I remember the first time I was ever called out on my leg hair.
I was sitting on a bench, in line to put my buddy tag up on the board so I could go in the water for free swim. I must have been around 14. A kid sitting next to me, maybe 11 or 12 looked at me and said, "Gross! You got hairy legs!" It was the very first time someone called me on it, and it was the first time I felt ashamed. Shortly thereafter, my unit went on a field trip, floating down a river on tubes. I had a crush on Ben Seymore at the time, who was CIT, and maneuvered myself such that I was in a group of people floating together that included him. It was kind of cold out, and, sitting in the tube with my legs out of the water, the lovely, downy blonde hair stood on end due to goosebumps. All I could think about was how Ben Seymore must think I was so gross.
When the subject of leg shaving was first broached in my household, my mom told me, in her typical "girls can do whatever they want" voice, that it was up to me what I wanted to do when it came to shaving. She said, "A lot of girls these days don't shave their legs! There's a girl at my office who doesn't do it. It's really an antiquated practice anyway." For the record, my mom does shave her legs.
I had notoriously dry skin when I was younger, and I also remember one time, the pediatrician told my mom that I shouldn't shave my legs because it would only make my skin more dry. Leg hair, apparently, like any hair, has a purpose. So, my mom encouraged me to keep my nice leg hair as it was. And, I was quite comfortable with it for quite some time. Then, that douche bag kid had to ruin it all.
Why the hell is hair so gross? I was randomly thinking about this the other day in the shower, as I determined whether or not I should shave my legs. My thought process went, "Well, Ryan isn't showing up here for another 2 days, but my leg hair is pretty long. But, it's winter and who's going to see it besides me? But, I still feel kind of gross about it. So, I shaved it. And still had to shave it the next night because my hair grows faster than literally anyone else's hair I know. Thank GOD I have blonde hair, because I can get away with not shaving every day. And, as long as no one touches my legs, no one can tell. I can't imagine how hard it must be to be someone with dark, thick hair. The amount of time spent removing it!
Back to the main concept. Really, why is hair so gross? Little boys are allowed to grow their hair on their legs and under their arms. They never have to get to a point where they are grossed out by their own body hair. Yet, 95% of guys feel perfectly justified in saying that leg hair and armpit hair on women is unacceptable. Let's get real here. Women grow hair too. WE HAVE HAIR. We have hair in lots of places, and it takes a long time to remove it all. We obsess over removing it. We spend so much money removing it. God forbid you have one hair growing out of your areola. No one must know about this hair, ever. This hair must be plucked and never spoken of to anyone for the rest of your life.
Then, there are those women who choose not to shave. They do exist. They are mostly hippies. Sometimes, you see a rare occurance of a women with hairy legs wearing pantyhose, and you can see her hair all smooshed up against her legs, and you think, "gross". But really, it's NOT gross.
At that age, I was still brave enough and still had enough energy to pretend that I didn't care about peer pressure, and hence when that little douche bag 12 year old made fun of my leg hair, I smirked at him and said, "I'm blonde. You can barely see it." And, I went on with life, even though inside I was burning up with embarrassment.
I did not end up shaving my legs until I was around 16. I just couldn't keep it up. I don't know. I got to a point where the idea of not yielding to the societal norm became just exhausting. It sounds stupid to be exhausted by hairy legs, but it's a true statement. When you're the only 16 year-old girl with hairy legs in gym class, it takes a fair amount of self-esteem to not care what other girls think.
So, I went to my mom and said, "I just...I feel like I look like Chewbacca." I actually said this. I don't think my mom understood who Chewbacca was. I said, "My ankles just look so hairy." And they were. My leg hair ended at my ankles, and I often thought of my leg hair as a pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms. So my mom said, again in her characteristic nonchalant non-committal not-wanting-to-make-me-feel-like-I-need-to-conform voice, "Well then, why don't you just shave above your ankles?"
That night, in the tub, I started at my hairy ankles. The hair was long and straight and blonde and soft. I kind of knew that when I shaved it off, I wasn't going to go back. And I took a razor and shaved up my legs until mid-calf. Well then, it just looked stupid. My fuzzy pajama bottoms now looked like fuzzy capri pants. There were no two ways about it...that hair had to come off. So I shaved it all.
After this momentous occasion, I put on lotion (of course) and went out on the porch at my house and ran my hands up and down my smooth calves, marveling at how soft and beautiful they were. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted. I no longer had to be the girl with hairy legs. I had allowed myself to conform, and conformity is much easier than non-conformity.
The truth is, I haven't even thought about this much since that day. I shave my legs like any other woman. I buy my stupid razor blades and deal with stubble and razor burn and the rest of it. However, I ask you to think for a moment about little girls. Think about how little girls don't give a shit about the hair on their legs. They probably LIKE the hair on their legs, just like they like the rest of their beautiful little growing bodies. How sad is it that they get to the point where they are taught to be ashamed of the hair that grows naturally on their bodies? How weird is that? And, how unfair that little boys never have to feel that way.
I'm just saying. Think about it. This does not mean I'm growing out my leg hair. Ryan would be grossed out. And sadly, at this point, so would I.
I was sitting on a bench, in line to put my buddy tag up on the board so I could go in the water for free swim. I must have been around 14. A kid sitting next to me, maybe 11 or 12 looked at me and said, "Gross! You got hairy legs!" It was the very first time someone called me on it, and it was the first time I felt ashamed. Shortly thereafter, my unit went on a field trip, floating down a river on tubes. I had a crush on Ben Seymore at the time, who was CIT, and maneuvered myself such that I was in a group of people floating together that included him. It was kind of cold out, and, sitting in the tube with my legs out of the water, the lovely, downy blonde hair stood on end due to goosebumps. All I could think about was how Ben Seymore must think I was so gross.
When the subject of leg shaving was first broached in my household, my mom told me, in her typical "girls can do whatever they want" voice, that it was up to me what I wanted to do when it came to shaving. She said, "A lot of girls these days don't shave their legs! There's a girl at my office who doesn't do it. It's really an antiquated practice anyway." For the record, my mom does shave her legs.
I had notoriously dry skin when I was younger, and I also remember one time, the pediatrician told my mom that I shouldn't shave my legs because it would only make my skin more dry. Leg hair, apparently, like any hair, has a purpose. So, my mom encouraged me to keep my nice leg hair as it was. And, I was quite comfortable with it for quite some time. Then, that douche bag kid had to ruin it all.
Why the hell is hair so gross? I was randomly thinking about this the other day in the shower, as I determined whether or not I should shave my legs. My thought process went, "Well, Ryan isn't showing up here for another 2 days, but my leg hair is pretty long. But, it's winter and who's going to see it besides me? But, I still feel kind of gross about it. So, I shaved it. And still had to shave it the next night because my hair grows faster than literally anyone else's hair I know. Thank GOD I have blonde hair, because I can get away with not shaving every day. And, as long as no one touches my legs, no one can tell. I can't imagine how hard it must be to be someone with dark, thick hair. The amount of time spent removing it!
Back to the main concept. Really, why is hair so gross? Little boys are allowed to grow their hair on their legs and under their arms. They never have to get to a point where they are grossed out by their own body hair. Yet, 95% of guys feel perfectly justified in saying that leg hair and armpit hair on women is unacceptable. Let's get real here. Women grow hair too. WE HAVE HAIR. We have hair in lots of places, and it takes a long time to remove it all. We obsess over removing it. We spend so much money removing it. God forbid you have one hair growing out of your areola. No one must know about this hair, ever. This hair must be plucked and never spoken of to anyone for the rest of your life.
Then, there are those women who choose not to shave. They do exist. They are mostly hippies. Sometimes, you see a rare occurance of a women with hairy legs wearing pantyhose, and you can see her hair all smooshed up against her legs, and you think, "gross". But really, it's NOT gross.
At that age, I was still brave enough and still had enough energy to pretend that I didn't care about peer pressure, and hence when that little douche bag 12 year old made fun of my leg hair, I smirked at him and said, "I'm blonde. You can barely see it." And, I went on with life, even though inside I was burning up with embarrassment.
I did not end up shaving my legs until I was around 16. I just couldn't keep it up. I don't know. I got to a point where the idea of not yielding to the societal norm became just exhausting. It sounds stupid to be exhausted by hairy legs, but it's a true statement. When you're the only 16 year-old girl with hairy legs in gym class, it takes a fair amount of self-esteem to not care what other girls think.
So, I went to my mom and said, "I just...I feel like I look like Chewbacca." I actually said this. I don't think my mom understood who Chewbacca was. I said, "My ankles just look so hairy." And they were. My leg hair ended at my ankles, and I often thought of my leg hair as a pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms. So my mom said, again in her characteristic nonchalant non-committal not-wanting-to-make-me-feel-like-I-need-to-conform voice, "Well then, why don't you just shave above your ankles?"
That night, in the tub, I started at my hairy ankles. The hair was long and straight and blonde and soft. I kind of knew that when I shaved it off, I wasn't going to go back. And I took a razor and shaved up my legs until mid-calf. Well then, it just looked stupid. My fuzzy pajama bottoms now looked like fuzzy capri pants. There were no two ways about it...that hair had to come off. So I shaved it all.
After this momentous occasion, I put on lotion (of course) and went out on the porch at my house and ran my hands up and down my smooth calves, marveling at how soft and beautiful they were. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted. I no longer had to be the girl with hairy legs. I had allowed myself to conform, and conformity is much easier than non-conformity.
The truth is, I haven't even thought about this much since that day. I shave my legs like any other woman. I buy my stupid razor blades and deal with stubble and razor burn and the rest of it. However, I ask you to think for a moment about little girls. Think about how little girls don't give a shit about the hair on their legs. They probably LIKE the hair on their legs, just like they like the rest of their beautiful little growing bodies. How sad is it that they get to the point where they are taught to be ashamed of the hair that grows naturally on their bodies? How weird is that? And, how unfair that little boys never have to feel that way.
I'm just saying. Think about it. This does not mean I'm growing out my leg hair. Ryan would be grossed out. And sadly, at this point, so would I.
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