I’ve been shaving my pits and my legs since I was about 11.

A lot of it had to do with my mom, really. It’s not her fault and I don’t blame her for doing damage or anything, because it wasn’t damage so much as just passing on a desire to follow societal norms without considering why or where they came from. Or maybe she did, I don’t know, but I do know she considered body hair to be disgusting (as many females do).

She used to put her fingers up to her eyebrows and wiggle them around, proclaiming “YOU HAVE FUZZY CATERPILLAR EYEBROWS! Why don’t you pluck them!?”

I plucked those babies like fucking crazy to the point that when I was about 13 I barely had any left.

I shaved every day, shaved my toe hairs, my armpit hairs, plucked and tweezed like no one’s business. I almost shaved my arm hair as well until I realized the amount of time that would take to keep up with.

At one point when we were in high school my younger sister went through what my parents call a “phase” - She chopped her hair off, stopped eating meat and neglected to consistently remove her body hair.

This was honestly the first time I’d ever realized that body hair removal was a CHOICE. She would lift her arms to reveal great tufts of dark hair growing prominently from her pits. I wanted to try it.

Personally, I enjoy the feeling of smooth skin on my legs once in a while and for some reason I can never let my pit hair get long enough before I get the itch to shave it down…But when it comes to shaving to please other people, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I don’t really give a shit.

I find myself with fuzzy legs more often lately as my skin is hyper-sensitive and doesn’t take well to razor burn - Yet I still have it engrained in my mind that I need to apologize for not “keeping up” with it, despite the fact my boyfriend encourages my tendency to “neglect” my hair-related womanly duties.

Most ladies I know shave absolutely everything, including everything below the waist. 

I did that once. I didn’t get it, I felt uncomfortable and wanted my protective little tuft of pubic hair back straight away.

If I had a point to this from the beginning it was lost ages ago.

Body hair is natural.

Body modification and grooming are natural.

Trying to please others is a natural instinct, but it’s pretty goddamn useless.

That about sums it up.