What you choose to do with your body hair is a personal decision.
Shave it, wax it, laser it, braid it, let it flow wild and free – whatever makes you comfortable, you should be able to do it free of judgement. It’s your hair on your body, after all.
But when the wide majority of images we see in adverts and on Instagram feature smooth, hairless women’s bodies, it’s important to recognise the people doing things differently – just to show that it’s okay to go against the grain.
Kaya Szulczewska, 30, is one of those women. She’s decided to ditch all the painful, time-consuming, and expensive hair removal methods to embrace her natural looks.
Kaya first started removing her hair as a teenager, after feeling pressure to be hairless to fit in.
She shaved, waxed, used hair removal creams, and even paid for laser treatments to get rid of hair she saw as unacceptable. She saw removing her hair as a way to be more attractive, and thought letting your body hair grow free was a sign of self-neglect.
‘I used to feel a great pressure to remove by body hair,’ said Kaya. ‘Depending on the part of the body, I used different depilation techniques.
‘They often caused pain, inflammation or festering, were expensive and time-consuming, and the hair quickly grew back anyway.
‘I have never felt comfortable with these body hair struggles, which caused my constant suffering. I could see they did not make any sense, but I still thought they were necessary; that I was not allowed to do otherwise.’
After seeing other women embracing their body hair on Instagram, Kaya was inspired to do the same.
She had the support of her husband, Misha, and her mum, Sylwia, who has now started to let her hair grow back after being inspired by Kaya’s choice.
‘I saw that body hair is a natural part of woman’s body, just like the hair that grows on our heads,’ explains Kaya.
‘In addition, if we reduce shaving, much less plastic rubbish and chemicals will be dumped so this choice is also environmentally friendly, which also matters to me.
‘I had long believed that removing body hair made me more attractive, but when I talked about it with my husband I discovered it did not matter to him.
‘He told me he had been wondering for a long time why I kept removing my body hair while having skin problems.
‘After all, hair is more attractive than inflammation and pus-filled pimples. So, my husband was a great support; he reassured me I made the right decision to grow my hair.
‘My mum remembers the times when unshaven female legs in the Polish streets was quite a common thing to see. She did not realise that the pressure on women to be hairless was so intense in my generation.
‘We just never saw a hairy woman when we were girls, they existed neither in the real life nor in the ads, media or pop culture in general. When I started to grow my body hair, my mum started to grow hers, too, to show solidarity, and some of my friends did the same.’
Kaya now shares photos of her body hair on Instagram in the hopes of inspiring others to embrace their bodies in their natural state.
She receives some negative comments, but refuses to let the judgement faze her.
‘The most common argument against body hair which people post below my hairy photos, is that it is unhygienic,’ said Kaya.
‘But I am asking: “aren’t purulent pimples and irritated skin less hygienic than neat and clean hair? Should we make everyone shave their heads bald to make them more hygienic?”
‘If someone’s head hair stinks we tell them to wash it, not to shave it, right? I think that this should apply to all kinds of hair.
‘People also make comments that body hair is not tasteful; they forget that beauty trends change all the time, different people have different tastes, and there is no need to criticise other people’s appearance.
‘The majority of hateful or judgmental comments are made by anonymous people on the internet, so I think it is not worth worrying about it; it is impossible to please everyone.
‘I would like to inspire other women and show them we do not have to approve of the pressure on having hairless bodies.
‘Just like with head hair which we are not forced to shave, we should be also allowed to choose the length of our body hair, because it is our bodies and our choice.
‘I would like to encourage other women to seek their own path and to not give in to the pressure.’
To those fed up of hair removal, Kaya urges: ‘If you feel that hair removal causes pain or discomfort, and that you are only doing it to please others, take action.
‘First of all go online, search for women who have body hair and get used to it.
‘Secondly, make your hair removal less frequent. Start by growing hair on the parts of your body that are not exposed on a daily basis; which you can observe and slowly learn to accept.’
MORE : No contraception is perfect – fertility apps like Natural Cycle should be given a break
MORE : Trans dad who gave birth twice was inspired to transition by his stepdaughter
