Yep, I Shave My Face.
I had been born with many different hair. So much in fact which i had thick sideburns even while an infant. Through the years, my mother and grandmother would make an effort to (lovingly) scrub lower my face and arms having a towel, wishing to thin your hair piece by piece with time. (*Narrator voice*: This didn’t work.)
When I joined junior high school, I had been bullied about my body system and hair on your face. One girl-who, yes, I still remember-known as us a gorilla another stated I had been an ewok. (But joke’s in it because ewoks are awesome.) Another student teased me before a large number of my peers which i left hair everywhere I went.
“In my thoughts, if anybody even vaguely saw my hair on your face, their judgement would continue exacerbating my very own insecurities.”
Eventually, I made the decision I’d rather seem like the lady in the Ring than put my hair behind my ears. I additionally always used my hair lower, refusing to drag the lengthy black tresses back to a ponytail I still never do in public places. Because, i believe, if anybody even vaguely saw my hair on your face, their judgement would continue exacerbating my very own insecurities.
After that time one fateful day in sixth grade, I strongly requested-over a 12-year-old can-my beautician to shave the sideburns off. “Are you sure for you to do this?” My mother asked. Then she advised me, concerned, “If you begin now, you’ll need to bare this up forever.” I did not care I needed to get it done anyway.
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In almost any other scenario, I would’ve been afraid from the buzz from the clippers. Rather, I accepted the seem, knowing they’d tackle an insecurity I’d continuously concerned about. And in a few minutes, I’d a face I’d never quite seen before, peppered with hair trimmings, but free from extremely bushy sideburns. The very first features It’s my job to observed about my appearance weren’t any longer there, and that i could concentrate on my actual face. I felt liberated.
Yet, understandably-so that as my mother predicted-this decision needed upkeep later on. Following a separate bout of facial laser treatment didn’t quite work, I additionally expanded from only the sides towards the cheekbones and upper lip too. Since that moment 17 years back, I’ve shaved that area up to 200 occasions (and that’s a conservative estimate). If each shave takes ten minutes, that’s almost two full days I’ve allocated to this routine, and 100’s of dollars allocated to Tinkle razor blades and clipper blade cartridges.
“And although this has outwardly boosted my youthful self-confidence inside a society that values hair-free skin, the invisible, internal shame I felt has remained around.”
Even though it has outwardly boosted my youthful self-confidence inside a society that values hair-free skin, the invisible, internal shame I felt has remained around.
Because while my buddies discussed threading their eyebrows or exploring bikini waxes, I felt I had been harboring this massive secret-I had been shaving. my. face. I owned a set of men’s trimming clippers by age 15 when anybody requested, I’d say they belonged to my buddy and alter the topic.
I Then began worrying the growth would worsen would I eventually possess a beard of thick hair, or perhaps a five-o’clock shadow within hrs? (No.) Would shaving exacerbate my skin issues and cause ingrown hairs and scarring? (Fortunately, not a chance.) Let’s say I scared away potential partners if my hair increased too lengthy plus they *gasp* observed it? (Didn’t happen.)
The simple truth is, lots of women have undergone similar encounters and get the questions. All of us feel the same cycle, too: shame from hair, shave your hair, shame from shaving.
Yet hair, including hair on your face, is common! From genetics to conditions like PCOS and hirsutism to gender transitions, countless women cope with hair on your face-and also the connected stigma-even when we’re still not perfectly comfortable speaking about this.
There’s a discussion happening about hair on your face removal, but it’s usually concerning the influencer trend of dermaplaning in order to smooth your skin before you apply makeup. But otherwise, it’s poised like a juicy “confession”, like features on Health.com, Moms, and Birchbox. Or we’re told to avoid it to begin with, with a large number of Google searches asking “should women shave their face” and responses like “no, it’s a dreadful idea!”
“Hair, including hair on your face, is common! From genetics to conditions like PCOS and hirsutism to gender transitions, countless women cope with hair on your face.”
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Individuals aren’t the conversations I wish to have. The issue I wish to ask is, “Why?”
How come it matter? Why, exactly, is shaving my hair on your face a grimy little secret? How come our heteronormative society see men’s hair on your face as attractive yet women’s as gross? On the other hand, I do not see anybody commenting around the hair-free patches on my small husband’s legs saying it’s too feminine, and I’m fairly sure nobody would even notice if he started waxing them entirely. (See, past-Henah, you saw a partner who loves you, despite your sideburns.)
I really want you to understand: No matter. Whether you’re studying this like a more youthful form of me, contemplating shaving for men the very first time, or decades over the age of me and realizing a couple of oral cavity and face hairs in some places: Your choice to shave the face-or otherwise-shouldn’t matter to anybody. It’s your choice alone, one which never deserves shame.
Because you’re human, and that’s probably the most normal factor on the planet.
“Your decision to shave the face-or otherwise-shouldn’t matter to anybody. It’s your choice alone, one which never deserves shame.”