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Overs-hair-ing: Professionalism in the Law and Fuzzy Pits

15/10/2019

 
Issue 11, Semester 2, 2019

YING W

​Until recently, I hadn’t shaved in about six months. What started as a way to let my legs heal from a particularly bad bout of ingrown hairs and razor bumps had evolved into an outward proclamation of my femininity and feminism. As I have not been bestowed with the genetics of my Southeast Asian forebears, my pits, and, to a lesser extent, my legs, blossom with hair when unattended, as flowers in spring.
 
But as the weather inevitably heats up, I’ve begun a process of existential interrogation. Would I be able to work at a law firm, or any professional legal capacity, and maintain the hairiness that has brought me such joy? 

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Image: Music and Lights on Flickr https://flic.kr/p/2b8J2a6
​I have always harboured deep respect for the women I see who go about their daily lives hairy and proud. I see them as emblems of feminism, of not giving a fuck, of sticking it to a system that mandates that women need to be plucked, waxed, and plied with cosmetics in order to reach some unattainable level of perfection and beauty. To me, the body hair was a quiet but powerful act of resistance to the narrative pumped out by the multi-billion dollar beauty industry preaching that women needed look a certain way, and spend money on certain products in order to be feminine, professional and respectable.
 
For a long time, I saw this as a cool badge that I, as an awkward and not-fully-self-confident dark-haired young woman, had not yet earned, and so I continued to pluck, shave, and wax myself into oblivion.
 
Then just like that, without much conscious thought (and with thanks to the cold weather that kept most of my body wrapped up in layers and thus out of sight and mind), that self-consciousness evaporated. I began feeling an empowering sense of abandon, going out for a boogie with friends and throwing my hands up without caring what people might think at the sight of the thick, black, John-Howard-eyebrows smiling out from underneath my arms.
 
However, this self-confidence re: body hair has been segregated from my professional life, and each day I go to work at my office job, I wrap my legs up in pants and tights, and tuck my armpits safely underneath a jumper or long-sleeved shirt. Because the weather has been mild enough, I’ve not yet had to confront what it might mean to continue being hirsute whilst dressing in short-sleeved tops and skirts at work.
 
Some of my hirsute friends didn’t seem to understand why I, a fellow hairy-pitter, should care what other people thought, professional setting or not – so comfortable were they in their own skin. Explaining why presenting myself professionally meant a lot to me almost felt like an apology.
 
Wearing my politics on my sleeve has not always come naturally. In my family, politics was never a dinner-table subject, and I was taught not to rock the boat or question the establishment. My ability to articulate my point of view and hold my own in debates based on my beliefs has therefore been a learned skill, and remains a calculated decision in contrast to the IDGAF attitude I’ve long-admired in my more vocal peers. Personal image is, rather unsurprisingly, something I have always been concerned about, and given my desire to someday work in a law firm or at the Bar, I am aware that it will continue to play a large part in my career.
 
I am, as a result, torn between wanting to be taken seriously in a professional setting, and wanting to stay true to my body (which responds to razors and waxing with retaliation in the form of angry, red ingrown hairs), my beliefs, and my personal views on what it is beautiful.
 
So, the question is: can one be seen as professional whilst also challenging perceptions of what it is to be well-groomed? Or does grooming, professionalism, and personal care necessitate that there be a standard by which to judge appearances, and if so, should those standards be gendered in the same way that, for example, fashion is? Not to mention the greater difficulty in navigating this issue for those who by genetic disposition have thicker, darker hair, considered more ‘shocking’ on the scale of societal standards, and thus making it disproportionately harder for women of colour to make these decisions for themselves.
 
There is no clear answer, and no moral to this story. I hope at the very least to have started a conversation. 

Ying is a Second Year JD Student and the 2019 De Minimis Online Editor.
Eleanor
15/10/2019 08:16:38 pm

Really well written piece and I definitely feel the same way! I gave in to the pressure to shave my legs before doing interviews and cocktail nights, but really wondered if anyone would notice, let alone care? It is still very much internalised in me that hairless means professional, and in some ways can similarly said for men re facial and long hair. Great convo starter Ying!

Ying
16/10/2019 10:43:58 pm

Glad I could write on something you could relate to Eleanor! And an interesting point re male hair - someone in the comments below pointed to an equivalent standard for men and it's definitely true that the corporate world just seems generally body-hair-phobic lol. Hopefully we can get to a point where it's just normalised to a point people truly don't notice/care.

Great article!
15/10/2019 10:22:02 pm

Thanks for writing this! I also don't remove any body hair but tend to hide it all underneath my clothes in professional settings.

It's not seen as socially acceptable for men to wear shorts, skirts, or dresses to work, no matter how hot it gets. And it's not seen as socially acceptable for women to have any leg hair when we wear skirts or dresses. So it's like there's a general prohibition on visible body hair in an office!

Ying
16/10/2019 10:45:25 pm

That's a really interesting point re body hair in general for any gender! I personally find that odd. But I do think it can be a gendered issue in that it's perfectly acceptable for women to wear short sleeves/skirts as long as there's no hair peekin' out too. Anyway defs food for thought - thanks for raising it!

Ellie
16/10/2019 07:21:10 am

Thanks for writing this Ying, love it!! I coaxed myself into feeling comfortable rocking my hairy legs at work but just doing little bouts with the pins out - like just wearing a skirt without stockings one day and then not for a few days, and then for another day. Over time I felt more comfortable with it. I've never worn a singlet top to work w my pits out, but I do wear t-shirt length shirts and just give my pits a little trim sometimes if it's a particularly sleeve. Also, I think that there is definitely power in numbers: if we all push the boat out a little bit, we'll normalise it somewhat - one hairy leg at a time!!

Ying
16/10/2019 10:48:13 pm

<3 <3 <3 Awesome tips Ellie, thank you!! I agree that leg hair is definitely pretty unnoticeable unless you went looking for it - I guess it's still a source of unease for me but that's something that I can foresee growing out of. I'm 100% with you on normalising it in numbers. The corporate world won't know what hit it.

Em
16/10/2019 09:50:37 am

Thanks for sharing Ying! I feel a similar way and have been thinking about this a lot. My thoughts are:

Like Eleanor, I agonised quite a bit about whether or not to shave my legs for cocktail evenings and interviews (nb legs are hairy, underarms were lasered years ago).

I didn't end up shaving and didn't feel like anyone noticed and/or it made a difference. But I totally understand the wrestling between not wanting to be thought of as any less professional for it and worrying this would affect job prospects, and on the other hand being resolute in the fact that this absolutely should not matter and daring people to think otherwise.

With summer clerkships approaching, I'm now in the same dilemma all over again, and can feel myself reaching for the razor.

Another aspect I think about is, being queer, I sometimes wonder if people write off my unshaven legs as more so a product of the community I identify with, and that this somehow detracts from my view of it- as a feminist act and statement. I.e. 'Oh she's bi, that's why she doesn't shave her legs'. Which for me, has nothing to do with my decision to stop shaving my legs. Like you, I got sick of doing it and think of continuing to refrain from doing so as an outward proclamation of my femininity and feminism.

Also I am aware that my leg hair is relatively pale, and wonder how much of my being content not shaving my legs (to this point at least) stems from the fact, as you pointed out, paler hair is less 'shocking' on the scale of society standards. This manifests and/or is reinforced when I get comments like 'oh you don't shave your legs?! oh well, I guess it doesn't matter- your hair is so pale!'. Me: 'hmmmp, that's not really the point', sigh.

Thanks again for sharing Ying, and I'm interested to hear others' thoughts/ experiences.

Ying
16/10/2019 10:55:53 pm

Really glad I could speak to an experience we share Em!! The queer perspective is totally one that needs to be considered in this discussion - thanks for raising it in your comment! Attitudes can be so dismissive re: reasons for ~why~ we would choose to grow out hair (though the same can be said about almost any body difference lol). Can so relate to that feeling of reaching for the razor- I hope you make the choice that you feel most comfortable with, whether it means shaving or not! Good luck!


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