Now that it seems spring has finally sprung for good, and with summer just around the corner, there are more and more opportunities to wear less and less. Unfortunately for some people, showing off bare skin can be a source of anxiety because of social stigmas against body hair. Although men face their fair share of body shaming for having too much or too little or hair in the wrong places, the body hair issue is especially troublesome for people who identify as women. Case in point, a simple Google image search for “body hair” show results almost exclusively for men with hairy chests. Another search for “hairy legs” will also conjure up (what appear to the normalized eye to be) men’s legs because nearly every picture is a disembodied pair of legs without any indication of whom these legs belong to. It’s almost as if the people posing in these photos are reluctant about having their faces associated with their hair on their legs.
As someone with naturally dark, thick hair, I began shaving as soon as my mother allowed me to. Before this, I complained to my best friend that my mom wouldn’t let me shave yet, and she agreed that my legs were just too hairy to remain unshaven. I would spend the next eight years shaving every other, if not every, day. I even became concerned about other hairy parts of my body and so I tried shaving the peach fuzz on my stomach and lower back, and although I never shaved my arms, I knew other girls who did and wondered if I should be doing the same. It wasn’t until I became friends with girls who made a conscious decision not to shave that I became even a little bit comfortable letting my own hair grow out. Now, I only shave when I feel like it.
The issue of body hair can be a comfort issue as well. Apart from the social stigma making some people uncomfortable with a completely natural part of their biology, the physical hair itself can be uncomfortable for some people. Shaving and then letting hair grow back in can irritate skin, dry it out, create ingrown hairs, and cause horrible itching. For some people, it’s easier to just let the hair grow out and, for others, it’s better to shave it every day as a preventative measure.
Many people take also into consideration the preferences their significant other or hookup when deciding what to do with body hair. This is by no means true in all situations, and if a woman decides not shave anything, ever, she should not be shamed for it, especially in an intimate space. But I know there are men out there who will take into account if their significant other prefers to kiss them when their faces aren’t scratchy with stubble. With this in mind, it seems harsh to criticize women in the name of some high-minded ideal for shaving in preparation for a hookup. Like putting on makeup, doing something to alter your appearance for another person becomes problematic only when it’s compensation for an insecurity and not simply a confidence booster.
Sophia Loren, Italian actress in the 1950s and 1960s
It’s been said before and it will be said again by people who have more authority than I do: keeping or removing your body hair is a personal choice. Still, we have not reached a point where this choice is respected. Social media has done a fair amount to help erase stigmas, but it’s different seeing a picture on a screen and a person in real life, especially because bodies and the way hair grows out of them come in so many varieties. It is different seeing a photo of Miley Cyrus with her pink-dyed armpit hair and the girl sitting across from you in class. Personally, every time I see someone with body hair where I don’t expect, I am little shocked. But I immediately remind myself that this shock is only a product of what has been ingrained into me since I was twelve-year-old begging my mom to let me shave. Even when I don’t shave my own legs for a couple weeks, I can’t help but stare at them and admire how different they look. When I don’t shave, I feel powerful, but when I do, I feel pretty, and I’m still trying to decide if this is okay. I’m still coming to terms with my own relationship with my body hair. I think when there are more willing and courageous individuals who proudly bare the body hair they are most comfortable with, especially if it’s in a way that is outside the norm, they better our chances of breaking down the body hair stigma for everyone.
Image Credit: Allen T on Pinterest, Gurl, Angry Trainer Fitness, Bustle