Januhairy: Enough of shaving!

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The Januhairy movement seeks to encourage women not to wax during January, as a form of acceptance and empowerment of women

Although it is a trend that has been struggling in recent years, Januhairy was born as a movement that seeks to massify this trend. Its name, "januhairy," is a game of words in English, uniting Janu of January, and hairy.

The idea came from Laura Jackson, a British student who had to grow hair in the armpits for a presentation and realized that having it was not as bad as she had always thought. From this, Januhairy seeks that more women join as a way of acceptance and normalization of hair in the female body.

According to BBC, the movement seeks to collect donations for Body Gossip organization that has the slogan: "combines art and education to empower through the body to create the best version of each."

The reason that it is in January is nothing more than a way to reach more people through networks. It also seeks to build on the popular trend "No-Shave November" (November without shaving), where men do not shave during November as a sign of normalization of cancer patients, who do not let their hair grow.

Previously, some actresses have already shown in favor of these actions. Currently, with recent feminist movements have positioned this type of actions, but even in the '60s, Madonna was controversial for going out in a photo session without shaved armpits. Everything falls on the acceptance of the body, thus empowering the woman since this action of waxing has historically been a social creation.

Also read: How does 2018 end for women in Latinamerica?

A social construction

Although some cultural practices of waxing have been seen for centuries, it was not a matter exclusively for women. In this culture, they used creams, both men and women, to keep the skin without hair.

However, it is in the 20th century that this practice becomes popular in the world and practically exclusive to women. Before 1920, women did not remove their hair from their bodies since their clothes covered them, and in private they were not seen as "dirty," unlike how they are currently perceived.

But the simple fact that women when they began to wear clothes that show more of their body had to start to depilate those parts implies that there was already a prejudice towards the hairs on the female body. Even before 1920, the first women to wax were the actresses and models, who sometimes had to show certain parts of their bodies, for which they removed their hair.

In 1920, fashion began to change, and the sleeveless garments and shorter skirts began to be used, so the aesthetics also began to change. According to PlayGround, in this decade, advertising started to incite women to shave their bodies. The same medium exemplifies this with an advertising piece of the magazine Harper's Bazaar where the ad is seen: "The fashionable woman says that the armpits should be as soft as the face."

Since then, he began to consider the hair on the body, especially on the legs, as transparent stockings let him see, something unique to men. Thus, companies began to sell depilatory creams and foams that complemented the appearance of the disposable blade, which appeared a few years ago.

In the 50s, with the drastic change in the way women dressed, it became the usual, while at the beginning the woman who waxed was the exception.

Currently, as PlayGround says, "women's hair is considered unsightly, anti-hygienic and even (by strange) unnatural," which is precisely what seeks to change this new trend.

LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Suárez

Translated from "Januhairy: ¡Basta de depilarnos!"