January is the month of fresh starts. It's the perfect time of year to set new goals and reevaluate your life. A young woman named Laura Jackson, a drama student at the University of Exeter in the U.K., took advantage of this spirit to launch a movement. It's called Januhairy, which encourages women to grow out their body hair for the entire month and it's for a good reason.
More from MamasLatinas: 10 Crazy body terms that need to go away
Laura was inspired by needing to grow out her hair for a role last year. She noticed that it made her feel great and chose to challenge other women to join her this month. The empowering movement has caught momentum and it's helping Laura raise money for charity. She has been collecting the most inspiring posts on Instagram, and it will make you look at body hair in a whole new light.
Laura shared the story behind the movement on the page.
“I grew out my body hair for a performance as part of my drama degree in May 2018,” she wrote. “There had been some parts that were challenging for me, and others that really opened my eyes to the taboo of body hair on a woman. After a few weeks of getting used to it, I started to like my natural hair. I also started to like the lack of uncomfortable episodes of shaving. Though I felt liberated and more confident in myself, some people around me didn’t understand why I didn’t shave/didn’t agree with it. I realised that there is still so much more for us to do to be able to accept one another fully and truly. Then I thought of Januhairy and thought I would try it out. It’s a start at least…"
Laura insists that this isn’t about shaming people who like to shave.
“This isn’t an angry campaign for people who don’t see how normal body hair is, but more an empowering project for everyone to understand more about their views on themselves and others,” she added.
Much like Movember, where men grow out mustaches in November to help raise awareness and money for men’s health issues, this has a deeper meaning.
Januhairy is about women taking back ownership of their bodies, making choices that feel right for them, and spreading that message. Januhairy is also raising money for an organization called Body Gossip, which is hoping to bring a performance project about body positivity to young girls around the U.K. Laura has raised almost half of her £2,000 goal since launching the fundraiser three weeks ago.
Other women have been participating in the Januhairy and sharing their stories on social media.
"I’ve been in the modelling industry since I turned 18 and the last 5 years haven’t shaved my legs and 2 years haven’t shaved my armpits," Fenella Fox wrote, "I’ve lost a lot of income and gained death threats from displaying my body hair publicly and regularly am told it’s disgusting to let my body do its natural thing and not remove the hair. I feel like I’m constantly fighting some weird gender norm battle and would love more people on my side following me."
No woman should feel "disgusting" over something natural.
"I believe in my choice of shaving, When I Want to, Not Because: You think I’m disgusting," Instagram user @alexandramyth wrote. "I know a woman can be #sexy with #hairylegs or without. Also men are sexy with #hair or #nohair #romanianvlogger #hairylegs #freedom #freeyourself."
This is helping women who want to shave but can't because of medical reasons.
"My name is Ruby and I am one of the faces behind Januhairy!" this participant wrote. "I am 22 years old and have multiple chronic illnesses, so despite usually choosing to remove my body hair, my symptoms have often prevented me from doing so for periods of time. The shame and embarrassment that had been internalised within me around my body hair was shocking, even though the choice to grow it out wasn’t a conscious one! I love the idea of Januhairy. It is a challenge for one month to raise money for an incredibly important charity, and hopefully it will begin the change the internalised expectations of women and whatever they choose to do with their body hair!"
Januhairy is giving women who have stopped shaving long before this initiative a platform.
Instagram user @themamabelle stopped shaving in 2016. "Sure there’s tons of criticism but it has benefited me in so many ways," she wrote. "No more ingrowns or razor bumps, I don’t sweat as much, I used to always have sweat circles on my sleeves, contrary to popular belief my pits don’t stink and I rarely use deodorant now because of that, and I have much more time in the shower now that I’m not incessantly worrying about removing every last strand of hair on my body. Oh and it’s also helped me weed out shallow potential mates in this freaky dating world because I don’t want to be with someone who’s not comfortable with my body choices."
Women have been fighting gender norms and the companies that benefit from it long before Januhairy.
They are still supporting the movement. "Personally, there are so many reasons I don’t shave my armpits and very few reasons why I would," Instagram user @onlylittlemy wrote. "But one of my biggest motivators not to is knowing that by not shaving I am actively choosing not to give money to companies, and the people who run them, that think that women’s bodies aren’t good enough the way they naturally are."
There is no shame in joining the challenge and going back to shaving.
"I am honest to y'all, I always shaved my hair and it was very difficult for me to let it grow for 3 weeks," Instagram user @youngheartxoldsoul shared. "But I wanted to let it grow to show you that it is okay, this doesn't mean you should too – please keep that in mind. I was relieved when I could shave my hair 10 minutes ago after taking the photo and I was feeling myself again. I will definitly still shave my armpits in the future. But I don't think it was disgusting, I wasn't sweating more than before and I wasn't smelling more after doing something intense. I will accept it more from now on if a woman makes or already made the desicion to let her hair grow. Everyone should do it how they prefer it and we should accept it and support the desicion others make."
Women around the world are participating with the #Januhairy hashtag, and it's already catching the eye of businesses.
"We're participating by donating 1% of this month's revenue to body positive initiatives, including Body Gossip," Billie, a new company that makes body and shaving products for women, wrote on Instagram. "We're proud to join in and continue to encourage everyone to be more confident with the choices they make around hair, because shaving is up to you and only you."
It looks like #Januhairy has the potential to stick around for years to come.
Anything that makes women feel better about their bodies should get that chance.
