I know most of you would have the “Oh My God” eww reaction after reading the topic. But it’s just hair that is and was part of you from the time you were born.
From the time we were young teenagers, mainly girls, we were always told to wax our legs and arms. Why? Because they are considered to be “unhealthy”. Of course, it’s a different thing that we as girls or women like to keep ourselves clean; it feels good. But why resent it?
According to the Women’s Museum of California, hair removal in Ancient Rome was often seen as an identifier of status. Wealthier women would find ways to remove their body hair, including using a pumice stone. Did you know this?
This hair-removal obsession has been existing since the 18th century itself, wherein a French barber Jean Jacques Perrett created the first relatively safe shaving instrument. And then, over centuries, it was then gradually refined. Ugh!
Most of you must be aware of the 1970’s era where hairy chests and Playboy bushes existed, but sadly it’s no more a feature of the ideal body. I completely blame the media for this. Hair on any part of the body, whether it be pubic hair or even underarm hair, is deemed abnormal and unnatural.
Hair removal is not a choice but has become more like a requirement or the norm to meet minimum standards, just to be “normal”.
Why is body hair important after all? Is it really? Well, the main purpose of body hair is to regulate our temperature in addition to keeping dirt out of our bodies. Our ancestors were the hairiest. Fun fact, people with more body hair are better at detecting bedbugs. Haha!
Did you know that some women get hair in certain places where usually other women don’t? Some get excess hair on the upper lip, chin, chest and back. It’s important to know this so that if you see anyone with this issue, you wouldn’t make fun of them.
Those women get hair in these areas because of the secretion of excess male hormones called androgens. So it’s honestly not appropriate to make fun of it as it then becomes their insecurity and they will hate you for mocking them.
That’s enough of body hair talk, I suppose. But I hope you learn to love your body hair after reading this. Love it the way it is, just like your fingers and legs are part of you; it’s the same with the hair.
To conclude. If men don’t have to wax, why do women have to? There’s a quote by Prachi Percy which I found very pure: “It’s on my legs, on my arms, it’s everywhere, it’s real, it’s nature, it’s my body hair.”
Do you still resent it?