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I started noticing the hair on my arms getting thinker and
longer when I was junior high school. The new girl got
along with me and my friends perfectly, then one night
at a sleepover she asked, “Why are your arms so hairy?
Can I shave them for you?”
From that point
on, I always made sure my sleeves were at least ¾ length
sleeves. I never shaved my arms or tried to get rid of
the hair because of my mom. She told me that she was
like that growing up and she always reassured me that it
will thin out when I’m older, just like hers did. Plus
she said that if I did shaved my arms, it would grow
back thicker and hairier. So that in itself scared me
into never shaving my arms.
The rest of my
body was surprisingly hairless, so I had difficultly
accepting my arms. I remember the summer after I
graduated from high school, this guy I had started
dating said that he wanted to ask me out since we were
14 but never did because he was afraid of what his
friends would think, since everyone knew about my arms
but never mentioned it out loud.
I was in shock
when he said that!
It was then I realized
that my arms did bother people that much and that my
efforts to hide them were obviously not working. I had
just thought that everyone wasn’t bothered about it
because it was rare I wouldn't hear a comment since my
arms were always covered. After he had said that I get
even more embarrassed about my arms.
It wasn’t until I
moved out of that small out that I realized that my arms
were no big deal. That other girls I met had the same,
still it was few and far in between but they were out
there.
It’s been three years
since I left that small town and over that time I
learned to love my arms. I can’t change the fact my arms
are hairy.
Once in awhile I still
get asked why I don’t shave my arms. And my response is
basically the same each time…I’m comfortable in my own
skin, why should I change myself to impress people that
I’ll never see again? At this point, I have learned to
be comfortable, even laugh and make jokes about my arms.
Even when I’m out with my guy friends (or ones I just
meet) we have bets to see who has the longest arm hair
and the loser usually has to buy the other a drink or
some food. I still have yet to find a guy with longer
arm hair than mine, and that makes me smile, not shamed!
Jessica
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