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Doesn't look so bad, does it?
I first got the idea to stop shaving my legs in high school, when I was shocked to see a friend’s hairy legs sticking out from under her skirt. When I asked why she’d let her leg hair grow, she said something like, “I don’t see why I have to shave.” This seemed like a perfectly good answer, and so, out of my own curiosity, I decided to stop shaving immediately, after five years of doing so religiously.
Fast forward many years, and here I am, sitting around in shorts with my leg hair visible in all its glory. Once I grew out my leg hair and got used to the feel of it blowing in the breeze (got to admit, that was pretty weird at first), I came to the same conclusion as my friend: why do I need to shave my legs? Because commercials and magazines tell me I need to? Because it’s expected of me by my society? It has no impact on my health, intelligence, or, truthfully, my ability to get dates. (One rather conservative guy, upon learning my legs are au natural, asked me, snidely, if guys ever date me. Yes, idiot, they do. And I would NEVER date anyone who cared so much about leg hair that it would be a dealbreaker. Appreciate me for me, not for having hairless legs).
“Can I touch it?” people ask me, upon seeing it. I guess having hairy legs makes me somehow exotic. I’m happy to let folks feel it, and they frequently seem startled that it’s soft. Yep. Soft leg hair. It’s not long; I just measured it at about 1-1.5 cm, and much like your arm hair or your eyelashes, it hits a certain length and stops growing. Don’t pay attention to that “if you shave it and let it grow back, it’s super dark and worse than ever,” because it’s not.
Free your legs, ladies! | Source: Shutterstock
To answer a question people ask all the time: yes, I do shave my armpits. I grew out that hair once, and I didn’t mind how it looked, but having hairy armpits made me even more in need of deodorant, and I drew the line at being stinky. So yes, smooth pits, although I’m also lazy about keeping them stubble-free.
What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without shaving? Have you ever thought about letting your leg hair be natural? Could you ever commit to having hairy legs? Tell me everything in the comments!
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I AM A GUY and i would love to date or knewing girl with hairy lega… is i am a man and i like girls. but hairy woman body is sooo sexy for me….
i would be glad to knew a girl that not shave her legs- i am at facebook
http://www.facebook.com/atiainc
I hate that girls are expected to have smooth shaven legs. I didn’t shave until late middle school-early high school because I was comfortable with my legs, I thought they were perfectly fine. But then I got bullied for it while at school and at camp, and started shaving a lot, both legs and underarms. Now I’m 20 I still hate it shaving. I try to not shave as much as I can, though I sometimes feel the need to like for swimming or something in the summer.
I’ve seen my friends shaving the tops of their arms along with their legs and other areas which I just don’t understand.
I don’t see why girls find it gross to have hair and feel the need to shave. You were born with it so why is there such a need to get rid of it…
I have honestly never shaved my legs, and I don’t really want to. I do have issues sometimes with my mother and other family members bringing it up (along with makeup, hair products and other garbage), and it does upset me because they treat it like a bad thing or just as a joke though I know it’s not. Mine is on the slightly darker side, but it’s soft, and I think it would be weird not to have it after living with it for my entire left.
I’ve always hated shaving my legs (so time consuming and expensive), and when I turned 20 I decided “fuck this. I’m not shaving my legs anymore.” It was a bit stubbly for a while, but it’s grown longer and yes, lol, very curly (and pretty thick), but it’s fairly light. I wear short spandex shorts year round at the gym and outside in the summer— I couldn’t care less. I get called a “hippy,” but honestly, I love the extra time, and not being stubbly/sand paper-like all the time. I haven’t looked back since!
You are awesome. I respect you. I’ve NEVER shaved me legs, don’t plan to. I have extremely light hair and its really fine and short. Actually pretty soft. I’m glad to find someone else who thinks all this is overrated.
My neighbor didn’t even notice until I pointed it out to her. And even I can barely feel it.
Im Asian. lol and i know most asians are not hairy or dont even have hairs on their legs. <- those are the lucky ones. BUT UNFORNUTATELY… im one of the unlucky ones. I shaved only once in 8th grade out of curiousity. now im in 9th grade. and i dont shave. I have hairy legs. not too hairy but noticeable. Im embrassed of my legs. I used to wear lots of skirts and shorts before i shaved. NOW. i dont because of my hairy legs.
People then to judge alot and i dont want to look bad. Help. I do get fun-off sometimes by boys. and i dont know what to do.
Should i just wear what i used to wear? or should i just keep wearing leggings/ jeans, and shirts/ loose shirts.
I just dont tend to be confident in myself.
I think you just need to be confident in yourself
it’s not like leg hair has any effect on what type of a person you are x
well in 6th grade i didnt shave my leg hair cause has been there since i was small
You rock.
And the guy who asked if you guys dated you because you had hairy legs? I bet he’s going to find some superficial chick who will drive him up the wall, and he’s going to go through relationships that suffer and fail because he can’t look at a girl for her heart and not how much/little hair she has.
Personally, I have met a guy who had no idea what I looked like through a game online, and we started falling for each other (talked over voice clients while playing the game for many days). When I finally admitted to him that I liked him, I also told him about how I wasn’t the prettiest girl, and that I was not at all superficial, that I like a guy for just being nice, honest, smart, having a sense of humor, all of those good things… he said he didn’t care, and when he saw me, he sincerely thought I was beautiful, even with my arm and leg hair, and the thin hairs on my face that I can’t help. It is pathetic for any male to think that hair is what stops a woman from being a good future wife, or future mother, or from being smart with her money, or from being a good citizen, etc… it’s silly.
For me, I think I would need more courage to wear clothes that shows my legs out in public without shaving though, because my hair is really dark, thick, and noticeable. Some parts of my legs have hair thinner than other parts. In a way, it is “unattractive” because my hairs go in all crazy directions (it’s curly/wavy because that is how my natural hair is) instead of going down straight in one direction, but I also know that that is normal. My arm hair is noticeable too, but I am comfortable showing those off because it is nice and neat. (I once knew a guy in high school who told me my arms were too hairy… and I wanted to punched him in the face and say, “I’m sure your balls are too hairy, you should go get them waxed and worry about your own body, since hair matters so much to you.” I just gave him a funny look instead and continued off to whatever I was doing.)
i am 14 and i have never shaved my legs, nor do i plan on shaving them anytime soon. I am perfectly comfortable with my hairy legs.
I would love to love your hairy legs
I always hated the hassle and expense of shaving, but along with that I also hated the shame of having missed a spot or being too stubbly. I started shaving in the 7th grade due to social pressures/expectations and did so until around the age of 22 when I stopped shaving my underarms because it was irritating to my skin/at that point I didn’t really care what people thought of them/I kind of liked the look of hairy underarms. That went on for a couple of years and at some point I started shaving my underarms again. This was disappointing to me because I didn’t really like it but felt like I had to do it for reasons that are still somewhat unknown to me, probably social pressures.
Last winter I shaved my legs for what I hope is the last time ever. For about 9 months I have been wearing long, dark, clearly visible hair on my legs and underarms and I feel really great about it. About 6 months in, I was sitting there looking at my hairy legs, trying to check my reaction to my own body which was that my hairy legs looked strange, unfamiliar, off-putting and unattractive. At that very moment I realized the sheer ludicriousness of these feelings toward the natural state of my body. “This is me. This is what I look like.” became a mantra and I have since been working on shifting my perception of what my body “should” look like and breaking out of the many years of socialization that has taught me and everyone around me that women should be hairless.
For me, not changing my dressing habits in public was very important in the hairless to hairy transition. The way I dress is very much a creative outlet for me. I felt that wearing pants and tights to cover my legs where I otherwise would’ve worn shorts or a mini defeated the whole purpose of why I was doing this to begin with which was for reasons of self-acceptance.
I try to walk around in hairy confidence though sometimes I don’t feel as brave as other times. Still, I to go about my life as usual and when I get reactions, am more amused than anything. The way I see it, if I am cool with my hairiness and someone else is not, that is their problem, not mine and I don’t need to make it mine.
I sincerely hope that other women who feel the way I do find the courage to be themselves out in the world despite the pressures to conform to dominant standards. ROCK ON, LADIES. LONG HAIR, DON’T CARE.
I personally love having hairy legs. I’ve personally never felt the need to shave. Unshaven legs just feel disgusting to me. Although I’m not so lucky, my leg hair is dark and completely visible to anyone who looks at me. It’s not very fine either. I don’t like people judging me so I just put clothing over top of it and no one notices
I usually shave my calves, but not too much. I just run them over with an electric razor mostly just to thin it out. I have light leg hair but it’s incredibly thick. I’ve never shaved my thighs in my life, but I don’t think many blonde people do, I’m not sure really. I’m always on the lookout in the summer for girls with unshaved legs. Makes me feel more normal haha
My sister never shaves her legs, she hasn’t in years. She also has really light hair, though, so it’s barely visible.
I probably only shave my legs like once a month during the summer, and never during the winter. Most people don’t comment on it, unless they’re close friends and/or family. But I just tell them that I don’t really care what people think of me, and that usually settles it. I always shave my armpits, because not shaving them feels unhygienic, and makes putting on deodorant feel awkward. Sometimes I will randomly decide to shave my legs because having them be smooth feels nice (on the rare occasion when I want to be a girly-girl), but most of the time, I go 100% natural. I didn’t realize until now that I’m not the only one who does this. Suddenly, I don’t feel so brave, but I’m also glad that being proud of your natural beauty is starting to catch on! Next, I hope more girls will stop trying to hide their “flaws” with makeup!
i do not enjoy shaving either. like you, i have light hair. i do shave sometimes, but never in the winter! maybe once a month in warm weather? like, at the most? my friends use to friendly laugh, saying that i am crazy, but soon they realized that i am just amazing to have confidence!
that said, if anyone does not feel comfortable unless they shave… SHAVE!
Thank you for this article! I’m 15, and my mom isn’t letting me start shaving until this summer. I wasn’t so conscious about my leg hair until this school year (9th grade). I’m insecure about it now because now that the weather’s warmer, I’ve been wearing dresses and skirts. I’ve been seeing all the girls in school with smooth, shaved legs. My friends even comment on it. “Shade, why don’t you ever shave?” or “Shade, you really need to shave your legs.” Then after I tell them “My mom won’t let me until this summer.” I get this really sympathetic look. Now, I think I’m fine with my leg hair! It’s not thick, it’s a little long, but who cares?! It’s all curled anyway so you can’t tell the difference. c:
Good for you! I’m only now trying to not shave my legs (and I’ve been shaving since high school and I’m now a college senior). It’s taking me a bit to get over the anxiety of being judged as gross (because so many people here think it is) but I have one guy friend who whole-heartedly supports not shaving and that makes going through with it a little easier. I also shave my underarms though for the same reason, I don’t like to stink. Reading that there are other girls who feel the same way helps me to strengthen my resolve. Thank you!
I don’t shave anything except my head.
I dont usually shave my legs but thats because im ususally covered up.The longest ive gone without shaving i guess is about six months…well depending on if I have any place special to go.I only shave on important events like prom, church,weddings etc and when I just feel like it.Which I usually dont. Its such a hassle
lol
I secretly shaved my leg hair when I was 12 and I regretted it. So, I stopped before I reached 14 and in my whole life, I’ve shaved like 3 times only and when I was 15, I saw my friends leg and her leg hair is fine and thin. Not even close like mine, mine is thick and not as fine as hers and I thought for a while, if I shave it, it’s not like I’m gonna show my legs to anyone, and who knows, maybe when I get older, my leg hair naturally turns almost visible like my mum( heck, she didn’t even have hairs unless you look very closely, then, you’ll notice )