To wax or not to wax?

So, a little while ago, Rega Jha (who used to be editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed India) posted an Instagram story that got me thinking. She spoke about how we can’t really argue that waxing is a choice, because it kind of isn’t. And I totally agree with her.
I started waxing when I was in the 7th grade, starting with only armpits and eventually including full arms and legs, and I even starting getting my eyebrows threaded when I was about 15 (I have really bushy, thick eyebrows). 12 is quite a young age to start waxing, and I did it because a lot of my friends had also started doing the same. However, another reason why I started waxing was because I was taught to believe that my body hair was ugly.
All young girls, especially in India, are taught that body hair is something to be ashamed of. Something that only men should have, and that women having body hair are ‘unattractive’. We have set a certain standard of beauty that all women must accomplish – fair skin, an hourglass body and no body hair. Heck, even razor and hair removal ads show women who have no body hair at all. But people fail to understand that body hair is there for a reason. It helps in regulating body temperature, is a sense organ and facilitates evaporation of perspiration. So yeah, body hair is pretty damn important.
And here we are, going through the pain of hair being ripped out of our skin because if we don’t do that, we are deemed ugly, unattractive, or manly. Haven’t women suffered enough?
Coming back to waxing, or any sort of hair removal being a choice, we need to understand that it is not really your choice. It is, indirectly, society’s choice. You do it because society told you to do it. You do it under the influence of other people’s opinions, because you want to fit in. Otherwise, what will they think/say? Whatever it is, nobody should be judged for any of their choices, whether they choose to wax or not.
So, let us be the generation that teaches young girls (and our daughters, in the future) to embrace their body hair. To be proud of it. Let us change society’s perspective. Let us shatter unrealistic beauty standards. Let us promote body positivity. Let us be the people that make the world a better, non-judgmental place.
And after all this, if a girl does choose to wax, I think that is when it will truly be the girl’s choice, and not a choice that is made only to conform to societal norms.
I would like to end with a body hair positive poem written by the amazing Rupi Kaur:

the next time he
points out the
hair on your legs is
growing back remind
that boy your body
is not his home
he is a guest
warn him to
never outstep
his welcome
again