It's About Time We Normalize Body Hair On Women

I was lying in my bed, absently surfing YouTube when I clicked on a video about Grace Vanderwall. Yes, that Grace Vanderwaal, the ukulele-playing America’s Got Talent wunderkind, now a beautiful seventeen-year-old who looks like the human embodiment of the word cool. She was doing a “Dewy 10 Minute Beauty Routine” for Allure. 

I was just about to click off and fall down another YouTube deep dive, when Grace, who happened to be wearing a tank top, raised her arms to show the camera the foundation she was using for her look. That was when I saw it. A bit of dark fuzz in the cavity of her armpit. A wave of roiling emotions I didn’t know I had churned deep in my gut. 

First, I realized that I didn’t feel uncomfortable or disgusted by her body hair, in fact she just seemed more cool to me now that I knew that she had the confidence to unabashedly have a body. She looked… cute. I may have even been a little jealous that I didn’t feel the same. 

I’m a teenage girl and I’ve recently developed body hair. 

Courtesy of makeup.com

Around a year ago, I became conscious enough of the growing hairs to be insecure about them and asked my mom how to eradicate them. She gave me a spare razor and taught me to rub a little soap on the hairy parts, slide the razor against my skin, wash the hair out of the razor, and repeat. Repeat until my armpits and legs glistened, until the unwanted infestation of dark hairs was purged.

Why did I immediately want to rid myself of my body hair? Was that a natural response that I just happened to think of? Or was it a response I’d been conditioned to have from seeing how women are shown in life and in the media? 

Only recently, by seeing more women and celebrities showing hair, have I realized that removing body hair isn’t the necessary, sole option that every girl at one point takes. Rather it is a choice and something worth having a discussion about.

Unfortunately, in a world where hairless, photoshop-smoothed women are constantly presented as “the norm,” many young girls struggle to have that discussion.

That's completely understandable when we look at instances in which women do show their body hair and, consequently, face a vitriol of hate. Recently, Nigerian-American singer Annahstasia Enuke was pictured in a 2019 Nike campaign wearing a Nike sports bra that displayed her natural underarm hair. Despite some support, the post also garnered a barrage of hateful comments, with one such comment amassing more than 1,500 likes and reading: “O dude, this is not freedom this is not a type of ‘i love my body,’ this is bullshit shave that shit.”

A female user wrote: “The only good thing about this is that the rest of us who still shave and wax will have more men around.” Basically, the kind of sexist rhetoric that makes me want to scream: “IT'S JUST HAIR! IT'S REALLY NOT THAT DEEP!” and “WOMEN DO NOT EXIST FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF PLEASING MEN!” 

These kinds of comments reveal the damaging mindset through which many people view body hair. Young, possibly insecure, girls who are growing into more adult bodies, WILL see these messages. We are aware of what happens online. We see when women face backlash for not shaving. We, not wanting to seem unlikeable or undesirable, internalize this disgust, this hatred for something as natural and normal as body hair. I mean, imagine sparking controversy over having a body with hair! This type of stuff sends a message, loud and clear.

What if I told you that hair removal on women was created by a white man hoping to make a profit? That’s right, American businessman King Camp Gillette produced the first “Milady Decollete razor” in 1915. This was a period when women were rejecting the more modest, Victorian look in favor of dresses that were shorter, sheerer, and oftentimes sleeveless. The lady razor was sold as an essential accessory to go with more revealing outfits. But this wouldn’t have worked if the product’s marketing hadn’t succeeded in making hairlessness inseparable from femininity. 

Adverts claimed that body hair was “ugly, noticeable, and unwanted” and that the razor was a tool for “women of refinement.” Hair removal became much more than a trend, it became the sole option for women of respectability. Soon any society lady that was attractive, polite, and dainty couldn’t be seen with body hair if she wished to remain attractive, polite, and dainty. This leads us to the reality women experience today, a reality where body hair continues to be considered opposing to femininity.

But even before Gillette’s “lady razor” invention, hairless women being viewed as superior to hairer women can be linked to Social Darwinism. Many scientists concluded that a more dramatic difference in body hair between women and men signified a more developed race. Body hair, specifically on women, came to be seen as a primitive trait. Moreover, experts at the time asserted that hairiness in women was “linked to criminal violence, strong sexual instincts… [and] exceptional ‘animal vigor.’” No wonder body hair on women carries negative connotations when it was once connected to criminality! 

A new 2021 survey found that 1 in 3 girls start shaving because of societal pressure, 3 in 10 admit to feeling uncomfortable with moving their arms due to underarm hair concerns, and 1 in 4 will actively change clothing to accommodate their body hair amount. I’ve never felt more represented. I know the stress of rushing to change out of your tank top before school because you forgot to shave the night before. I understand how embarrassing it can feel when you go to school anyways and spend the day awkwardly keeping your arms clenched to your sides. 

But this same survey also found that women have been shaving less and less. In fact, 1 in 3 women have been shaving their armpits less during the past year spent in lockdown and many disclose that they feel more “carefree.” A consequence of the pandemic is that women have been spending much less time grooming since so much was cancelled or held virtually. Moreover, 13% of women who lessened their shaving practices during the epidemic, are hoping to stick to this lifestyle change. Millennials and Gen Z women are starting to question the true reasons behind why they shave and whether they want to continue the practice. 

As a result of this societal shift, many brands are starting to sell a more inclusive image of beauty than they have in the past. Billie, a shaving subscription service, provides 3 different packages depending on how often the user shaves. They’re advertisement video depicts body hair on women in an empowered light. Over shots of gorgeous women proudly displaying their body hair, in bold font are the words: “Hair. Everyone has it, even women. The world pretends it doesn’t exist.” The ad then introduces the product they’re selling prefaced by “if ever.” Shaving and buying razors is presented as a choice not a necessity. The ad, refreshingly, almost feels like an ode to body hair. Businesses like these show how the beauty industry is finally taking long overdue steps to cater to women’s needs rather than shoving made-up standards down our throats. 

Women’s bodies have been abused, manipulated, and capitalized on for too long. We must create space to talk about body hair as a natural part of the human body. Normalize all kinds of body hair. It’s not just on legs or armpits, women have hair all over their body, on our chests, faces, and stomachs. Whether you shave or not is nobody's business but your own. Choosing to continue shaving or waxing is a totally valid choice (key word: choice). Let’s just remind ourselves that having body hair does not make us any less beautiful, feminine, and worthy of respect.