A lot of us know that removing body hair is pretty much pointless; it’s just a sexist cultural practice that has been around for centuries, but we all feel inclined to do it anyway. The biggest thing that stood out to me as I started growing up was shaving my legs; my mother got me a razor at the age of twelve, and ever since then I’ve felt like I had to shave.
Even though I don’t really conform to the concept of gender, I still feel the social pressure to shave. I couldn’t even go a day without shaving and I believed that people would make quick assumptions about appearing female and not having shaved legs. I realized that I was pleasing other people and not myself, so this summer, I decided to stop shaving my legs.
At first, I still felt the social pressure, but that’s why I decided to stick with it. I would be quick to get defensive when people who are close to me said, “I think you should still shave,” or “I just don’t like the way it looks,” but that doesn’t matter. It took me some time to realize that I didn’t think I should shave, and I didn’t care about the way it looked. Trying to remove yourself from social pressure is a hell of an adjustment. But it was worth the adjustment period, because I feel a lot more like myself than I ever have before. Who knew something as “small” as shaving your legs could influence so much of your identity?
I don’t feel inclined to be someone who I’m not. Shaving my legs has made me feel like I was only doing things to satisfy others, and not my own well-being. It wasn’t worth the stress of making sure I was completely hairless before leaving the house, it wasn’t worth feeling that I wasn’t attractive enough, it wasn’t worth feeling that I was “disgusting” if I forgot to shave for a few days, and it wasn’t worth any of the social pressure that came with it.
It’s ironic; I thought I was shaving my legs to keep me feeling good about myself when in reality it was doing the exact opposite. When I stopped shaving my legs, my gender identity was no longer a source of stress. I realized that labels are set out for us to conform to, but it’s also okay if we don’t. I learned that I don’t have to do what’s right for others, but I can do what’s right for myself, too. I learned that I am not what society tells me to be or what gender tells me to be. I am me, and that’s it.
So be who you really are. Pick up or put down that razor, it’s all up to you.