By Mary Kilpatrick
Advance Ohio Media, Cleveland
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Ready to give your razor a rest? You won’t be alone as women around the world are growing out their hair and celebrating “Januhairy.”
CLEVELAND, Ohio
Who really wants to shave her legs in the winter?
Enter Januhairy, a trend where women across the country are taking this month off from shaving their body hair.
Welcome to enlightenment, sisters.
I don’t enjoy shaving my legs. To me, it’s an annoying societal norm, and a chore tacked on to my nightly routine. I often forget to shave, and often don’t care. Being hairless doesn’t make me feel put together, like painting my nails does.
I’m apparently not alone.
Hair removal among millennial women is falling, research cited by the Telegraph shows. About 95 percent of women between the ages of 16 to 24 said they removed their arm pit hair in 2013. Three years later, that number fell to 77 percent.
Leg hair removal similarly saw decreases: in 2013, 92 percent of women said they shaved their leg hair. By 2016, that number was 85 percent.
Hair removal became common among women fairly recently, historically speaking.
The grooming practice started to take off among women about a century ago, as clothing became more revealing, according to Vox. It was the norm by the 1940s.
When I do whip out my razor, it’s out of obligation. I shave because I feel like I have to, because it’s socially acceptable, ect.
That’s not a great reason, IMO. If shaving your legs doesn’t make you feel amazing, there’s no reason why you should do it.
What about you?
So here’s to Januhairy. Bring on Februhairy.
