Not so long ago I allowed my armpit hair to grow and when I looked in the mirror I felt quite disgusted, it looked so horrible seeing dark hair there and it made me think, why? Before I began writing this blog, I thought I would cheat and find one online to use and could I find one suitable, no. No real facts on why my body hair is good for me, on why we should keep it and what the stigma around it is, so I decided to write my own.
Let's go back, back in time, long before we were civilized, when we were roaming around barefoot covered with some animal skins to keep our and modesty and warmth about us. We knew nothing of Bic razors, wax strips or electrolysis, we were hairy from head to toe with maybe some bare bits in between! We didn't pluck our eyebrows or shave our toes (yeah you know you do!), we didn't colour our hair or worry about grey ones, it was just there, and we would have looked bloomin silly coming back to the cave/tent/roundhouse one day sporting complete hairlessness and blaming it on the latest fashion.
So, when and why did things change?.so a little Google later.... apparently, it was the Egyptians who started this trend, although there is history to suggest that people shaved before and possibly for hygienic reasons when our living conditions were worse and things like lice and scabies were common. Heads were also thought to be shaved so when in combat hair could not be pulled.
In the Egyptian times shaving became part of the class and status of people and still today in some parts the unshaven face can be judged as unprofessional, being lazy and of poverty.
I like to think that our design, our human body, the thing that is most precious and the most amazing, more amazing than anything any of us can invent, the vessel that we have only started to understand and recognise just a small part of it's great potential was made perfect....depending on where we are born, we have all the tools we need to protect us from the elements and our hair is one of them.
First example, when we are cold, what happens? our tiny hairs stand up on end, trap warm air next to our skin, to keep up warm, to keep our skin hydrated.
Our skin is our largest organ. It is protection from the outside world, protection for our internal world and covered with tiny holes (pores) it is waterproof and sensitive to touch and sensitive to energy...think of a cat who is scared, and their hackles go up, is that to make the cat look bigger to an intruder or prey? Maybe it not only makes them larger in size but larger in energy too, meaning their aura (energy field) is increased...like the yogi's who do not cut their hair because they believe that their hair connects them to the divine source.
The groin areas are sacred areas of the body, designed to reproduce, they are definitely energetic and the hair would have protective and alluring qualities.
Think Elvis and those hips!
Times are changing, I recently sat with two gorgeous young ladies with leg hair poking out the bottom of their dungaree's and as i pretended not to look too much, was a little shocked; ok armpit hair is starting in some circles to get a little fashionable among the rebellious youth but leg hair, is that going to far now i thought. I wonder sometimes if all these things that we 'have' to do is just to keep us busy? We spend so much of our time, tidying our houses, tidying ourselves, tidying our children, cleaning everything from our cars to ourselves all for it to get dirty again....Humm, what else would we be doing if we didn't have all this to do?
We seem to be remote controlled sometimes, 'men grow a moustache', 'men it is fashionable to have a big beard and no hair on your head', 'ladies armpit hair is now in, loose the razor', let's plump the lips, lengthen the eyelashes and grow the eyebrows; what/who starts these crazies and why do we all seem to follow? media, advertising and new brands, models and celebrities, I wonder if they are ask to start these fads, maybe they are influenced by designers, who are paid by the media who are owned by the banks...who knows, not me anyway, I am just guessing and thinking and thinking is a good thing yeah, questioning things...
So for the month of November I will leave my body hair alone; I will then take a look at myself and make my conclusions, will I be doing this again? Will my family have gone and left me by then, or friends found excuses not to see me...I don't think so, I am hoping this idea might inspire you to do the same just for a little while.
*Movember focuses on men's mental and bodily health. 3 x more men will commit suicide than women, I just don't think men have the support network and access to open honest conversations as much as women and a rather old-fashioned stigma that they need to be strong and supporting when they actually need support themselves.
These are some small U.K. charities I found through a website I want to acknowledge as it's a great post.
There are some others, In fact I found lots.