I was upset. I didn't want to.
But I didn't really have a choice. Sliding off my shorts, I stepped into the tub. Shivered as my mother slathered my legs with white foam. Waited, trying to keep a brave face, even though inside, I was questioning it all. 15 minutes of my life, wasted, each month. Money, down the drain- literally. I was shaving. I've never done traditional, razor shaving before. I was adamant to only use the stuff that smells horrid and essentially burns the leg hair off. Even from the time OI started, I questioned why I was being forced to go through this ritual. As a woman, it seemed my duty to rid myself of any hair except for the stuff on my head, like it was a sin to have leg hair. That was contrasted with the fact that my dad had hair in every single place it grew, yet nobody ever accused HIM of not shaving. My mom was the most adamant about me shaving, and I know I got on her nerves when I complained. Because to her, I needed smooth skin to be beautiful. I was fed these lies all the time. "You'll never get a boyfriend if you don't shave." Because of my perpetually single status, that one hurt the most. Every look of disgust, of pity- from my own parent. All over leg hair. It hurt. I cried, was angry, hated my body- but I haven't shaved in months. And I'm proud of that. My own mother taught me to hate my body if there was so much as a single hair out of place. She had always told me I had a pretty face, but when it came to exposing my legs, I was hideous until all the hair was gone. I was angry that she needed me to be smooth to think me beautiful. I know it was her own insecurities about leg hair that caused her to be so harsh to me, but that's really no excuse. Treating me like a disgusting monster because I refused to shave did nothing but damage the relationship, until it felt like there was no one else to talk to about it. A fear lingered in my heart- if I told someone, they wouldn't agree, and join the chorus of voices telling me to shave it all off. I almost didn't have a choice in the matter, even though it was My body, and MY hair. I would grin and bear it, but the resentment would build steadily under the surface. Any reason I gave not to shave, they reciprocated with reasons WHY, leaving me to feel more and more ashamed. I hated it. I hated the fact that women were expected to have perfectly smooth, flawless skin, something that could really only be achieved with thousands of dollars spent on laser hair removal. I hated the feeling of shaved legs, the unnatural smoothness, the hard, pointy little stubs as it grew back. Shaving was a never ending cycle, and I just wanted it to stop. The average woman spends almost $8,500 in her lifetime shaving. She wastes 8 weeks of her life getting rid of something that will just grow back. Lots of women defend their shaving with excuses such as liking the smooth feel, thinking leg hair is disgusting, or any other sort of reason. However, I believe that this is not true. Women are taught from birth that women should not have hair anywhere but their head- period. Even before it starts to even grow in other places, they are taught to hate it. It's no wonder so many women hate the feeling of hair on their legs- because they never give it time to grow naturally and actually experience the feeling. All they've had is the hard, pointy little stubs. Same goes for hating the look. In a natural environment, most people probably wouldn't care. But in an age of rigid, unnecessary beauty standards, leg hair is considered ugly, and anyone who disagrees is shamed. Which is incredibly stupid, seeing as we all could be $8,000 richer and have an extra 8 weeks to do whatever we want. Shave shaming is an incredibly destructive force of body shaming, and the stupidest. Body shaming originated from American finally recognizing the obesity epidemic, and that's what it's fueled by. At its core, body shaming has grown from wanting people to be a healthy weight to expecting unrealistic shapes that no human can pull off without any negative effects. Body shaming people who are larger than what is considered "normal" at least has a health related reason. Body hair has none such. Body hair is not dangerous to your health. Body hair is not caused by eating bad foods. Body hair does not cause diabetes, heart problems, or cancer. The main danger in deciding not to shave is- you guessed it- shave shaming. In a world where women are constantly surrounded by unrealistic, gross expectations of their bodies, leg hair is just another nail in the coffin. It serves no purpose except to get you ridiculed, made fun of, seen as disgusting, and being called out by random strangers about your life choices. Parallel this to breastfeeding. People are against it for many of the same reasons. It's considered disgusting by some, unnatural by others, and still something you JUST DON'T DO. Yet why have we been having a push for more rights for mothers who chose to do this? Women are banding together and supporting each other, because they feel THEY SHOULD NOT BE SHAMED PUBLICLY. But guess what? Where are the people that are standing up for those who choose to go Au natural with leg hair, armpit hair, even ARM hair, and no makeup galore? Where are the people who believe that women are beautiful no matter what? Once we get into the hard set beauty standards, perpetuated by companies that sell razors, cosmetics, and other "beauty" products, women lose the sense of who they are. They're bodies that mst look a certain way, follow a certain regimen, just to be "beautiful". And that is where these women go wrong, obliterating their faces with plastic surgery, overshadowing their natural beauty with enough makeup for an army of clowns, shaving and cutting their skin forever because IT IS NEVER SMOOTH ENOUGH. When will ewe release ourselves from this shame of our bodies and learn that we are beautiful without all these superficial things? Women need to get off their own high horses of social insecurity and instead of shaming other women, help them to understand that they are beautiful just how they are. Shaving is unnecessary. So why is is required???
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AuthorAn 18 year old writer, drawer, tea enthusiast, beanie baby collector, INFJ, Pleiadian starseed and high schooler, Amanda enjoys mammals, drawing, and reading. She wants to be an editor, comic artist, alien, and own lots of pets when she grows up. Archives
January 2020
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