When the pandemic began, I decided to let the hair on my legs grow out and see how I felt about it.

Instantly, I felt relief from not spending hours in the bathroom bending over and looking down to make sure I got every little hair out.

The decision to continue growing my hair and stop shaving eventually led me to moments of self discovery—not only within myself, but also how I fit among family, men, women, gender and sexuality.

Breanne Fahs, associate professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University, said most women feel like shaving is necessary.

“You have somewhere between 92% to 99% of women who are adhering to this norm of shaving,” Fahs said.

In the 19th century, shaving was not common practice for women, according to Fahs, but with the start of fashion photography including hairless women and aggressive marketing campaigns for the blade and shaving industry, removing hair eventually became the norm.

Personally, I’ve always hated shaving, waxing or using creams to remove my body hair. But, growing up as a woman in Argentina with a fairly conservative family that thinks body hair is “gross,” I never really questioned why I shaved.

“It’s often something that people don’t think consciously about,” Fahs said. “It’s just assumed that girls, when they’re going [through puberty], will start shaving.”

In elementary school I was picked on for my body hair by my classmates and family, and it quickly became one of my biggest insecurities. It was the reason I shaved and waxed my hair from my armpits, my face and from the waist down.

It took me nearly 10 years of literal blood, sweat and tears—as well as distancing myself from my family’s toxic mentality—to start accepting myself and my body as it is.

The reason why people shave may vary—some do it because it makes them feel more confident, others because they like the feeling of smooth legs, and many, like myself, because they were simply taught that it is what girls are supposed to do.

I have come to realize, there are also many reasons why people choose to stop shaving.

Maybe it’s as simple as not caring about what people think, finding a way to connect with their gender identity or being tired of insecurities surrounding something completely natural.

I’ve mostly stopped shaving, but I’m not cured from engrained social norms. I still tend to shave my armpits every so often since I get sweaty, and when I occasionally feel self conscious about my mustache, I bust it with wax strips.

For me, it’s all about baby steps.

Fahs said in her classes she pushes female students to grow out their body hair and male students to shave from the neck down to challenge social norms for extra credit.

“It helps people to think about their bodies in relation to ideas about control, autonomy, freedom [and] how much freedom we really have with our bodies,” Fahs said.

I don’t see myself the way I used to when I was younger. I don’t see body hair as “gross,” and I don’t think anyone has to look a certain way.

I feel a lot more comfortable in my skin knowing that if I ran into anyone that is not okay with my body as it is, they’re simply not worth my time.

“If you get more comfortable with having body hair, you may also feel more comfortable with weight gain, or you may feel more comfortable changing your aesthetic choices,” Fahs said. “Even things like coming out … can feel a little easier. It’s almost like a gateway drug into thinking about power and bodies and inequality.”