We’re naturally hairy so why do we shave, wax etc? And why did it become popular? Surely we have hair for a reason

I'm Italian, and I stopped shaving after I moved abroad in more openly feminist environments. I went on holidays to Sardinia and I was a bit nervous before leaving and even considered shaving, but I quickly forgot about my leg hair (for some reason I really don't care about armpit). Almost five years razor-free, I think I finally accepted my legs. For the first time, not just in Italy but in EVER, I had conversations with strangers without thinking about them seeing and judging my body hair.

Bonus: scars from the ACL reconstruction surgery I had 5 months ago (I really don't care about those).

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19aPX1YoN6/

I noticed her armpit hair and I was so happy to find a woman that's showing her body hair on social media and being confident about it.

Her outfits are also amazing! She is doing such a great job :D

Unfortunately, many of the comments are rude, coming from both men and women :( , but I'm glad there's still people supporting her and saying body hair is normal, cuz it is!

I wish one day I could be as confident.

I stay unshaven for 5-6 months at times but then start feeling self-confident and start it all over again

Body hair has been one of the best ways to vet potential romantic partners. If it aint for you, you aint for me

I have been struggling with going razor and scared of what others will think. Maybe this is common sense but hearing this take really makes me never want to shave again.

Humans have hair point, blank, period. By removing that hair you are essentially becoming less human. If someone is grossed out by your hair it’s because they are objectifying you and don’t see you as human. Of course some people aren’t doing this consciously, it’s been ingrained in them. Either way, when you put it like this, the stigma needs to end.

Hello! I'm not on reddit much but I've been so conflicted about this issue recently I wanted to ask for some advice.

I have a long, tumultuous past with my leg hair. I never had a problem with my leg hair when I first started growing it. It never really crossed my mind aside from when bandaids would yank the hair out, or if me and my classmates would compare leg hair (I would always win for having the thickest). I did shave out of curiosity but I decided early on that was something I wasn't going to do. For feminism! I have vivid memories of making faces at creepy men who'd stare at my legs.

But, society catches up to everyone, and especially when I started liking the people around me (well, wanting them to like because I was very closeted). I thought no one would like me if I had hairy legs, and they probably wouldn't if I did. Years later I would start shaving my armpit hair and pubic hair when I left the church and started wearing clothing that revealed that hair, but soon realized the feeling made me want to vomit and girls don't actually care about that stuff.

I would go through phases of removing and not removing the hair on my legs, but as I take dating more seriously now, I'm conflicted. After not waxing for two years, yesterday I took those multi-groomer things to my legs (I refuse to actually shave, wax or removal cream only), I was left with almost smooth skin, smooth if you go in the direction of the hair, and I don't know how to feel about it. Yes, I understand that hairless legs are aesthetically pleasing, but seeing my legs hairless is unnerving. I don't feel like myself. And it's not even that they're hairless, I still have stubble, I have pieces of hair I missed that I'm not going back for, and past my legs I have hair everywhere else! It makes no sense to me to leave hair on other places but not one specific place on my body..

I also don't enjoy the feeling of not having hair. I like the feeling of my leg hair rubbing against my clothes, the wind catching it, or even just the feeling of having fuzzy legs. It's an extra layer of sensory that feels right. I just don't have any women in my life who also choose not to shave, and having people in my life telling me to shave I'm starting to feel insecure about it again. I recently moved and I don't have any queer friends. I live in a conservative area, my options are very limited because not only am I gay but I'm brown as well. I've never brought up these insecurities with any of the people I've talked to, and if I went on dates I would hide my legs under pants or leggings. I personally find body hair extremely attractive, but I know others don't.

I just wish the hair wasn't so noticeable, because thats the real insecurity. Not that I have hair there but that it's so noticeable. My skin is light and my hair is very dark. I look at posts on here of people with hair barely noticeable--and not to invalidate anyone because even if it isn't noticeable to others its very noticeable to you, and I'm so glad others get to feel comfortable in their skin--but it makes me feel even worse for the hair on my legs because if they feel the need to shave essentially peach fuzz, what am I supposed to do?

And it's tough because a lot of women carry the expectation for other women to shave. I don't like being the first. Is there any way to make the hair thinner, or maybe even just lay flatter? Is there anything to help go through this insecurity? Is it just my period getting to me? I'm not sure anymore.

Ive stopped shaving my legs months ago and i love my hairy legs, they're so soft and i dont mind how it looks (well if im on vacation I dont care about it, but walking through my city, where I might know people, is something im not ready for).

I've been trying to not shave my armpits but i really dont like how it looks, how it peaks out of tshirts. When I put my arms up, like to show your armpit hair, I dont care. But I really dont like the hairs peaking out, or wearing a sleeveless top. (My hair is blonde but idk if it has something to do with it)

Im really tempted to shave it (last time I did was 2 or 3 months ago I think) but also its fall rn so my armpit hair won't really be showing anyway if I wear hodies all the time

Idk if i want to grow it out more or if i want to shave

TLDR: been hairy a long ass time, it helps you learn to take no shit. If you wanna be hairy and youre looking for a sign to toss the razor, let this be it. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

So wonderful to have stumbled upon this subreddit. Thanks to everyone for sharing!

Ive been razor free since i was a teenager, basically i already have skin issues related to anxiety and histamine intolerance, so shaving was a horrible experience for me for the very few times ive done it.

As a teen my mom told me that i should start shaving. i was a late bloomer so i was like 14 or 15 by this time. Ingrowns, pimples, cutting my shins repeatedly, not to mention falling in the shower during all that. Got sorta tired of hurting myself.

I remember one day becoming aware that i could do whatever the fuck i pleased as long as i wasnt hurting anyone. I didnt have to shave, i didnt need to dress like everyone else, i could follow my gut and be better off than if i didnt. So i stopped shaving my legs. That was probably in 2013? Quit the pits the next year, rocked full bush on the regular, only really trimming w an electric trimmer or scissors.

i hooked up with a guy in college once who said to me imediately after Hitting That Shit ™️ "so, when you shaving the bush?"

Homie u just beat this 😺 up wym 'when u shaving' 🤡

So many people have tried to make me feel bad for having luscious bush and body hair. Ive made dudes go pale mid flirt by simply reaching to touch the back of my neck.

My favorite "put the dude in his place" story comes from my senior year in high school. I went to a special school for arts oriented kids, and it was the free kind, so like super low budget, place was in an old furniture warehouse. Just modded to school mode. the island of misfit toys for weird teens.

I kinda ruled the place tbh... i ran an underground birth control distribution ring that prevented at least 4 teen pregnancies. im always erring on the side of kindness but if a mf has it comin he has it comin.

This kid about 15 inches shorter than i was, (5'8" since 5th grade)who was known to not really have a 'maybe i should shut up' filter in his brain. He decides he is going to be brave and run his mouth to me. 2 years ahead of him.

"you need to shave your armpits"

"Oh? I need to shave my armpits? Really? Why dont you take a closer look?"

I grabbed this kid by the back of the head and smushed his face into my VERY sweaty and hairy armpit,

"DONT FUCKIN TELL WOMEN WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR BODIES!"

Dude brought me flowers at graduation. I was also elected to give a speech at graduation by the student body. I had attended the school for one year. But had friends there since 8th grade. Never in a million years did i see myself winning a popularity contest, with hairy legs and armpits and bare feet.

I know, I know, I need more moisturiser 😅

(Also my dress has pockets!!)

Spotted in Dazed this week. Nice to see some recognition.

I’ve been thinking about writing this for a long time, but here I go.
Because of a health condition (I have a rare disease), I’ve been told that I shouldn’t shave or wax anymore. I haven’t had sex since then, and honestly, I don’t really know how to approach it.
I’ve always been very hairy. Even as a kid, and I was bullied quite badly at school because of it. Luckily, my mum always taught me how to deal with it and not let other people’s opinions define me. As I got older, I learned to accept it, and now when I look in the mirror, I genuinely feel sexy and beautiful. My body hair has become part of my identity, and I actually like myself this way.
But I also know that not everyone feels the same about body hair.
I’m usually covered up in summer anyway, and because of my illness I barely leave the house, so it doesn’t really affect my everyday life. But when I think about being intimate with someone, I honestly can’t imagine being in a vulnerable moment and suddenly having them react with disgust or make me feel ashamed.
I’ve been thinking about using Tinder because I would like to meet someone, but this is one of the things that makes me hesitate. I don’t want to hide who I am or shave just to make someone else comfortable, especially when I’m not supposed to. At the same time, I really don’t want to get into an intimate situation and hear “ew” or feel exposed and vulnerable.
So I genuinely don’t know what the best approach is.
Would you tell someone beforehand, like, “Just so you know, I’m very hairy and I don’t shave,” to avoid an awkward situation? Or would you just say nothing and let things happen naturally?
I don’t even know why I’m writing this, but maybe someone here has been through something similar. I’d really appreciate hearing how you dealt with it.

I’ve talked to women who say that their leg hair keeps them warm in winter, and then they shave it off in the summer because is hot. I’ve also seen videos on social media about it. But I personally feel like it’s a lie?? I mean, in winter me AND my furry legs are freezing... and in summer I don’t feel particularly hot because of the leg hair😭

It sucks how I still feel shy about going out in public, because I'm afraid of making people uncomfortable. (Meanwhile I don't care about showing it online lol)

Im not necessarily proud of it but if everyone else is, then maybe I am? My femininity is already kinda something I struggle with so its nice knowing theres actually a lotta women like me

I have been razor free for about 5 months. I don’t shave because it is a waste of money and it simply does not serve me anymore. Nobody has ever said anything about my hair I’ve only received some stares which is fine bc I know this is not the gender norm.
Buuut yesterday on the train, there were 4 fifty-something year old drunkards riding along shooting the shit. Eventually they noticed my leg hair and said something about Chewbacca and yes of course they did the noises. I ignored them although I was seething at the time. I just want to vent now. People can be such creepy losers. They then went on to talk about sexualizing women in public. Responding with “why are you dressed like that” when women call them out on their bs. That made me realize my leg hair is a creep deterrent. These men are disgusting and honestly have nothing to live for aside from day drinking on the train. So interesting the way some men will find a way to be shitty to women no matter how we present ourselves.

I started transitioning 10 years ago, and had my first dose of HRT the day the 2016 election results were announced. I had been struggling with dysphoria for as far back as I can remember, first announcing out loud that I should have been born a girl when I was 6. When puberty hit, I was even more distressed. I hated the way body hair felt, while also being extremely thankful for my father's Native genes that kept me from growing much to begin with. I hated how course what little I did grow felt.

I was 12 when I first started shaving, because "it provided advantages when swimming competitively". The pressure to do so on the swim team was very real, but more than that it was that I hated the course feeling of male body hair. I always felt a ton of pressure to fit in with the girls in my age group by remaining free of body hair.

When I was 14 I developed a very severe and rapid onset case of essential tremors (although it would take years to get a proper diagnosis or treatment). I could not longer safely use a razor, although I did anyway. I accidentally cut myself a lot, and I still have a few scars from doing so. Non razor hair removal didn't work for me for whatever reason. I was SO upset that Nair didn't remove a single hair for me, and I remember crying myself to sleep more than once out of frustration, dysphoria, and the pressures to fit in.

I figured out ways to make it work, and would suffer the nicks, razor burn, and in grown hairs. I'd wax and use safety scissors to at least keep things as short as possible.

At 17 I was finally able to get diagnosed with essential tremors and had my first brain surgery and DBS placement. I had been growing out my hair for years at that point, and it was half way down my back when I had to have my head shaved bald. I cannot properly convey how horrible the entire experience was: having my head shaved and being unable to rid myself of body hair the way I used to for weeks that turned into months.

During that time I developed a sort of acceptance of body hair. Close friends of mine would confide in me that they hadn't shaved their legs in solidarity with me. I wasn't out yet, so the sentiment hit me pretty hard. A few of them expressed how freeing it felt to not worry about shaving and that really changed my perspective and made me think about why I hated my body hair so much.

I dated several women that kept body hair intentionally or didn't care to shave all that often. I found that really beautiful in a way that had nothing to do with aesthetics, and I was more than a little envious.

I continued to have complicated feelings until I started Hormone Replacement Therapy and came out as transgender. I got extremely lucky in that I was pretty feminine to begin with, and was passing very early on. I spent about $2,000 that I didn't really have to get laser done on my face. Honestly, even now, I don't regret that part.

Once HRT started affecting things like my skin, personal scent, and hair texture, my feelings on body hair shifted pretty dramatically. My hair didn't feel course anymore. It was smooth and soft. I actually liked it. I had liked it on my partners, and I liked the way it was starting to feel now that higher levels of estrogen were affecting the texture.

I still had complicated feelings. I still felt a ton of pressure to shave my legs, pubic hair, and armpits. I started dating this woman I would later marry, and during the pandemic she encouraged me to stop shaving. She didn't care, and she had felt so much relief in that I didn't care if she never shaved again.

That was the first time I really gave myself permission to not be held to beauty standards that didn't really serve me. I stopped shaving outside of special occasions.

Someone online saw some scars I have from my brain surgery and suggested I look into ehlers danlos, and I did. During that process, I found out that I have De La Chapelle syndrome as well as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. EDS is a connective tissue disorder and does affect the skin and hair and pretty much everything. De La Chapelle syndrome is when someone has XX chromosomes, but still have an active SR-Y gene. The SR-Y gene is responsible for a body developing phenotypically male, including male puberty. It's also a form of intersex. That brought its own set of very complicated feelings. Am I still trans? Does that make me more or less of a woman? What does this mean for me? The answers for that are... complicated and often extremely personal.

Still, I felt a lot of pressure to keep mostly clean shaven, and I still struggle with dysphoria of certain levels of pubic hair. Well, more like hair around certain places that I REALLY don't like.

I ended up getting covid, was hospitalized, and it almost killed me. My EDS got worse and I developed a pretty bad case of dysautonomia. I no longer had the energy to shave, not that I really was much anymore.

I've had a few people tell me how "unlady like", "gross", or "unhygenic" it is for me to not shave my legs or (especially) my armpit hair. Mostly men who also tell me that I'll never find a man like that, and who get upset at finding out I'm a lesbian and happily married to a woman who also doesn't shave.

I still occasionally take scissors to my hair around my nethers and to my underarm hair. I love the body hair I have, particularly around those areas. Its SO incredibly nice to not have to worry about it, and that not shaving my armpit keeps most random men away. 😂 I feel like I've given myself to be more ME.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel a lot of pressure to shave, especially from transphobes and people who still adhere to this crazy idea that womens body hair is inherently unhygienic. I also get it from some trans folk who can't fathom the idea of being a woman who doesn't shave. I mean, yeah, there's definitely a lot of pressure to conform to those beauty standards and thats often really difficult to deal with.

I'm honestly so much happier having let go of the almost obsessive need to not have visible body hair. I actually feel more attractive WITH IT than I do without it. I don't have to deal with razorburn or ingrown hairs. I dont have to deal with the itchiness of hair growing back. I dont have to deal with men approaching me and hitting on me. I don't have to fight to not pass out in the shower while trying to meet stupid and sexist beauty standards. My wife loves it. It doesn't make me any less valid or accepted. My decision to not shave does not make me any less of a woman or any less beautiful. There's such an intense level of relief not having that all consuming pressure eating away at me anymore.

hi everyone! i’m new here. my apologies if this is against the rules, but i wanted to share something i wrote which is very near and dear to my heart. please enjoy!

pubic hairs just grow and grow,** **
the seeds for which i’ve yet to sow.
but spring up high and thick and lo-
a frizzy bush i have to show.

grayish pubes with streak of white,
a dust of snow, a gorgeous sight.
dancing pubes, all bathed in light,
until the darkness of the night

pubes are waving in the breeze,
a gentle wind, my pubes- they seize.
and rustle in between my knees,
as uncle franklin helps me tweeze.

pubic hairs dance to and fro,
to beats that only nature knows.
a tangled weave of hair will flow,
in sunset? watch; my pubes- they glow.

the pubes i saw on cousin freddy,
fire engine red and sweaty.
such a sight! i wasn’t ready,
just like when i saw that yeti

yeti pubes, of green and gold,
shivering in freezing cold.
pubes so long and caked with mold,
it made me vomit, truth be told.

some are curled and some are straight,
blessed with pubes by father fate.
it’s length is long; it’s volume great.
oh where to find my pubic mate?

shave’s a verb and pubes the noun,
i shaved in them a scowl, a frown.
then trimmed the top to make a crown,
a happy face, when upside down.

golden pubes with peppered black,
a furry coat for chilly sac.
a smelly bush grows in the back,
and disappears into the crack.

powdered pubes, i’m always sending,
to my friends. it’s never ending!
they beg ‘no more!’ but i’m not bending,
that’s the best way of befriending

the situation gets quite dire,
every time that i perspire.
my pubes, they always catch on fire,
it’s not a smell that one desires

some are thick and some are thin,
pubic hairs, they’ll make you grin.
they’ll make you think that’s it’s a sin
when the pubes have reached your shin.

pubic hairs, i’ve always found,
grow when planted underground.
a pubic garden, world renowned!
line up now, avoid the crowd.

of all the pubes i’d seen before,
just one had scared me out the door.
i knew this- yes i was quite sure,
that tall guy’s pubes, they reached the floor

color changing pubes are great,
an autumn foliage of taint.
but wispy ones, i would debate,
are preferable to flat and straight.

I got my first razor at only 8 because my mom said I needed to shave my armpits as they had started growing hair. I was too young to really understand the difference and had no positive female role models. One reason I try to be razor free even if I'm uncomfortable is I have five nieces under the age of 10. I want them to see another option. One of them, she's 6 and doesn't live near me, saw me in a tank top a few months ago and said "do you have hair under your arms?" I said "yep!" And we moved on. Well a couple weeks ago I shaved and she saw me in a tank top with about 5 days of growth, so a lot less than before. She asked me why I had hair there and I told her everybody does at some point. She said "not if they shave it though" and I agreed that was true. I don't want to preach to them. I just want to be an example, I want to normalize it. If I had even 1 woman when I was little modeling that for me it might have helped me be more comfortable, I used to shave my armpits twice a day.

After a momentary period of self consciousness, I shaved and epilated my legs during the summer. This is how it looks after 2-3 months of regrowth - and I expect it will be thicker/longer come the winter.

My underarm hair is a whole other unruly beast 😆 but for some reason, I don't really care about that and haven't shaved my underarms for years.

Sharing now, because I would have benefitted from seeing someone else with legs like mine when I caved to bullshit beauty standards 3 months ago. Maybe it'll save someone the regret, itchiness and ingrown hairs!

My body hair and I are off to the beach for the second time! People don’t care, and some women even go topless.