You know who you are. You spend hours of your days just working on hair removal, and frankly, you hate it. You wish you could be like those girls who can go weeks without shaving, and no one would notice. You probably spend your time bleaching, tweezing and shaving for what seems like no pay off. Who notices when you shave? Seriously, no one. Who notices when you don't? It feels like everyone.
The truth is that it shouldn't matter. It's no one's business whether you shave or not. You've been told your whole life that you need to fit a certain standard of beauty, and it's time to realize that standard is wrong.
Now, if you enjoy shaving, you should do what you want. If you enjoy something, who am I to tell you to stop because I personally don't enjoy the same thing? It's all about your preference, but it's important to think about why you shave. Are you doing it because you feel like you should or have to? Or are you doing it because you genuinely enjoy rubbing a razor against sensitive parts of your skin?
I'm a skeptic when it comes to women who enjoy shaving. I'll never tell someone they shouldn't do it, but I just wonder what's enjoyable about it. Why would you want to spend so much time trying to get rid of something that grows naturally on your body? It's important to ask yourself why you're doing something that's been ingrained in you by society. I don't think we do it enough.
If you're like me, you're hairy and hate being told you should do something about it. Maybe you're ashamed of the hair that grows in embarrassing places, and maybe you give in and shave because you're afraid of being judged. Well, you should know something; hair is supposed to be there. It wouldn't grow there if it wasn't supposed to be there. And you know what? If someone tells you otherwise, you don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Maybe your boyfriend thinks it's gross that you don't shave, so ask him to do the same for you. Ask him to shave his legs, do his eyebrows and use chemicals to burn off his facial hair. If he's not comfortable doing it for you, why should he expect you to do it for him? It should go both ways.
Maybe some of your girlfriends tell you that they think it's gross that you don't shave. Tell them if they don't like it, they don't need to look at it. It may seem a bit harsh at first, but no one should give their opinion of your body without your consent. It's toxic comments like those that contribute to the hairy-girl hate that we get.
I used to get picked on at a young age for the hair that grew on my face and legs. Kids would pull at the hair on my arms, and I would come home and ask my mom if she could shave my legs for me. After I got old enough to try it on my own, I cut my skin almost every time I shaved. I have scars, both physical and emotional, from the bullying. I wish there was someone who told me that I was fine the way I was. It took so long for me to realize that my hairiness is natural and completely normal.
Right now, I don't shave much. I take care of my brows often, but as far as hair removal goes, I don't pay much attention to it. I'm sure people look at me, and I'm sure people think that I just don't care. To an extent, they're right. I used to care so much about what people would think about my hairiness but it's exhausting and painful. I decided that self love was more important than personal appearances.
Being older and in college now, I've noticed that a huge trend has appeared that kind of feels like a slap in the face. I'm talking about big brows. Girls everywhere are grabbing all sorts of makeup and filling their brows in to make them bigger. How awful is that? How awful is it that all your life, you were tormented because of the hair on your face only to find out years later that it's now "trendy"?
Honestly, big brows are beautiful, natural or not. Don't get me wrong; I love a good, filled brow. It's just a bit disheartening to find out later that your reality is someone else's trend.
To all the hairy girls out there, you're beautiful the way you are. Hairy legs, arms, brows, face and all, you are a goddess from head to toe. The teasing looks and comments are nothing compared to how positively perfect you are. I know it's a struggle to love yourself (hair and all) but I know you can do it. In the end, if you decide that shaving is still right for you, then I applaud you. I don't have the patience for it.
