For a long time now, I’ve believed that body hair shouldn’t be controlled by gender ideals. I have let my leg hair grow up to five months. During the winter, when I mainly wear long sleeves, I let my armpits grow out. However, I always end up conforming to the societal pressures of being a hairless woman. I have always wondered why I could never feel confident enough to show off my hair legs or armpits to the public. Inspired by the ‘Gavin & Stacey’ Christmas special, in which Nessa states that she didn’t shave for the entire month of January, I too decided to partake in ‘Janu-hairy’. Because if Nessa can do it, so can I.
I had a little head start as I hadn’t done anything to my leg hair since waxing them in November and I hadn’t shaved my armpits a couple of days before the new year. So, when January came around and it was time for my annual New Year’s Day Dip – I did it with existing hair on my armpits. Being in a bikini with armpit hair was a different experience and, if I’m honest, it didn’t feel all that different. However, mentally, I was still consciously thinking about my body hair. I wanted to put my hair up to swim but felt uncomfortable exposing my armpits without being able to cover them, or at least obscure them, so I left my hair down and bowed to the pressure.
A week into Janu-hairy, I discovered that this is a real thing—not just a “Gavin & Stacey” punchline. As I was scrolling through Instagram, I found the Instagram account: @januhairy. Their bio reads “Igniting a conversation and educating one another on the prickly subject of body hair. Are you joining in this #januhairy?” I looked through it to discover many empowering pictures, art and stories about women who are embracing their body hair. Not only is the Instagram account encouraging women to be comfortable in their body hair, but they are also raising money for a good cause: Tree Sisters, an organization that protects and restores natural habitats to fight climate change.
After making it halfway through the month, I reflected on how I felt about not shaving. I wondered how it would feel if body hair on women was normalised. Personally, I like not shaving because I feel as if it’s a direct defiance of patriarchal control, it makes my daily routine much easier, and, most of the time, I like the look of it. Although I have personal preferences about shaving my armpit hair versus my leg hair (I am much more comfortable with my leg hair), I believe that it would be much more liberating for there not to be any external standards on what is acceptable. The main regulators of women’s body hair are men—who have established women’s hair as unsexy and gross, and do not apply the same standards to themselves. Why? Because it isn’t gross to have body hair … whatever your gender.
Pressure from society comes in many different shapes and forms. Social media is a prime example of this—the comments under pictures of women with body hair are relentless and cruel. When I first saw a picture of a woman with body hair and the comments underneath, I was disappointed but not surprised by the fact it wasn’t just men commenting on these things. Many women have internalized these patriarchal ideas about body hair, and I am admittedly a victim to these ideas too. When I was in my early years of high school, I heard a friend make a comment about another girl’s leg hair, which stuck with me. I went home and begged my mum to let me shave; I quite literally begged her. I was desperate to get rid of hair that I had never even paid attention to before, simply because of one girl’s comment. If one comment made that effect on me, think about the abundance of comments other young girls might hear and be pressured by. Often times, we forget where the root of our disgust lies and we don’t recognize the male gaze that has been so heartily instilled in our perception of beauty. Another time, when I was older and more confident about my body hair, I heard a young girl say to her mum after looking at my leg hair: “I don’t know why people don’t shave”. I truly hope that she will grow up and unlearn these patriarchal ideas.
After 31 days without shaving, I did it. However, truthfully, I still have a long way to go until I’m fully comfortable with my body hair. I hope that beyond just a thirty day challenge, I can become more confident and tear away at the preconceived notion that female body hair is repulsive. Even though it’s no longer Janu-hairy, I will continue to work on my body hair self-acceptance.
