i'm toying with the idea of taking a sabbatical from shaving my legs. this line of thinking only started this morning, but since then it's progressed significantly.
to fully understand where i'm coming from, i should say that i really enjoy having shaved legs. i shave my legs every 3 days year round and have done for i don't know how long (not always, but definitely the last while). having shaved legs is very soft and smooth, and makes me feel good. in contrast to that, when my leg hair gets long and catches on my pant leg i am deeply troubled with discomfort.
as a child i was always extremelly self-conscious of how hairy my legs and arms were. having dark hair, my leg hair was more pronounced than that of my contemporaries. around age 9 and 10 i started to eagerly long to shave my legs and in the spring of grade 5 (around when my parents split up actually, probably not related but still interesting to me) i started baggering my mom about it and she finally conceeded and said "fine go shave your legs". so i did, but i found they looked so odd and exposed so i let them grow back in. funnily enough, i remember the new hair had a bit of an auburn tint to it. anyways, soon after a boy in my class said to me "why are your legs all hairy" and after that i began shaving regularly.
i have been quite happy with my routine and my legs. the thought of even considering something else had never really crossed my mind, even in the company of women who forgo shaving. it wasn't until the other day when brianne mentioned that razor manufacturers started marketing to women so they could broaden their customer-base that it occured to me that this is a custom INVENTED by someone. how odd that seems. how odd that i've never questioned this activity before. slowly it's been occuring to me the benefits of not shaving my legs and stiring in me the desire to give the other option a try. i'm realizing that my arm hair is pretty much unnoticable - significantly less noticable than it was when i was a child. perhaps if i let my leg hair return to it's natural state it may be less apparent than i remember. i'm pretty sure i could get thru the discomfort by moisturizing a lot.
if i do this. if i experiment in this way, i need to commit to a lengthy time frame. i feel that end of march may be a good time since it will allow me the privacy of pants to explore this option. i think i'll give myself until the end of may to assess things, and recognize that i might even need to go to the end of june.
basically, this is not a political statement or even a judgement on the practise of leg shaving. but i feel i need to give natural legs a try to see if i've been selling myself short. i respect beards for being what they are. maybe i should give my own legs a chance too.
to fully understand where i'm coming from, i should say that i really enjoy having shaved legs. i shave my legs every 3 days year round and have done for i don't know how long (not always, but definitely the last while). having shaved legs is very soft and smooth, and makes me feel good. in contrast to that, when my leg hair gets long and catches on my pant leg i am deeply troubled with discomfort.
as a child i was always extremelly self-conscious of how hairy my legs and arms were. having dark hair, my leg hair was more pronounced than that of my contemporaries. around age 9 and 10 i started to eagerly long to shave my legs and in the spring of grade 5 (around when my parents split up actually, probably not related but still interesting to me) i started baggering my mom about it and she finally conceeded and said "fine go shave your legs". so i did, but i found they looked so odd and exposed so i let them grow back in. funnily enough, i remember the new hair had a bit of an auburn tint to it. anyways, soon after a boy in my class said to me "why are your legs all hairy" and after that i began shaving regularly.
i have been quite happy with my routine and my legs. the thought of even considering something else had never really crossed my mind, even in the company of women who forgo shaving. it wasn't until the other day when brianne mentioned that razor manufacturers started marketing to women so they could broaden their customer-base that it occured to me that this is a custom INVENTED by someone. how odd that seems. how odd that i've never questioned this activity before. slowly it's been occuring to me the benefits of not shaving my legs and stiring in me the desire to give the other option a try. i'm realizing that my arm hair is pretty much unnoticable - significantly less noticable than it was when i was a child. perhaps if i let my leg hair return to it's natural state it may be less apparent than i remember. i'm pretty sure i could get thru the discomfort by moisturizing a lot.
if i do this. if i experiment in this way, i need to commit to a lengthy time frame. i feel that end of march may be a good time since it will allow me the privacy of pants to explore this option. i think i'll give myself until the end of may to assess things, and recognize that i might even need to go to the end of june.
basically, this is not a political statement or even a judgement on the practise of leg shaving. but i feel i need to give natural legs a try to see if i've been selling myself short. i respect beards for being what they are. maybe i should give my own legs a chance too.
that they should all have to pretend.
7 comments:
I despise shaving my legs, but I always do if I'm going to be wearing a skirt or shorts. I also get really itchy when it starts to grow back after a couple of days so I avoid it unless I have to. In the winter time I don't worry about it much, though. Razors are so expensive, too!
marlene
As I'm sure you can imagine, I have a HUGE smile on my face right now.
The itchiness does go away. But it'll take a while.
And I should also mention that I will love your legs, Les, weather they are, in the end, hairy or bald.
You should know that Rach fist-pumped when she read this post.
hahaha. i'm not surprised that rach was so excited.
i'm glad you are excited. how long will it take!?!?!0
you know, it took me several attempts of growing out my underarm hair to like it and not feel self conscious about it. i don't really know why. now it seems obviously 'me' and 'nice' and 'comfy' and even, dare I say it? 'pretty'. once or twice a year I shave it off on a whim or something. i guess it's a good substitute for the change some people enjoy with a haircut since I almost never cut my hair :)
have fun on your hair adventures!
I don't remember how long it takes for the itchies to leave. I stopped shaving SEVENTEEN years ago! But my legs never itch now and haven't for years and years. Even when I wear tights. I imagine that by the time your hair has grown in all the way, to its maximum length, then it will no longer itch.
a week or two, i think. but it depends how fast your hair grows.
Post a Comment