You know what sex ed lessons for girls really need to do more on?
Like, from what I remember, we pretty much just got told as part of our puberty lessons that we were going to start growing hair on our armpits and pubic area and then it was on to the periods and breasts— because it’s not like there’s anything else to talk say about hair, right?
Things they didn’t cover:
You are going to have to shave your legs and armpits regularly from the age of about 11 until the age of about seventeen when you are finally allowed to drop PE.
If you don’t, all the girls in your PE class will tell you you are too hairy and ask you when you last shaved.
If you tell your Mum you want to start shaving your armpits, she will give you a razor and show you how to do it. If you then attempt to shave your legs as well, you will immediately stab yourself in the leg because you have no idea what you are doing. Your parents will come running when they hear you screaming about all the blood on the bathroom floor.
(Shower water dilutes blood, making it look like there’s way more than there is. You are fine.)
When you go swimming in the Summer holidays aged 13, your 11 year old little brother will feel entitled to tell you you need to shave your armpits.
We lied to you about how much hair you’re going to grow. Armpits and legs and privates are just the start.
Some girls get unibrows, some girls get moustaches, some girls get stray hairs on their breasts or chins. A lot of girls get hair on their stomachs or backs— if you’ve got dark hair, you might end up with noticeably hairy arms.
No matter what configuration of hair you’ve got on your body, society will treat you like a freak who needs to either shave or go live in the woods with the other animals— because at some point we all just decided that all women are naturally hairless except for their heads, eyebrows and eyelashes, and now you better damn well jump to meet that standard.
If you don’t want to shave, you may find yourself covering up instead, wearing clothes that are really too warm for the weather because the alternative is letting people see your body.
Body hair is perfectly natural, but the whole world is going to tell you it isn’t.
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