A non-binary student says they've acquired newfound confidence after forgoing shaving.
Barbara Hovermale (check them out on Instagram and TikTok) first started shaving in childhood. But recently, they decided to stop reinforcing traditional beauty standards.
Barbara has found that stopping shaving and growing body hair longer than their boyfriend's has given them confidence.
Where for years they would have succumbed to the societal pressure to shave — something Barbara started doing at age 9 — they instead embrace their body completely, hair and all — and the best way to embrace a look is to flaunt it a bit, which is exactly what Barbara does on their social media channels.
Barbara and their boyfriend, Jayvien Peakf, appear in a lot of the same Insta posts.
Barbara says they've decided to "never touch their hair again," and that Jayvien is totally on board with that decision.
It's great to see such a supportive attitude from someone's partner. Barbara uses their various social media channels to celebrate their body — not shaved, and unapologetically hairy — and to encourage others to reconsider their relationships with razors, too.
Barbara doesn't care, and neither does Jayvien.
"When I met him I had body hair and he completely appreciated and valued me from the start," Barbara told the Daily Mail. "He just recognizes that every part of my body is part of Barb, and that's the person that he loves. We both kind of just observe each other and in moments will admire all of the details, and I think that's so beautiful."
They can recall having shaved for other people.
"The thought that was in my mind the very first time that I ever wanted to shave was that I had a crush on a guy and 'oh my gosh, everyone around me has shaved legs,'" Barbara told the Daily Mail.
"I remember asking my mom if I could shave just for my crush. When I look back on that now, I really hate that that was the mindset that I had when I first wanted to get into it because I realized that I was buying into societal norms."
"I think it's pretty interesting because I definitely do have more body hair than my partner, for sure, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that," Barbara told the Daily Mail.
"I've encouraged people in my life that I see on a daily basis to not shave their bodies anymore because they've come to realize they love their body hair and think it's beautiful," they told the Daily Mail.
"I've gotten so many messages like 'you've helped me to see myself more neutrally,' 'you've inspired me to stop shaving' and I had someone on my live the other day saying that they wore a bikini for the first time in their life because they saw me wearing one.
"Things like that are so beautiful because that was my whole goal and intention when I started posting on TikTok."
Conventional beauty standards compel women to trim or shave their body hair. Barbara, who's non-binary, decided not to comply.
Let us know what you think of Barbara's story in the comments section.
