For the past few months, I have taken what some may call a "European" approach when it comes to grooming my body hair. Basically, I haven't shaved my legs since the beginning of March.
Yep, you read that correctly. I made it a whole summer without shaving my legs, something I haven't done since before sixth grade.
For many girls, shaving is a coming-of-age experience. Finally getting to have smooth, silky legs is one of the things preteens are taught to look forward to. When I first started, I used to try to shave my legs as soon as they became stubbly, about every two to three days. However, that didn't last long, as scraping one's legs with a dinky plastic handle and dull blade is time-consuming and expensive.
Days turned into weeks, and, by the time I was a senior in high school, I only shaved whenever I exposed my legs. However, worrying about how hairy my legs were and carving out time to shave any time I wanted to wear shorts or dresses was exhausting. I was scared that if I didn't shave, someone would be sure to notice and call me out for it.
Then, I went to college, and I slowly realized that I didn't have to shave if I didn't want to. Some of my friends hardly ever shaved, and we'd make jokes about who had longest leg hair. I started going months without shaving, regardless of what I wore. I was self-conscious at first, worried that even though people might not say anything about it to my face, they were judging me silently.
When my boyfriend and I first started dating, I was terrified of what he was going to say when I told him I didn't shave regularly. After we talked about it, he just looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Why would I care? It's your choice." Even though I knew this on some level already, it took a while for me to accept that it's my opinion, not anyone else's, about my body that matters.
What had started out as pure laziness has become one of the most liberating things for my body image. Now, I don't even give my legs a second thought when pulling on my favorite skirt.
No one has ever asked me directly why I don't shave or pointed it out. If they ever do, I'll politely tell them that it's for a number of reasons, the greatest one being that it's my body and my choice. Besides, it's really none of their business.
Going against beauty standards can be scary, but going along with them because you feel pressured to is far more painful. If you feel pressure to shave regularly and hate it, why not try cutting back? You might find that having soft hair (once you get past the prickly stage) and more time on your hands feels better than having smooth legs ever could.
