Shaving Is A Choice, Not A Standard

We’ve all heard a friend talk about how she can’t wear a short dress because her legs aren’t shaved. But really, why is that still a thing? Shaving has long been tied to outdated ideas of femininity. You’re clean and proper(more ladylike, if you're in the 1800s), if you have no armpit hair. It has become a standard– something that it is not. 

Make it make sense. How did shaving, something so personal, become so tangled up with perceptions of beauty, hygiene, and even sexuality? For many of us, it didn’t start as a choice. It started as a rule. One you follow silently, because not doing it feels like failing some invisible test of social acceptability.

But here’s the truth that rarely gets said out loud: you don’t owe anyone hairless legs, arms, armpits, or anything else.

How Did We Get Here?

At the turn of the 20th century, women didn’t give much thought to shaving. Fashion covered most of the body, and beauty norms hadn’t yet fixated on hairlessness. That all changed—unsurprisingly—thanks to advertising.

As sleeveless dresses emerged around 1915, razor companies saw an opportunity. Early ad campaigns began associating underarm hair with embarrassment and poor grooming. By the 1920s, shorter hemlines invited ads to shift their focus to legs. The message? Smooth skin was not only desirable but expected. “Be neat. Be clean.” Sound familiar?

Decades later, these slogans have calcified into unquestioned rituals. In India, they’ve also fused with cultural expectations of being sanskari, “presentable,” or marriage-ready. Many of us have grown up hearing that underarm hair is “manly,” hairy arms look “dirty,” and waxing is non-negotiable before weddings or family events.

The Hygiene Myth

One of the most pervasive (and frankly lazy) justifications for shaving is “hygiene.” We’ve all seen it—the girl making a cute hairstyle reel, only to be flooded with comments calling her “unclean” because she has visible underarm hair.

Let’s clear it up: body hair is not dirty. It serves real biological purposes, like regulating temperature, reducing friction, and acting as a barrier against bacteria. Shaving doesn’t make you cleaner. It just makes you conform.

Hair removal should be a personal decision, not a cleanliness obligation. Yet this myth has made generations of people feel shame for something entirely natural.

What It Really Costs

The pressure to shave or wax comes with real costs—physical, emotional, and financial.

Skin damage becomes routine: razor burns, ingrown hairs, darkened patches.
Mental stress shows up in everyday moments. Checking your legs before wearing a dress, crossing your arms to hide stubble.
Money goes fast: razors, waxing, threading, maybe laser if you can afford it.
And then there’s shame, the most invisible cost. Not wearing that sexy little dress, skipping events, feeling “unpresentable” on days you just didn’t want to bother.

Shaving Can Be a Choice—But Only If It Feels Like One

There’s nothing wrong with shaving, waxing, or lasering. But there is something wrong with feeling like you must do it—every time, for every occasion, to be taken seriously, to be seen as desirable, or to feel worthy.

The real question is: are you shaving because it makes you feel good, or because you feel pressured to? Fortunately, the tide is beginning to turn. More people are embracing their natural hair, showcasing it proudly on social media, from arms and underarms to stomachs and thighs. 

But visibility still brings backlash. There are trolls, hate comments, and even polite “suggestions” from family. The world doesn’t always make it easy to stop using the razor. That’s why every time someone does, it’s quietly radical.

So, shave if you want to. Wax if you love how it feels. Laser it off, if that’s your call. But also know this: you don’t need to remove anything to be beautiful, clean, loved, or enough.

Body hair is natural. It’s normal. It’s yours. What you do with it should be, too.