my armpit hair is 2 inches long

Hello, I hope you're having an amazing day so far. My name's Alexa, and today, I want to talk about something everyone has: body hair. Body hair is so natural and normal, yet, everywhere I see ads for hair removal and people on magazines who have baby soft hairless skin. I have seen some small brands that are embracing body hair. I first saw them on an instagram ad, they are a brand of bras and underwear called hara the label. I was so happy to see that some of their models proudly lifted up their arms while posing to reveal their armpits. It felt liberating to know that others had decided to leave their hair like me. Hey! That rhymed. Although there have been advancements to represent body hair it isn't mainstream.

If I could time travel seven years back in time, my past self would be shocked to see my appearance. Seven years ago I was shy, and I wanted to fit in and be like all the other girls at school. I remember quite well that I knew I offered to braid my hair, and I said yes, and when she swept my hair off my neck she saw the hair that I have on the nape of my neck. She laughed at it, then dropped my hair and didn't braid it. So I would shave everything. I would shave my armpits even though I didn't make much hair there at the time, I would shave the baby hairs on my stomach and chest, my back (what I could reach of it) and of course my legs and arms. I wanted to be completely hairless and smooth. I started to feel self conscious about my body hair when I was 8 years old. I remember someone mentioned my "hairy" legs and arms. They mentioned that I was so young to have that much hair and that it was probably an indication that I was maturing as a woman. Although maturing as a woman is completely natural, at the time I didn't understand that concept. I wanted to stop that process as much as I could. I felt so embarrassed when my chest started developing at that age and would hide it as much as I could. I felt so embarrassed when I bought my first bra with my mom when I was 10. My chest was an A cup, I felt so ashamed of having breasts. And I felt ashamed to have body hair ; if it really meant that I was becoming a woman I wanted no part of it. I shaved my chest and belly for the first time when I was 8, but I stopped later on because I was told it would make my hair grow back thicker. Although at age eight I was conscious about my body hair, I didn't make much effort to cover it up, not until I was older. When I turned 11 I was eager because in my mind it was the perfect age to start shaving like a woman since I had just become one. I begged my mom and she succumbed to my petition. Ever since that day, for a year I couldn't bear the sight of stubble on my legs and would shave at least once a week. I slacked off my shaving when I went into independent studies for the second semester of seventh grade. Since I rarely went out then, I thought there was really no need. I carried this through my eighth grade, but not without difficulty. The group I was with would occasionally tease me about my arms, saying that they're arms had less hair than mine, and would point out how my arm hair would sway in the wind. When I shaved my legs they would congratulate me and say that it looked better that way. So I shaved my legs to avoid being teased and would wear sweaters and long sleeves when I could to hide my arm hair.

I stopped shaving about year ago. Why? For many reasons. 1)Because I wanted to prove to myself that I don't have to shave if I don't want to. And I don't want to. 2)I wanted to see if I would be beautiful if I didn't shave. I am. 3)I wanted to stop using plastic razors because they do not last long. I'm working on reducing my footprint.

Yes, my past self would be shocked to see my appearance. My past self would be shocked to know that I went to the beach without shaving... anything. I went au natural. But I like to think that my past self would understand my decisions when knowing that I felt so liberated and free spirited at the beach, and that I was having the time of my life. Alexa from seven or even five years ago would understand that I made that decision for the right reasons. Maybe I am not drop dead gorgeous how I thought I would look at my age, but I have come to realize that I am so much more than that. I am learning so much on my journey. Tate said that our life is like an ocean, the waves are endless, like our lives. Whatever we are living, it's just a small chapter in our life. Those years of unacceptance of my physical being are just a chapter in my life, and I've learned to look back at them with tenderness, but also to learn and move on. I don't look back on that chapter in my life by thinking that I wish I could relive them, rather, I think about the mistakes I made when putting my entire self worth on my outer appearance and acting out because of my frustrations and confusions. I look back and think, if I had taken a step back to reflect on my feelings and thoughts, and to appreciate those around me, my life would've been positive. But, I have no regrets. That chapter helped me grow into the person I am right now and they build my character. Without that chapter, my book wouldn't be the same, right?

What does this have to do with body hair? Our view on ourselves is so crucial to why and how we grow out our body hair. If you make the decision to stop shaving, it has to be for good reasons. Only you can decide if those reasons are good ones. Growing out your body hair is a journey, both internal and external. Internal because you adjust to your appearance and you might learn to love yourself no matter what. It's external because your hair will take time to grow. My hair took about a month to grow. It was nice to see that one day there was an entire tuft of hair on my armpits. Everyone's hair grows differently, it's all part of the experience! If you do decide to grow out your B.H., feel free to DM me on instagram.

This brings me to my next important point : you do you. If you want to try out not shaving for some time and then you decide it's not for you, that's great! If you decide that you like not shaving but you want to shave your legs for whatever reason, that's cool! Just because you want to embrace your body hair it doesn't mean that you can not shave whenever you feel like it, or only shave one part of your body.

I want to talk about how I started my body hair embracement journey. It all started when I had just turned seventeen. There was a video on Youtube that caught my eye because of the title and the thumbnail. The thumbnail featured a girl who in my eyes was so beautiful and captivating. She had unique makeup on that also caught my eye. I forgot the title of the video if imk being honest but at the time I found it so fascinating because I had never seen a video with a theme like that.

My experience has been quite positive, and I do not plan on shaving anytime soon. I have learned to accept (partially, I'm still on my journey of self-love) my body in its natural state and have decided to embrace it. Most days I feel beautiful and amazing just the way I am. I hope that you do too.