October is finally upon us, and with it comes cold weather and long pants. For many girls, this is the one time of year where they might forego shaving their legs for a few days, even a week or two at a time in favor of covering up the hair with jeans or leggings. However, for me, this is just another season of probably no change to the average level of hair I have on my legs. I have always been incredibly lazy about shaving my legs, and found myself to be the kind of person who just genuinely doesn't care that they're hairy. But why exactly do people have this negative perception of female body hair? Is it because ladies are supposed to be prim, trimmed, and proper at all times? Perhaps having long body hair puts a woman too close to emulating a man and upsets the whole natural balance of our inherently patriarchal society, or maybe we just think it's gross because we take it as a sign of laziness. To answer these burning questions, I did two things. One was to research the subject and come up with my best hypothesis, and two was to test society myself. I grew my leg hair longer than I ever have before to see just how much people actually cared. So here's what I learned.

Historically, the female gold standard of clean legs (and armpits) has waxed and waned over the centuries. It also varied region to region. While it was uncommon for European women to remove any kind of hair due to their standards of modesty Pre-Victorian Era, women in the Middle and far East had been practicing hair removal for centuries. Most portraits or statues of women from ancient Greece, Rome, China and Egypt all show women cleanly waxed and shaven under the pits and betwixt the thighs. Still, even in ancient times there was a stigma of uncleanliness attached to a hairy woman. However, most relative to American history is the story of European hair removal, as most early immigrants came from Europe and shaped the country with their standards.

Many of the first European settlers in the United States were very devoutly religious groups of pilgrims. As had been custom for years, these women were covered from neck to toe at all times. Any type of nakedness or revealing of flesh was seen as absolutely scandalous unless it was between a married couple, but the consequences of course were much harsher for women. This trend of modesty continued in the States well into the 19th century. The first documented anti-body hair ads in America can be traced back to the 1920s. The Roaring Twenties brought a new standard of dress for women, one where their ankles and armpits didn't necessarily need to be covered anymore. With these more revealing clothes came the increase in body hair shaming. Media and beauty companies pushed out razors by the thousands, shaming women into shaving and creating the social standing that we now live in.

Here's the thing about removing your body hair though, it's an entirely personal choice. Some women love to shave and wax; they consider it a daily or bi-daily part of their beauty routine and like the way their bodies look without hair. Those women are just as beautiful as the ones who choose to do the opposite and let their body hair grow out. I, for one, hate shaving my legs. I don't like the way it feels, and I don't necessarily think my legs look better or worse with or without hair. Recently, however, I almost gave in and shaved them.

For the purpose of researching for this article, and for my own personal curiosity, I've let my leg hair grow out to about half an inch. Not near as long as most mens' leg hair, but still very long compared to the average zero and a half inches that most girls in my particular environment have. It is very clearly visible even from a distance, and I wear shorts most days. Here are a few of the experiences I've had with these hairy legs.

Staring, lots of staring. People stare when I sit next to them in class, they stare when I walk past them and they happen to notice in the hallways. They stare all the time, and I notice.

I sat next to a girl in the hallway before class one time last week. We were both reading our textbook, and then she happened to glance at my legs and I watched as she subtly scooted a few inches away.

Friends and family members have called me anything from lazy to disgusting. However, most of them couldn't actually give me a reason why my legs are gross.

A girl who sits next to me in math class looked at my legs, then turned to her friend to whisper and laugh, and then returned to staring at my legs.

In general people tend to just kind of shift away from me, while others openly stare. It's something that is really easy to notice when you sit next to someone in a desk for an hour or two. I can usually see it in someone's face when they notice because they just keep glancing back. I can honestly say that I was very surprised by the level of stares I got. I didn't think that this many random strangers would care that I chose not to care my legs, but apparently it's quite scandalous. One thing I also observed is that other women are much more judgmental than men. I never had a boy laugh at my legs, or scoot away from me when I sat next to them. I don't know whether it's from lack of observation or apathy to the whole situation, but it was interesting that men didn't really seem to care. It really goes to show how society has pushed girls to compete with each other constantly and be more judgmental of each other.

Even though I did have a lot of negative experiences with it, it wasn't all bad reactions. A few friends told me they thought it was "cute" and one even marveled at how soft it was. I also think the level of negativity can be attributed to the area I live in. Being in a very traditional, conservative part of the United States can make patriarchal and social norms much more present in daily life. That's just a fact

So, research and practical application combined, here's what I learned. Shaving your legs or removing any body hair at all is a personal choice. It's one that I get to make for myself, and one that no one else can force upon me. However, saying that doesn't eliminate the social stigma around hairy girls. There is still a terrible shame around letting your body hair grow out, even though not one person I talked to could give me a solid reason as to why. The simplest answer is that it's there because it is and because shaming women for their personal choices doesn't have to be backed up by logic in our society. So if you think women who don't shave are disgusting, please please take a moment to think about why. The hair is clean, our bodies are clean, we just aren't doing the same things to our bodies as you are and that's okay on both ends.

The lesson to be learned is this: you get to decide what your body looks like. No one else gets to tell you that your hairy legs are ugly and disgusting, because they aren't. Girls with body hair are precious and beautiful, and girls without body hair are precious and beautiful. To shave or not to shave? It's all up to you.