This Shoe Brand Just Tried to Tell Their Female Customers To Shave Their Legs

Women, like cats, printers and the New York City subway, want to do what they damn well please. 

So, when a company tells women they should augment their natural appearance for someone who is not themselves, we get pissed.

Last week, the U.K. shoe brand Office, who Mic has reached out to for comment, sent out an email promoting their latest summer kicks. The email's subject line, as Huffington Post U.K. reported, was "Show a little leg," which is fine, as it is hot in the summer in parts of the world and some women do like to show their legs. 

But then, the tagline below read: "Just don't forget to shave them." 

The real message here: God forbid women sprout unsightly hair from their calves as they attempt to live their lives and thrive as they want to. God forbid that. 

Soon after the email was sent out to Office subscribers, a woman named Katy, who goes by the name AliceInWonderland3 on the motherhood blog Mumsnet, was ready to explain her disdain. 

In a post published on Sunday that already has more than 250 comments, Katy wrote, "I got an email this week from Office trying to sell me summer shoes, the email also told me not to forget to shave my legs." 

Read more: Eva Longoria's L'Oreal Face Cream Ad Tells Women Looking Sad Isn't Pretty

"AIBU [am I being unreasonable] to not want a business who wants female customers telling them they need to shave their legs?" she continued. "I shave my legs because I know people I encounter day-to-day will be horrified by body hair on a woman, but I don't need a business trying to make me feel bad if I choose to go outside without doing so. Or trying to make me feel disgusted by something natural." 

Below her post are comments like "If there's one thing you should be able to buy without being body shamed it's shoes" and "It is a bit crap, isn't it?" 

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Katy, 24, said that she still doesn't understand how a brand that's audience is women would make such a demand. 

"I was shocked that Office thinks it is any way acceptable to tell women they need to shave their legs," she said. "Companies that want women to buy their products should be positive towards women, not trying to make them feel insecure about their bodies." 

Unfortunately, this is far from the first time that a company has tried to persuade women to change their bodies for their products. In 2013, vaginal wipes were advertised to women with the tagline "Clean beavers get more wood," insinuating that in order to have more sex, women should clean themselves more. In 2015, the pen company BIC apologized for an ad that was meant to be empowering, but instead told women that in order to succeed they had to "Think like a man." And in just March, L'Oreal advertised a wrinkle cream that would rid of frown lines, because frowning women are more unattractive. 

Clearly, there's a pattern here of women being persuaded to be one way or another in order to be more attractive, or even more successful. When will it end?