You’ve been trying on outfits in preparation for your night out for 30 minutes now. You aren’t liking the color combinations, things aren’t fitting like they used to and you’re contemplating just telling your friends that you aren’t going to be able to make it to the party tonight. That’s when you remember you have a cute bodycon dress hiding in your closet that you’ve never worn. You slip the dress on and yell to your roommates that you’re right behind them as they rush to the Uber that’s waiting downstairs. You’re feeling yourself. You’re finally ready to go and as you’re slipping your shoes on you realize you haven’t shaved your legs in weeks. You don’t have time to do a quick dry shave before you leave and you definitely don’t have anything else that looks better than the outfit you have on now. So, now what? Do you take a rain check on your night out? Do you go as is? Or do you just tell your friends to go on without you until you get yourself together and meet up with them later?
The answer to that question is completely subjective. No matter if you choose to wax your armpits weekly or grow your pubes out until the hair can be cornrowed, the only opinion that matters when it comes to how you choose to present yourself is your own. The presence of body hair doesn’t affect your level of attractiveness, hygiene or likeliness to be socially accepted. Our body hair is a sign of womanhood and being so quick to remove it is an imposition of society’s gender normalities. And as humans and mammals, it’s expected for body hair to grow everywhere except for on the lips, palms of hands and soles of feet. Quite fairly, people who exile others due to a naturally occurring bodily function aren’t people who should be kept in good company anyway.
A laundry list of celebrities openly wear their body hair in the public eye; Mo’Nique, Zazie Beetz (from FX’s Atlanta), Madonna, Lisa Bonet and Penélope Cruz, just to name a few. As are there celebrities who publicly speak about their choice to remove their body hair; Draya Michele, Jackie Aina (YouTube Content Creator) and Kim Kardashian.
So, when the time comes to decide whether you’re going to Nair off the peach fuzz on your arm this week, do it. Or don’t. But don’t allow your decision to impact your self-confidence. Because at the end of the day, it’s just hair. No worries.