{"id":7095,"date":"2016-07-06T00:24:50","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T18:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7095"},"modified":"2016-07-06T00:24:50","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T18:54:50","slug":"socially-distancing-from-my-razor-how-giving-up-hair-removal-can-be-liberating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=7095","title":{"rendered":"Socially Distancing from My Razor: How Giving Up Hair Removal Can Be Liberating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span>f you asked me in January 2020 what my routine before an evening out looked like, it would go something like this: two hours of the morning spent in the parlour<\/a> getting plucked like a chicken, afternoon at home washing and drying my curly hair perfectly like that of a poodle, and an hour in the evening shortly before my departure spent painting over every blemish on my face. I would finally step out without an extra strand of hair on my body and with not one strand of hair astray on my head. For me, being hair-free was like an outfit accessory \u2013 I would only look good or \u201csophisticated\u201d if my skin was smooth and glossy. Fast-forward to February 2021, I find myself in a restaurant with hair on my calves, some sprouts above my lip, and my eyebrows au naturel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the dictates of the first lockdown in March 2020, salons around the country were closed indefinitely on account of their not providing \u201cessential\u201d services. I could not imagine a year without hair removal back then. For most women like myself, it was important to be cleansed and polished like gold every month. But with life at standstill for what seemed like an undetermined period, I had nowhere to go and nothing to doll up for. That\u2019s when I started thinking about all the years that I\u2019d tell myself, \u201cI\u2019m doing this all for me.\u201d But was I, really? Why have I been putting up with this scathing ritual for years now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My institution to the world of parlours started as a 14-year-old who had to attend her cousin\u2019s wedding<\/a>. To me, it didn\u2019t matter that I had hair combing my arms, legs, and armpits but it apparently did to everyone else who was peering at me with a magnifying glass. \u201cChadhti jawani\u201d in this case referred not only to acne<\/a> but also to sprigs of hair in the armpit and the bikini line. In contrast, my teenage male cousin was lauded for his stache \u2013 it was emblematic of adulthood. And for me? Another unrealistic beauty standard was set. I started thinking being \u201cclean-shaven\u201d was synonymous with being clean. Soon I had my entire closet divided into two sections: clothes I can wear without feeling ashamed and clothes I cannot. When I\u2019m hairy, I only have access to one half of it. Any unexpected growth made me feel dishevelled and had me reaching out for long sleeves and jeans. The pandemic turned this obsession of getting rid of body hair on its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my hair started growing out during the lockdown, the first month or so, it bothered me. I\u2019d shave<\/a> my legs and pluck my brows with a tweezer and then when staying in became a way of life, I hardly took notice of it. It was just a process that was taking place simultaneously, like breathing. There was no longer any fretting over the post-wax bumps or pre-wax scrubbing. My principles as a feminist<\/a> had always been clear to me: To have the liberty of choice; to shave or not to shave. The pandemic has reinstated this.

I am proud that my frequency to indulge in hair removal has reduced drastically.<\/blockquote>
In a piece published<\/a> in the Guardian<\/em> on women who gave up grooming in 2020, Jaclyn Wong of the University of South Carolina, an expert in gender and attractiveness, says \u201cThe fact that women aren\u2019t doing this beauty work is exciting to me, because it represents a disruption of how they normally comply with our society\u2019s expectations of femininity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waxing, shaving, epilating, whatchamacallit is largely a cultural burden inherited by women from generation to generation. I did not wax until 14 but my classmates in the girls\u2019 school that I attended had been doing it since they were 11 or 12 years old, and they made it known. If they spotted someone with long weaves, they passed sly remarks. When I asked my mother why she wouldn\u2019t let me wax, she would say, \u201cWhy are you in such a hurry to grow old?\u201d Fair point. The arrival into this \u201cadult\u201d world was like a twisted quinceanera \u2013 my coming-of-age was a punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish I could tell you that the last couple of months have brought a 180 degree change in this lifestyle. Unlike many women who\u2019ve given up hair removal completely, I wax from time to time. However, what I am proud of is that my frequency to indulge has reduced drastically. I let myself wear dresses and shorts and tank tops with my hair peeking from underneath them but I no longer beat myself over it. I don\u2019t run for the tweezer if I see an extra hair or two growing on my chin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlearning is a lengthy, arduous process that takes place internally and externally. While it\u2019s not the great war of our ages, I fight it within myself because I can no longer be controlled by a society that benefits from my misery. I refuse to let it hold the reins to my comfort. Little by little, this has been a process of reclaiming all the power that I had forfeited in my teenage years. I have started accessing the other half of my closet and wearing styles that may not be typically flattering. It\u2019s liberating to just be who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, it took a few months in confinement to make me realise this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For me, being hair-free was like an outfit accessory \u2013 I would only look good or \u201csophisticated\u201d if my skin was smooth and glossy. When salons shut during the first lockdown, I stopped bothering about hair removal. It felt liberating to just be who I am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":422,"featured_media":7096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender"],"yoast_head":"\nSocially Distancing from My Razor: How Giving Up Hair Removal Can Be Liberating<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For me, being hair-free was like an outfit accessory \u2013 I would only look good or \u201csophisticated\u201d if my skin was smooth and glossy. When salons shut during the first lockdown, I stopped bothering about hair removal. 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