We spend too much time debating whether or not to shave

Over the course of my life so far, I have spent far too long dwelling on whether to shave my armpits and legs, and questioning how my choices could be received by the people around me. Ever since I was ridiculed as a child for hairy legs, it is something I have unfortunately been unnecessarily, and excessively, conscious of. Whether the ridicule was at the hands of my peers or the adults in my life, I cannot recall. Regardless, I distinctly remember being introduced to shaving, hair removal cream, and, worst of all, waxing. When I remember the far-too-young version of me crying over the pain of my legs being waxed, I recoil.

It is horrifying to think back to high school P.E classes and the vitriol lauded at those who dared to have hair. For a child to be made to think she has to remove her body hair, and for children to be conditioned into being vile to each other because of body hair, is utterly ridiculous. How did this even come about? In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of women ditching razors, but how did shaving become the standard in the first place? Why is the decision of whether or not to shave still a hot topic of debate?

Over 90% of women in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe regularly shave

According to Vox, as women’s fashion grew more revealing of legs and underarms in the 1920s, it appeared that shaving catapulted into a gendered epidemic. This aligns with how modern-day debates over shaving female body hair peak in the summer. Although, this does not explain the desire for body hair to be either hidden or removed. Around this time, the beauty industry was targeting women’s armpit hair, insisting on its removal in order to sell their products of razors and shaving cream. Did the incessant need to hide the visual confirmation that women do in fact have body hair start here, or was the beauty industry of the early 20th century simply targeting the attitudes of that time?

Rather than searching down that rabbit hole, perhaps it would be more productive to delve into the responses to it over the last 50 years. There has been an increase in women turning their backs on shaving or deciding to shave less frequently. Even here, to say that someone has stopped shaving is to admit that shaving is still perceived as the default setting, the expected setting. The Irish Examiner reported that over 90% of women in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe regularly shave. The definition of ‘regularly’ of course will differ from woman to woman, however, the point still stands that the long-lived epidemic of shaving still plagues the modern woman.

Unfortunately, I found that the easiest way to reduce the urge to shave is to ignore other people

Since my childhood, I have moved away from feeling as strong an urge to be rid of the hair on my armpits and legs. My relationship with my body hair was complicated by the fact that the hair on my legs, armpits, and arms is dark, and therefore more visible when paired with my pale skin (something which has been brought up to me too many times). Still, I have tried to persevere by shaving my legs once every few months and my armpits roughly once a week or fortnight. Even still, I cannot escape shaving! It pains me to admit, but I like the feel of my legs being smooth, I do not like my armpit hair past a certain point, and I still feel the pressure to shave my legs and armpits for formal occasions. Oh, will I ever escape the clutches of rubbish disposable razors?

Unfortunately, I found that the easiest way to reduce the urge to shave is to ignore other people. I feel at my most confident when I forget that other people can see my decision not to shave. There are people out there, sadly, who care too much about the sight of body hair. However, it is not everyone; I could not tell you how many of my friends have given up the razor because I at least do not care enough about body hair to look for it.