At the tender age of ten, I reached for the ever-forbidden razor and shaved off my sideburns. I couldn’t tackle another comment about how masculine I looked, and definitely wanted to stop being compared to the famed Elvis Presley. But in retrospect, I do wonder what kind of emotional trauma leads to a ten-year-old feeling insecure about herself. Once I picked up that razor, my sideburns became a life-long issue. Till this very day, I have to resort to shaving or waxing my face to avoid ‘looking like a man’. It is ironic, though, that these hateful comments usually came from figures that identified as male. I guess men can’t handle women taking their place in any context.
Yet, the problem isn’t always just men. Yes, I’ve had the guy I like comment on my mustache, but girls can be the cruelest, pointing out these ‘flaws’. While some say its women just looking out for one another, the fact is that hairlessness has become somewhat of a societal norm. If you don’t follow, you don’t fit in. I can’t lie either, I know I too poked fun of my classmate in 9th grade who refused to wax their mustache.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating for myself to grow out a beard, but I am aiming to bring awareness towards how taboo the idea of facial hair has become. How often do you see an Instagram model with a single hair sticking out of their chin? Probably never. It could be photoshop, or it could be reality, but it sets a standard. They don’t call us ‘followers’ for nothing. In a world so digital it’s easy to get influenced, but we need to remember that at the end of the day we’re human and not an Instagram post. Humans have hair!
But, at least messy eyebrows are currently in fashion?! Isn’t it amusing how social media decides for us what to do with our faces? Remember in the early 2000s when thin, pencil eyebrows were the trend? And then in the earlier part of the 2010s we had the fuller brows with faded arches. I almost can’t keep up, but the latest untamed brow trend does give us one less area of facial hair to worry about.
I am, at large, insecure about my facial hair. But, at a steep price of $5 (minimum) for upper-lip wax, forgive me if you see some hair sticking out. The money spent on trips to the salon accumulates! A lot of people, particularly males, don’t seem to realize how fast that shit grows back. Waxed a week ago? You already got some hair coming in. I guess I like to blame my rapid hair growth on genetics. I’ve caught myself envious of people with lighter hair, the ones whose facial hair you can only see if the sun shines directly at them.
Many might argue that there are numerous alternatives to going into the salon and getting waxed or threaded, like the facial hair-removal creams or the at-home wax strips. I’ve tried them all, many of them leaving my skin burnt, and all with the same result: more hair! Sometimes you do have to settle, though. I’ve voluntarily burned my face more than once, and no matter how loud the voices in my head tell me not to put the razor on my face, I’ve done that more times than I can count too.
Maybe if we started speaking up about our insecurities they wouldn’t be insecurities anymore. The problem is we’re afraid to challenge society, we’re afraid to be shut out. Empower yourself, step out of your comfort zone with your upper-lip a bit darker than before! Let your sideburns grow out so you can finally push them back! Embrace your neck hair and don’t be afraid to go backless!
Hair is natural, it’s human, and it’s scientifically proven to be beneficial. What else is holding in your sweat? Stop stigmatizing hair, it’s ridiculous. Perhaps sooner or later I’ll invest in laser treatments and get rid of the ‘problem’ forever, or maybe I’ll embrace it. But until then, if you see me with a lil stache going on, just try to love me for who I am –we’d both be doing my bank account a huge favor.