Tuesday, November 16, 2010

No-shave November

I recently heard on the radio that a guy could almost certainly point to a couple of girls he went to college with as the original instigators of No-shave November. At least he said he'd never been able to find anyone who could trace the annual event further back than these two girls in Texas. Apparently, in a season of singleness, they'd decided not to shave their legs for a month. I think the idea was that no one would know the difference--but word got out, and a holiday-month was born.

Well, that is my introduction--an anecdote of interest relative to this month. However, it is merely the reason I began thinking about this blog topic, not the focus of it. You see, I am here to tell you why I believe in a No-shave Life. I'm not being funny, silly, or sarcastic--I'm being serious. So if you don't ind, lend your eyes, your brain, and your heart for just a few moments.

I began not-shaving a couple of years ago. I've always been a fan of not-shaving during the winter. I mean, who really wants extra-cold legs when nobody will see them anyway? But in 2008, my nonconformity grew gradually bolder. You see, I had a dear friend and housemate who had never shaved her legs in her life, and she inspired me to do away with the senseless, uncomfortable, time-consuming practice.

My mother and younger sister were not fans, to say the least*, but their insistence for conformity strengthened my feelings of rebellion on the subject. Their attitudes and the prejudicial ones I encountered--or sometimes, perhaps, merely imagined--forced me to think:
~Why am I doing this?
~Why do I care?
~Why does the urging of the crowd--family, friends, random
acquaintances--make my generally docile self feel ready to boil
over?


~TBC~


*My father and older sister did not care, and my brother applauded my action--or rather, inaction.

3 comments:

Calamity Colleen said...

I prefer to rebel against conventions by not wearing shoes, but I kinda get it. Loves.

Em said...

So, I have a confession to make... I have shaved my legs, once, for Brooke and Phil's wedding. It was a remarkably odd sensation...

Guinevere said...

I also enjoy the not-wearing of shoes, but it dosen't feel particularly rebellious to me. Maybe because I've been doing it so long that I feel used to it?

Em, I know. I read that at some point--whether on facebook or your blog or somewhere else. But you hadn't at the time I decided to not-shave. I still shave for weddings and subbing. For weddings because I think the people getting married appreciate it (but maybe they don't care?); for subbing because I'm not prepared to be denied my occasional jobs on the basis of the fact that I don't shave my legs. (My leg hair is quite a bit more noticeable then your, having been shaved for so many years.) But I'll get there--maybe when I have a reputation already built so that the people won't oust me based on first impressions. I do wear capris to my Zumba classes, which is a school district employees thing, but the people there don't know my know my name to deny me a job. :).