I don’t want to shave my legs

I don’t want to shave my legs

I’m sort of proud that I managed to go over a month without shaving my legs. Last time I shaved my legs was before Christmas and yesterday I caved and did it.

It’s this bizarre inner battle. It’s a life time of social conditioning that ladies legs must be smooth and silky at all times. The hair that sprouts constantly from my lower limbs is seen as unclean, uncouth and unlady-like; it’s almost as if it’s unnatural for a woman to have body hair!

BUT I know that is ridiculous! There is nothing unclean about my body hair, any more than having hair on my head is unclean (actually the hair on my head is probably much less clean and yet it is perfectly acceptable to walk around with it out there for everyone to see!)

I don’t agree with shaving my own legs; I don’t like it, I don’t enjoy it, over a life time it’s an expensive process – for absolutely no valid reason what so ever. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

That said your legs are entirely your own business. If you like shaving your legs, if you like how it looks, if you feel cleaner, if you enjoy it, if you are okay with the reasons you’re doing it – they are your legs! Go ahead and shave those pins!

So, why my break-down of resolve yesterday? My partner made a flippant remark in the car about them. Not even a negative one – it was just he’d noticed for the first time after a month of not shaving that I was a little bit furry below the knee and he simply said “What’s going on there?”

Within half an hour I’d bought myself a razor and as soon as we got home I was in the shower shaving ALL THE THINGS.

It wasn’t because I felt like my partner expected it, it wasn’t even FOR HIM, it was because somewhere in my brain a switch flipped from “They’re my legs and I’ll shave them if and when I darn well choose to” to “I need to do this because my body hair is disgusting.”

I suddenly felt self-conscious about it after weeks of walking around in shorts without a care.

And I felt bitter about it the whole time I shaved them. I don’t often get time to shower alone – I usually shower with small children, so it’s difficult for me to whip out a razor and slice all my leg hair off. So when I do get to enjoy those blissful moments alone in the shower I really would rather be doing ANYTHING ELSE. (Like doing nothing, nothing is good)

And this is not the first time I’ve been around this circle. And I’m sure it won’t be the last. I truly admire women who simply do not shave – and how absurd it that? Congratulations you have successfully not done anything about the fact that hair grows from your legs. *High fives* for not trying to maintain the ridiculous notion that women are naturally hairless below the eyebrows and removing or shaming any evidence that suggests otherwise.

And it’s not JUST being required to shave my legs that bothers me. I was furious on my partner’s behalf when in a previous job he was told he needed to shave his beard at work. Apparently his boss believes that beards are unprofessional.

(You know, because beards keep turning up late and come back from their lunch breaks drunk or something?)

How on earth can hair – that is clean and attached to someone’s body or face – possibly be “unprofessional”?

You know what is unprofessional? Telling someone that not shaving is unprofessional.

So, can we all just agree that if it’s attached to someone else’s body, if it grows their naturally, then it’s none of anyone else’s business whether they want it to remain there or not?

That’d be great. Thanks.