I was 14 when I got waxed for the first time. I still remember the exact facial expressions of the parlour lady when she looked at my ”virgin” skin and nodded her head in disapproval. That one hour made me realise that my limits of pain endurance weren’t as less as I thought them to be, after all, going through that amount of pain wasn’t easy. I loved the touch of my bare soft arms, but somehow I loved my hairy arms more.
Nevertheless, I kept visiting the parlour lady until November, but then the visits came to a halt till April. Why? Because I didn’t have to wear skirts to school in winters.
It took me four long years to realise and accept that I like my hairy arms better. Four years is quite a long time when it comes to accepting something as natural as body hair.
These four years of doubt were a result of the entertainment industry. In any TV show or movie, a girl having hairy arms or legs is always depicted as unattractive.
The tagline of a famous hair removal cream says “what beauty feels like”. When a famous actress who happens to be revered by millions of girls across the country says that beauty can only be attained if you get rid of your body hair ( which oh, by the way, is entirely natural), people are bound to believe her.
Perhaps what we need are real role models in our country, who do not sell us the beauty myth that society expects its young women and girls to follow. There are celebs like Rihanna and Bella Thorne who don’t shy away from showing their stubbly legs on Instagram, but we (Indians) only find the body hair on celebrities like Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar natural.
We need more women to tell us that getting rid of the body hair is not a requirement but a personal choice. There’s nothing wrong with waxing, shaving, threading or even laser hair removal ( if you can afford that), but if you choose to bid goodbye to the razor nicks, threading cuts or laser marks – that is not wrong either.
Because, you are beautiful, regardless.