in high school, i first stopped shaving my armpits because it made my family uncomfortable (& bc i adore hippies). what truthfully started out as me rebelling and being stubborn to irritate my mom, morphed into something that became very gender affirming for me as i got older.

the teasing regarding my body hair didn’t bother me when i did it to prove a point- it wasn’t until i began feeling uncomfortable in my body when i shaved that it felt like an identity attack rather than a silly feminist ideology that was separate from my existence. it was then that i realized how radical it was to exist pleasurably in our natural bodies!

we can blame capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, lots of big systems- but we can also grab the roots of these issues (haha pun intended) by dissecting how their impact manifests in our bodily presentations. reimagining a system of justice that teaches people who are shaming, to live unashamedly in their bodies. this alternative justice heals wounds and focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment and throwing stones back in a cycle of harm.

my hope is that we find liberation through the simple things (like existing with body hair)! and from this, we become empowered enough to exist unapologetically (therefore showing others that it’s okay to do the same) & from this connection- together we’ll all show up for the big things like standing up for the marginalized.

ironically enough, existing with body hair turned me into someone who deeply cares about social justice- people are not political, they’re people existing!