As the winter months approach, people begin to wear more layers and expose their skin less frequently. This leads to many girls deciding to not shave their bodies as regularly since no one will be seeing their body hair. If someone does happen to see it, their reaction tends to be a mixture of disgust and horror because our society expects women to have no body hair whatsoever. In order to avoid the shaming that would follow, some women would say that they were participating in “No Shave November” and that that was the only reason why they had not shaved. That typically lessens some, but not all, of the judgment.
I remember being in middle school around the beginning of December and the topic of “No Shave November” was brought up at lunch. A group of boys from my class started asking if any of the girls had participated in it, and one girl sitting near them said that she had. She then reached down to the bottom of her pant leg and started to slowly pull it up, which made the boys so repulsed that they turned their heads away from her. She then laughed and stopped pulling up her pant leg and said “Just kidding! Look!” And then the boys all slowly looked back at her leg and sighed in relief when they realized she was actually hairless. The entire exchange was witnessed by the majority of my class, and I can confidently say that the reaction the boys had ended up shaping the opinion of at least one person in my class on whether or not women should have body hair.
The idea that women should be hairless is introduced at a young age, typically before the person has even reached puberty. This beauty standard is not usually questioned, because it is passed down to us from our parents or teachers. By the time girls do hit puberty, they immediately want to shave away any body hair they have grown, and they continue to do so for the rest of their life.
The argument against women keeping their body hair is that it is “unhygienic” and “looks disgusting.” Those reasons are given most often when discussing pubic hair, but it is a proven fact that it is more hygienic to have pubic hair. Dr. Vanessa Mackay, a member of the the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, stated that
“Pubic hair offers a natural barrier to keep things clean, to decrease contact with viruses and bacteria, and to protect the tender skin of the area. While protecting against diseases and skin problems, pubic hair prevents foreign particles like dust and pathogenic bacteria from entering the body. Pubic hair also helps to control the moisture of the area which decreases the chances of yeast infections.”
As far as leg hair is concerned, there are some people that believe it helps keep you warm and others that do not. Even if leg hair serves no purpose, why should only women feel forced to shave it off? So that we can be considered “beautiful” by society? So that we spare people from feeling disgusted by the presence of hair in a region of our body that naturally grows it? It is not shameful to have leg hair or any other body hair.
Do not feel that you can only not shave during the month of November. If you never want to shave again, then do not. If you want to shave every single day, then do that. Women’s empowerment ultimately comes down to having the freedom to choose. Some feminists believe that you can only be a feminist if you do not shave because if you do choose to shave, you are conforming to beauty standards. Instead of criticizing the woman for shaving, criticize the society that made her believe she needs to shave. As long as she supports other women in their decision to shave or not shave, she can be a feminist, too.