Whether you wax, shave, pluck, or none of the above, body hair is something that all of us girls have, yet rarely talk about. Although everyone’s journey with body hair is different, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of girls have felt embarrassed by their body hair at one point in time, including me.
I want to take you guys back to me, ten years ago. I was 11 years old, about to start middle school, anxious as hell, and extremely insecure – especially about my body hair. It’s so crazy to me to look back and think about those days. I waxed my eyebrows and barely-there mustache constantly and feared people would notice any leg hair starting to grow back.
I never saw anyone on television with eyebrows like mine. I never saw anyone in magazines with leg hair like mine. I was so embarrassed by something so stupid and insignificant, simply because I thought that beauty meant having no body hair at all.
Now, I love my eyebrows. I embrace my peach fuzz, leg hair, and arm hair because guess what? Everyone has it! I wish I could go back and tell Sarah ten years ago that her eyebrows are beautiful and that no one in her gym class gives a crap about her forgetting to shave the night before.
Yes, I still shave and wax, but the difference is, I don’t feel ugly when I don’t. It took me years and years, but I have finally gotten to a place where I feel just as beautiful and just as confident whether I choose to remove my body hair or not.
From a young age, girls are taught to remove their body hair. Society makes “normal” seem like hairless, smooth legs instead of normal being the way we are naturally. Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to remove your body hair, there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep it either.
Although society has come a long way since when I first started to remove my body hair, there are still a lot more discussions to be had and progress to be made. Companies like Billie are already taking a stand against the beauty standard when it comes to body hair – their commercials showing women shaving real body hair – not the typical airbrushed, already smooth legs.
Let’s stop talking about body hair like it’s disgusting. Let’s support women – all women, regardless if they feel their best with shaved legs or grown out armpit hair. All bodies are beautiful bodies, whether you own a razor or not doesn’t change that.
All gifs sourced from Giphy.com