I stopped shaving my armpit hair because I didn’t like why I shaved it. I shaved it because everyone else did and that’s just how a woman is 'supposed to look.' I think that’s a shitty rationale to use to govern any decision in life.
I felt a pull to look a certain way to be socially acceptable and upon realising this, I felt a push to challenge it. So I decided to use it as a wee social experiment. As soon as my armpit hair grew to a noticeable length, people felt compelled to affirm their strong opinions about my body to me. It was hurtful and it was fascinating. People would call it disgusting and dirty, they’d shudder and proclaim ‘yuck’ at the site of it. I became very conscious of when my armpit hair was visible to others and I would watch them closely as I nonchalantly revealed it to them. I would see the shock and horror on their faces.
Some people had very strong opinions and didn’t hold back in telling me that the way my body looked was wrong. I was working as a waitress in a bar at the time, when someone close to me told me that I would lose my job if someone saw my armpit hair… and that if he were the manager, he would fire me. I was told that I was disgusting and that no one would find me attractive.
I knew it would be interesting… because I had never seen a woman in the flesh who consciously grew her armpit hair… but I didn’t know that people would so ruthlessly declare their negative opinions as they did. I realised how entrapped the people around me were by the dogma that’s been fed to them about the way a woman should look. And to be honest, I found it beyond liberating to go against the grain. I got addicted to the edgy vulnerability I felt when I revealed my glorious pits and I grew stronger with people’s reactions. Because ‘armpit hair is gross’, but when you’re a sexy mama goddess woman with armpit hair, that presents a dilemma for people. And to challenge people’s consciousness without having to say anything... I think that’s pretty damn cool. And you know what, because of that, I haven’t shaved in over 2 years now and I reckon that that’s a damn good rationale.
"that’s not cockiness, it’s acceptance. And it’s a fucking protest"
I’m not against shaving. I am pro making conscious choices that you own. Especially when it comes to your body. There’s so much pressure to look a certain way; the perky boobed, juicy assed, smooth skinned, toned, tanned, plump lipped, long eyelashed girls are everywhere in mainstream media. It’s totally brainwashing, we all know this. And as a result, we have a generation of females who are hopelessly and relentlessly unhappy with the way they look. Resentful of the skin they’re in. And I find this infinitely tragic. For me to grow my armpit hair is a massive 'FUCK YOU' to the degenerative culture that teaches us to feel lost in our bodies and disengaged from the beauty that we are.
I love myself, I love my body, I love my being. I love my bum, my boobs, my eyes, my freckles, my long hair, my glorious bush, my hairy pits, my smooth legs, my tummy, my feet, my fingernails and the way I dance and sing and think and feel. And that’s not cockiness, it’s acceptance. And it’s a fucking protest. And I say it because I want you to know that it’s okay, in fact, it’s more than okay, it is a NECESSITY for you to love yourself. For you to be your authentic self and be all you’re meant to be in the world, you need to love yourself. So yeah. There you go. That all just came out. Ending it now. Live with consciousness and intention. Align yourself with your intuition and you’ll beam like the sun.
Stay Grounded,
Emi ^__^
vagina warrior at groundness.com
