My journey of body hair acceptance…

My journey of body hair acceptance started as a plan to love myself and feel confident in my choices but instead has introduced me to the realities of societal pedophilia.

For me, coming of age circled around the existence of body hair, and the realities that presented for me in my daily life. I didn't start shaving my legs until 8th grade when my friend looked at me in a dress and announced to the group that my legs were "really hairy." I had never thought about my legs this way before. I'd been shaving my armpits for a while by this time because they were more on display during summer times, and my mom had suggested it. My hair is very thick, so shaving, if I want to keep a facade of hairlessness and smoothness, is a daily or every-other-day activity. And I performed this activity for many years following that initial comment. I was afraid that people would see any hair, and bring it up again.

My first girlfriend didn't shave. She happily walked around with hairy armpits, legs, face, etc. I was inspired by her, but still very self-conscious about what people would say. And in my mind, shaving or not shaving was now a personal decision, one that I could make for myself. Isn't life all about being comfortable?
But recently, I saw a post on social media that has rocked this core belief. Its idea was that to remove your body hair is to force your body into a pre-pubescent form. This post was meant to bring up the reality that Western media prefers a "youthful" (in every sense of the word) presentation of the self. I was so confident in my belief of doing what I feel comfortable with, but this post has brought up the idea that what I'm comfortable with has roots in societal pedophilia. How can I possibly be comfortable in choosing to shave when I now have the idea that I do so because my partners want to experience a child version of myself.