Women Have Body Hair - DEAL WITH IT


You'd think that, by now, the world would have accepted the fact that, yes, women have body hair and, no, sometimes they don't want to shave it off. But no, whether or not a woman ought to shave off every hair follicle on her body is still actually being debated, most of the time, by everyone other than women themselves.
Women have body hair, that's a fact. Men have it too. We're born with it and will have it until the day we die, on our heads, under our arms, on our legs, faces, backs, stomachs, genitals...in fact, there are only a few areas of our bodies on which hair doesn't grow, including our eyelids, lips, soles of our feet and palms of our hands.
Some body hair is darker, thicker and therefore more visible than others. We have terminal hair, which is long and thick, like beard hair, pubic hair, and armpit hair. So, guys, next time you want to poke fun at a woman for having body hair, remember that beard hair and penis hair are the same thing lol. We also have Vellus hair, which is finer, like wispy arm hair. As infants, we have Languo hair, which we lose hair pretty much right after we are born.

It astounds me how some body hair is more acceptable than others and how only one specific gender is supposed to have hair in certain areas. For example, hair on a woman's head is fine but, if she were to have none, it'd be strange. Hair on a man's head is cool but, if he's bald, it isn't an issue. Hair underneath men's armpits is expected but hair underneath women's armpits is apparently the work of the devil, likewise with legs. Men are expected to grow beards whereas women are encouraged to wax their upper lip every other week. Men are allowed to have unruly genital hair and women don't utter a word whereas women are expected to either have perfectly groomed, very little or, more often than not, absolutely no pubic hair whatsoever. Isn't that crazy, how the standards set regarding men and body hair are so low yet women are expected to be totally hair-free human beings and remove every tiny hair from every part of their body, despite it being A TOTALLY NATURAL HUMAN THING? Basically, if you're a woman, you're only supposed to have hair on your head, eyelashes and eyebrows, and even then they are supposed to look on point and perfectly styled at all times.

Being female can suck at the best of times. Being rejected from job applications, interrupted, refused equal pay and objectified simply for your gender can take it's toll yet we women still conform to the expectation that we're supposed to, basically, look like dolphins and have skin as smooth as...I don't know, something smooth. Actually, women aren't dolphins, women are sharks.
There is constant pressure on females to look a certain way and with that comes shaving or waxing away "unacceptable" body hair, the most common being the arm pits, legs and genitals. Some women even go as far as to seek laser hair removal treatment in order to permanently rid themselves of the sinful hair with which they were born. It's sad, really. I know we joke about it like "OMG I haven't shaved my legs in three months" but, honestly, why should you? I know hairless legs look nice, but how did we ever fall into this trap? How did it even come about that women can't have hairy legs but MEN YOU CAN STAY EXACTLY AS YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU ARE PERFECT! Women probably spend a good few years of their lives removing unwanted body hair and just imagine what we could be doing with that time. Sleeping? Eating? You know, all the fun stuff like that.

Men seem to love voicing their opinions on women and body hair. No, I'm not about to go all radical feminist on you, nor am I about to spew a big misandric rant out about how much I hate men. Not all men care about what a woman does with her body hair, but many do...and it's annoying. Men seem to feel the need to voice their unwanted opinions on whether or not a woman should be shaving her genitals, seemingly forgetting that they themselves are not women and the only person who should be deciding what she does with her pubic hair is a woman herself. Just like the President of the United States of America often seems to forget that he shouldn't be deciding whether a woman is allowed an abortion or not.
Amber Rose recently uploaded a photo of herself to social media, in which she was naked from the waist down and had her pubic hair on display. Amber never seems to be out of the headlines but you can imagine the uproar that ensued after this snap was shared. Twitter and Instagram users were sent into a frenzy and engaged in discussions on how she ought to shave her pubic hair off. None of the reasons why were half decent, of course. Amber obviously expected the backlash and handled it with grace and confidence by making light of the jokes people were making, turning herself into a meme and posting girl empowering messages to remind her followers that no one can tell you where you should be shaving.

It's fine to prefer girls who aren't hairy, totally fine, but, if you're one of those people, just take a moment to ask yourself why. Why do you care so much? Think critically. Take a step back. Assess why it's so important to you that women don't grow hair in places where they are supposed to grow hair and why it matters so much on a woman but not a man. Seriously. Then, come back and tell me one valid reason.
If you want the 'natural look' on a woman's face, then prepare to embrace the natural look on the rest of her body too and if you're offended by the thought of a few hairs underneath a woman's arms then, honestly, just find something else to get mad at, try the current state of your government. That's always a good place to start.

It's a common misconception that pubic hair is unhygienic but myth needs to be dispelled right now. It's one of the only arguments with any legs, to be honest, but now you know it's false, what points are you going to make when arguing that women shouldn't have pubic hair? That is just looks better? Ugh please. Anyway, pubic hair is actually cleaner and healthier when left natural as it acts as a natural barrier for the vagina which traps bacteria and provides a protective cushion from friction. So, if anyone bullies you for your pubic hair, just remind them that you're probably cleaner than they are.

We're living at a time when feminism is on the rise and, therefore, many women are choosing not to shave their armpits, which is great! Naturally, this has sparked many unnecessary comments from men, claiming that women should shave their armpits in order to be clean and because it's "just what they should do." But women too have jumped on the bandwagon, claiming armpit hair on a women is disgusting, which is disheartening. To me, body hair or not, women ought to be supporting and uplifting their sisters, not dragging them down and attacking them for something as stupid armpit hair. If a woman wants to shave her pits, then good on her, it's a personal choice but, if she doesn't, then that should be respected too. Whether it's for the sake of gender equality or just because you can't be bothered, if you want hairy armpits then hairy armpits you shall have, my darling.

To sum the whole body hair debate up, whether you're a man or a woman, if you want to shave, then shave, if you don't, then don't. If you're a man, do not tell a woman where she is allowed to grow body hair and, if you are a woman, remove your body hair because you want to, not because you feel as though you have to. Whether you're completely hair free or wear the stuff like a winter coat, it doesn't make you any more or less of a feminist and it doesn't make you any less female if you choose not to shave. There is no right or wrong way to have body hair and you should never allow anyone to pressure you into doing things you don't want to do with it. Support other people with their body hair choices and normalise the fact that body hair exists and it's here to stay. At the end of the day, it's natural and there are bigger problems in the world than whether or not a woman should have hair around her vagina. Like Brexit, President Trump's fascism, the breaching of human rights, starving children, homeless people, terror attacks, unemployment rates, mental illnesses...honestly, having hair under your arms, on your legs or on your genitals really isn't a big deal. IT'S JUST HAIR! Oh, and if people care so much about what you do with it, that's an issue within them and they need to get out more.

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