Oh, the pressures of beauty standards. We’ve come to embrace the “long hair, don’t care” stance, but what about when it’s on parts of the body other than the head?
That’s what one woman set upon as a personal challenge to the social convention of shaving body hair. Morgan Mikenas, a fitness blogger and Indiana native, hasn’t shaved her body hair for over a year. That’s right. Not the pits, legs, or anywhere else.
What started out as the dropping of a bothersome, time-consuming habit became a personal journey into self-acceptance and empowerment. In a now viral video posted to YouTube in March 2017, Morgan shared that it had been over a year since she shaved. Once she let it go, she enjoyed the feeling of having hair as well as the freedom from performing the job of shaving itself.
Working with school-aged children showed her that they have strong opinions on body hair at a young age. She stated that kids as young as 5 or 6 were making comments about how gross it was that she doesn’t shave. They didn’t like seeing her hairy legs while at the pool.
Morgan also learned that razor companies launched strong ad campaigns in the 1920s that urged women to shave their armpits. Fashion was changing and sleeveless dresses were “in”. Morgan felt that the stigma attached to women’s body hair spread because of social conditioning. She no longer cared.
Vice interviewed Morgan about her body hair views and here’s what she said:
“I stopped shaving because it was an inconvenience. It’s pointless. I feel like it’s an act of submission to the male dominated culture we live in. I want to mindfully make decisions for myself, and make choices that serve my purpose.
Shaving my legs makes me feel powerless. When you make decisions for others, specifically a decision that will make others see you a certain way, a way that culture has designed as ‘sexy and beautiful,’ you lose your power.”
She also spoke about seeing other ladies who decided to go au-naturel and were still gorgeous. Morgan’s reflective video attracted the attention of haters and supporters alike. As a fitness blogger, Morgan often posts pics on Instagram of her body along with body-positive messages. Negative comments started rolling in soon after her original video went viral, prompting her to respond.
The New York Post highlighted some of Morgan’s thoughts in the video below. One of the things she emphasizes is that she’s not looking to turn the world into non-shaving converts. She only wants to encourage others to do what they want and to love whatever makes them comfortable.
Morgan has no future plans to shave her body and is enjoying things as they are. And in case you were wondering, she has a supportive boyfriend who’s been a part of this experience from the start. He doesn’t give a hoot about it either.
What do think of Morgan’s views? As a woman, what’s your stance on shaving body hair? Do you care?