Just
a girl with a vagina, sharing her body hair journey.
“Where am I going with this?” I wondered
as I sat and stared at the empty screen. I want to talk about this, I’ve been
thinking about it for years. The ingrown hairs, the esthetician bills, and
(sorry TMI!) the itchy growing out period. I’ve had enough of keeping quiet and
never talking about my preferences, which are just as ladylike and beautiful as
shaving/waxing. At this point I guess it’s pretty obvious I’ve stopped
waxing/shaving regularly, and honestly I’ve never been happier or more
confident.
My first experience with the blade was
the night after Tyler touched my leg in the 6th grade and said ‘oh
that’s hairy, don’t you shave?’
Obviously you don’t know my Tyler, but every girl has one; someone who
shamed them into shaving. That night when I got home I was on a clear mission
and fixing what was wrong with me was number one and all I could find was my
dad’s facial shaver (thanks dad)! So that was the first time, and I wouldn’t
stop regularly shaving until university. That’s 7 years of shaving ever 3 days;
it makes me angry to think that my young mind was burdened with this need to
portray myself as hairless while boys my age strutted around with their
orangutan limbs.
I want to be clear, I don’t judge women
who shave or wax. It’s none of my business, except I can still remember the
searing embarrassment associated with day 3 in gym class. It took me even longer to be okay with my
pubes. Contextually I should disclose that I’ve been in a serious and sexual
relationship since right after high school and at first I kept everything
‘tidy’ (using that word makes me cringe but that is how I saw it at 17 so bear with me) but then my boyfriend went away
for university and I became much more relaxed without him or the dreaded gym
class. I started to get used to seeing myself with more hair and through
feminist literature and non-fiction articles I grew up a little more and began
to truly love myself. Again I would never insinuate that if you wax/shave that
you don’t love yourself, but for me the ritual was not a comforting one but a
feeling of castrating the shameful parts of myself.
Really hoping the visual I have created
isn’t one of a wooly mammoth because that is so not me, I am a well-kept girl
who luxuriates in taking care of myself. I just no longer consider waxing as
onethose things. Even now the need to explain or prove myself is evident, but
I’m trying to see the beauty in what most of society still deems an ugly part
of my body. For girls like me who love to preen and prune I definitely would
recommend a bush shaper (Philips perfect Bikini Deluxe) and Fur Oil.
Happy Shaping ladies!
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