swiftjellicle:

So I noticed something in the shower today. I was halfway done with shaving my legs, and they kind of looked like the picture above (couldn’t take an actual photo of mine, cause, yaknow, I was IN THE SHOWER- so I googled a good approximation). And instantly I understood why people shave, and why it’s so, so problematic.

It’s racism.

Hear me out. Yes, it’s also patriarchical beauty standards, but why did that one come about? Look at the two legs- look how much lighter the shaved one looks. It’s the same trend as skin whitening and other things that let people prove that they’re definitely not PoC. White people too, shaving so they don’t look like they have dark skin. Because obviously dark skin would be terrible, amirite?



I had to finish shaving, because one shaved leg looks really silly, but I think I’m gonna stop. I’m proud of my skin color. And looking at my legs next to each other made me really notice how pervasive racially-motivated oppression really is. Even the critics of shaving are criticizing it for being a male demand, and it is- but it’s also a white demand, and that is super problematic.