performs his duties professionally, even though he sees the client as having malicious intent. Or, the Christian client thinks about or imagines a sexual act and becomes sexually aroused during the session. In both hypothetical cases, the client or the professional, or both, knew about the situation and still performed the work. In my opinion, and based on what was commented above, there was sin. I just don't know the degree of the sin, whether it was serious or not.  

[Ludwika]

24 minutes ago, grain of mustard said:

Your comments were very wise and thoughtful. They gave me a sharper understanding of the moral principle and intention behind the work. Thank you very much. But consider hypothetically that the Christian professional knows the client has ulterior motives, yet he performs his duties professionally, even though he sees the client as having malicious intent. Or, the Christian client thinks about or imagines a sexual act and becomes sexually aroused during the session. In both hypothetical cases, the client or the professional, or both, knew about the situation and still performed the work. In my opinion, and based on what was commented above, there was sin. I just don't know the degree of the sin, whether it was serious or not.  

I think you are going beyond what is reasonable, it's a conscience matter on personal grooming, it doesn't involve attending a sleezy "massage parlor" in a questionable part of town for example.

At the other end of the scale, some years ago, at a congregation gathering at the lake where we were living at the time, a sister was walking around with a considerable amount of hair showing from her bikini bottom and it looked positively indecent! Out of those two choices, give me waxing anytime! 

 

 

[BLEmom]

1 hour ago, grain of mustard said:

Your comments were very wise and thoughtful. They gave me a sharper understanding of the moral principle and intention behind the work. Thank you very much. But consider hypothetically that the Christian professional knows the client has ulterior motives, yet he performs his duties professionally, even though he sees the client as having malicious intent. Or, the Christian client thinks about or imagines a sexual act and becomes sexually aroused during the session. In both hypothetical cases, the client or the professional, or both, knew about the situation and still performed the work. In my opinion, and based on what was commented above, there was sin. I just don't know the degree of the sin, whether it was serious or not.  

Why are you worried about some very rare hypothetical situation?  Unless you are needing to get waxed yourself, I don’t understand why you are concerned about this. 

[carlos]

1 hour ago, grain of mustard said:

But consider hypothetically that the Christian professional knows the client has ulterior motives, yet he performs his duties professionally, even though he sees the client as having malicious intent. Or, the Christian client thinks about or imagines a sexual act and becomes sexually aroused during the session.

 

That sounds like a very specific situation. 

 

What you mention could happen to many professionals who have to see people undressed: doctors, nurses, caregivers for elderly or disabled people... Do they sometimes have to deal with someone with indecent intentions? Maybe, but as long as they just do their work there is nothing wrong in what they do. You may find people with indecent intentions in all kinds of situations and you simply ignore them. 

 

Of course, if you are considering that job and you think it will be a source of constant immoral thoughts for you, then you do well to avoid it. But if it's not something that affects you directly, there is no need to worry about it. 

[grain of mustard]

9 minutes ago, BLEmom said:

Por que você está preocupada com uma situação hipotética tão rara? A menos que você precise se depilar, não entendo por que está preocupada com isso. 

I've met two sisters who work in this area. One said she doesn't see men for the reasons I've outlined. The other said she sees both men and women. This is where the hypothetical situations came to mind. I'm not worried; I just want to understand the most appropriate perspective that aligns with Jehovah's moral standards.  

[BLEmom]

6 minutes ago, grain of mustard said:

I've met two sisters who work in this area. One said she doesn't see men for the reasons I've outlined. The other said she sees both men and women. This is where the hypothetical situations came to mind. I'm not worried; I just want to understand the most appropriate perspective that aligns with Jehovah's moral standards.  

It would be up to the ones who work in the industry to decide. Not for us to judge what they decide. Many of the friends have jobs as estheticians, massage therapists etc. How they choose their clientele and services would be up to them.  Each person has different weaknesses so what would not work for one person could be fine for another. 

[Qapla]

If we are going to always look for hypotheticals, where would it stop? Suppose a JW has a job as a:

• Doctor - their job may include having to give their patients physical exams and one of their patients is a prostitute, even though the doctor didn't know that, and they wanted the exam to make sure they were still safe in their job - is that a sin for the JW?
• Auto mechanic - the JW fixed a car that, even though the JW didn't know about it, some drug dealers then used that car to sell drugs from ... is that a sin for the JW?
• Bank teller - the JW works in a bank and records a deposit into a clients account not knowing the client stole the money - is that a sin for the JW?
• Uber/Taxi driver - the JW is paid to give someone a ride and drops them off at an apartment building and that person goes into an apartment and murders someone - is that a sin for the JW?

See how ludicrous it can be to dream up hypothetical situations so we can point to a potential "sin" that may not even happen - or even if it does, is not the fault of the JW. If a technician in the wax business removes someone's hair, be it on their arms, legs, chest or elsewhere and is not doing or thinking anything wrong - what that client does or feels before, during or after the procedure does not constitute a sin on the part of the JW.

 

If the client sins, what business is that of ours. We cannot stop people of the world from sinning in spirit, thought or deed.

 

We have far better ways to spend our time and effort than to constantly come up with hypothetical questions and/or situations. If we stay busy in the work of preaching the word and watching how we walk, we won't even think of all the "what-ifs" since we won't have the time or inclination to do so.

 

Edited Monday at 12:03 AM by Qapla

[dljbsp]

I think this topic has gone beyond what’s helpful. Matters like personal grooming or work choices that don’t violate Bible principles are really a matter between that person and Jehovah. (Romans 14:12)

 

It’s not for us to analyze how someone reached their decision or to speculate on their motives — that belongs to them, not to us. (Galatians 6:4, 5) Each one stands or falls to his own Master, and it’s enough that our own conscience is clean before Jehovah.

 

Sometimes discussions like this can shift from being informative to becoming intrusive, even if that’s not the intent. I think this one’s heading that way.

[Qapla]

Sine the OP question has been answered  -  we do not see a need to continue this thread