I thought about it, but I chose not to shave my arm hair. Sources: Shutterstock (woman & shaving cream)

Body hair is just a part of being a human. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you, that it’s everywhere. Sometimes though, body hair in some places can give us more insecurity than others. For me, it was arm hair.

I broke my arm in the eighth grade and that’s when I first really noticed the hair on my arms. I have dark brown hair, so as you might guess, my arm hair is also fairly dark. I’d been so concerned with shaving my legs, that I hadn’t really bothered to notice that my arms also had hair! Right away, I wondered if I should be shaving my arm hair, too.

I remember turning to the Internet to see what my options were for arm hair removal. However, before I could do any of them, I’d get too nervous. What if I had a weird reaction to bleaching my arm hair? What if it grew back more noticeably after shaving? Instead of doing anything about it, I just took to wearing a lot of long sleeves.

At a certain point (aka the summer) that was no longer a practical option. I just decided to be brave and wear my T-shirts and tank tops, sometimes holding my arms at weird angles so they kind of went into the shadows out of notice. It was tiring to calculate how I was going to position my arms all the time.

This went on for a bit, but after a little while, know what I realized? Absolutely nobody cared. I never in my life have had anyone make a comment about arm hair. Now glancing at my arm hair, I don’t find it super noticeable or strange in any way, and like I said, I’ve never done anything to alter it. It has all just been a matter of perception and since I stopped stressing, I realized there was nothing to stress about in the first place.

I have friends who shave their arm hair and friends who bleach it, but honestly, I couldn’t really tell you who does what. That’s because I realized that despite my insecurity about my own arm hair, I’ve never really once paid attention to anybody else’s.

I know me – I already am pretty sporadic when it comes to shaving my legs, and I know I couldn’t commit to shaving my arm hair on a regular basis. I would end up just becoming more stressed out about the upkeep.

Like I said before, body hair is a part of being human. Arm hair on women is totally natural and you should only remove it if you’re doing it for you. It is nobody else’s business, and for the most part, people don’t ever really make it their business either.

When it comes to hair removal, you have to do what’s right for you. If altering or removing your arm hair makes you feel more comfortable, that’s totally your choice, but also know that it’s okay to just let it be. In either case, you shouldn’t worry all that much about what other people could think, because as I learned, more than likely they’re not even thinking about it!

How do you feel about arm hair? Do you shave or bleach your arm hair, or just leave it as it is? Tell us in the comments!

What Do Guys Really Think About Hair Down There?

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!