Do you have to shave is debatable in both fashion and grooming

Open the glossy fashion magazines and you will likely see airbrushed vixens with nary a hair on their body.  The hair removal industry must be making a killing selling women razors and home wax kits and all manner of chemical compounds to render all feminine fuzz a distant memory.  But there is a growing faction of women who embrace their natural state and shun the razor. 

If you are one of them, you are in good company!

Fuzz … It’s Not Just for Peaches

More and more women are opting to forgo shaving in favor of a bit of fuzz.  Even some celebrities have embraced the trend.  Julia Roberts made headlines for displaying her unshaven arm pits, and photos of her in her natural state caused a media stir with reactions ranging from proud endorsements of Robert?s choice to go natural to angry demands that she shave the offensive hair in order to conform to societal ideals of beauty.  Likewise, Drew Barrymore has been known to show off her arm pits in all their fuzzy glory. 

Before these modern lovelies, Sophia Loren (another undeniable icon of beauty) also sported a more, ahem, natural look and looked amazing doing it!

Rock Your Feminine Fuzz!

One celebrity that has retained her arm pit hair (if not her eye brows) is the lovely and talented musician Amanda Palmer.  Palmer has long rocked the au natural look and has empowered others to join her in tossing away her razor, but she openly expresses her desire that each woman be encouraged to make the very personal choice about whether or not to keep her body hair.  The ease and grace with which she owns her decision is a nice counterbalance to some of the more militant voices of this not-so-great debate.    

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Body Hair Feminism

Make no mistake about it, body hair is a topic that starts some pretty heated arguments!  Those who choose not to remove their body hair can endure some harsh criticism and judgments from those who do not understand why some women refuse to conform to what they view as ?the norm.? 

However, those who allow their body hair to grow in naturally can be equally vehement in what they often characterize as weak women “caving in” a beauty ritual merely in order to please others.  Perhaps both factions would do well to remember that having the choice to decide is what makes your decisions empowered.   

Unshaven Doesn’t = Ungroomed or Unfeminine

One common misconception about ?the unshaven ones? is that a woman sporting the natural look is somehow ungroomed or (gasp!) unhygienic.  (Explain to me again why unshaven men do not suffer this same humiliating assumption?) 

However, having the body hair that nature intended does not automatically mean that the individual making the follicular statement eschews deodorant or other such products.  Nor does it mean that they are somehow unfeminine.  Did I mention Sophia Loren?  Here is additional proof, for those who still doubt that an unshaven woman can still be breathtakingly lovely and undeniable feminine: see the photos here.     

The Choice is Yours

Ultimately, the choice of whether to shave or not is an extremely personal decision.  There is no right or wrong answer.  It is up to each woman to decide what her preference is and to embrace it, to be comfortable with it, and to own it! 

If you want to shave, by all means feel free to!  More power to you! 

Likewise, if you want to rock your natural state, you should grow it out with pride, wear tank tops all summer long, and know that you are in good company!