Should my sister allow her 12 year old daughter to shave her legs?

My sister and I were discussing what age she should allow her daughter to shave her legs. She is now 12 years old and asking all the time since her friends are all doing it. I think she should be comfortable with it as long as her daughter shaves all the time. She wants to wait a bit longer. What do you think?

I have always thought the whole thing about shaving being a rite of passage, to be a little silly. If you've got hairy legs, then shave them! Now, I've known five year olds with hairy legs, and I would say they are too young.

 However, if pre-teen girls experience a lot of hair growth, or even 8 or 9 year olds, they should be allowed to take care of business.

I remember being about nine or ten, and I had a little bit of hair growth. I had heard about shaving from the other girls at school, but my mom had never talked to me about it. I remember taking a bath one time, and just non-chalantly grabbing her razor, and shaving my legs. After that, I just started shaving regularly. I told her a few weeks later. She was a little surprised, but then just shrugged and gave me some tips. That was the end of it.

 I too was one with hairy legs! Not only was it long but it was thick and dark. Looked down right nasty! I never talked to my mom about it I just grabbed her razor one day cause I was tired of being made fun of in school and started shaving. She noticed her razor not lasting as long and asked if I knew why. I told her I started shaving. As far as I remember she was not mad or anything.