To Shave or Not to Shave

Mrs Babu alituambia we should be shaving our hairs down there. Ukiziacha zimee sana, you could contract diseases. Ametuambia vitu nyingi but she has emphasized a lot on hygiene.

 

That was Zakiya, narrating what Mrs Babu, the director of our school had talked to them about. She was in her final year and since only those almost sitting for their KCPE were called, the rest of us were a curious lot and wanted to hear every bit. Being in a boarding school constitutes you to listen to stories and becoming a keener story teller yourself. Without these two skills, you are likely to be a loner mostly because the rest of your mates won’t see a need to keep you around them. This could affect you a great deal.

 

It is after hearing Zakiya’s narration that I got into an array of confusion. Education had betrayed me again. The teachers were making fun of the ‘mafudhi‘ and the other secondary characteristics we were undergoing, none caring to brief us on how to take care of our bodies. My relatives kept mum, careful not to touch on the subject. My mother’s betrayal was the one I am most furious about. One was supposed to shave these hairs and no one shared this? In standard four, my mother went into a detailed explanation of sex and the use of condoms, that went too far, after I informed her I had joined the AIDS club. She constantly promised to teach me how to use sanitary towels but a hundred and eight menstruations later since I have never missed a cycle, I am still awaiting the lesson from her. No one taught me. No one asked if I knew. I assume I should be a natural from birth equipped with these vital requirements.

 

The next holiday, I went down on myself and shaved. Who wants to acquire diseases when you have just discovered the specification of that body part? Not me. It was only when school resumed that I realized I made a mistake. Rather, I was publicly called to own my ‘mischievous holiday adventure’. In the showers which were very communal, that is it was one giant room in which you could see the entire outmake of the other girls’ bodies, I was questioned.

 

Resh kwani umenyoa?

 

The way Moraa’s voice sounded in my ears, I knew I had to be extra careful with my reply. There was pin-drop silent and everyone was paying attention although they pretended to be going about the business of cleaning themselves. I wondered if they had been present when Zakiya was passing down the hygiene tips which I took seriously unlike them.

 

Hapana.

 

Uongo, last time hazikuwa ndogo hivyo!

 

I became horrified. Was she checking me out? She even knows the exact amount of hairs on my privates? With that, I couldn’t spend my holidays shaving lest I be attacked for trimming down my bush. Again.

 

The big Q is, should a person shave or shouldn’t they? Should because it is a decision to be made by your own self. No one can dictate this for you. The decision is entirely in your hands. It is the same thing with those who choose to go bald, keep it short or keep having it in lengths and volumes with their heads.

 

Men insist that a woman must shave. My favourite line in opposition to this view is If he wants to eat of the fruit, he will have to do it from the bush. They challenge in return: Is the candy sweeter with or without the wrapper? What is this nonsense of a woman must do this but a man has a choice? Dear woman, if he hasn’t shaved his area and is pressing you to do so on your perimeter, shut him down. If you don’t like it shaved, don’t do it for a random nigga.

 

It is not only men that frown upon an unshaved armpit, I do so too. The problem again is, men want the ladies to have clear armpits while they themselves keep in store the ‘sweat-generator’. If you find a man with a clean-shaven armpit, keep him. The only hair a man allowed to keep is the beard all year round, not only during the No Shave November y’all preach but know nothing of the real purpose of it. (November is coming folks). Pubic hair is highly unattractive. Cut it down.

 

I have read stories in which the woman is always shaving the hair on her legs. Biology states that the hairs on our arms and legs are for trapping warm air when it is cold. I have these hairs, so far I haven’t dared waste my mornings shaving them away. When Johnny saw the hairs on my arms for the first time, he asked why I have them. In his naïve opinion, wazungu pekee ndo wanafaa kuwa nazo. I wondered if he knows the existence of Arabs or Indians. If you think I am not smooth enough with my hairs, nani tembea.

 

I realize I have been withholding the real information I am supposed to share.

 

Did you know that the hair down there could prevent you from contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections such as Herpes, HPV and Syphilis? Before you stop shaving completely, remember that it only reduces the chances by a small percentage. You don’t expect to go around having unprotected sex with anyone and everyone simply because you have hairs.

 
Thorough hygiene is also important, if you leave those tufts of hair to accumulate on top of those from several years back, you are cannot be free from infections, they could be bacterial such as vaginal yeast infections or bacterial vaginities for women. You don’t need to have sex to be punished by shameful infections. Keep it clean all the time. Whether you are a shaver, waxer or neither.

 

Did you know that shaving, to the point that there are zero hairs on your privates, is considered to be psychologically retracting from your adulthood? Yes. Some people shave as they are afraid of growing up. They want to be associated with their childhood when they had no hairs and by shaving this takes them back to the good old days. I am not saying this is why you shave but it just could be. (double wink)

 

Your pubic is a highly delicate and sensitive zone and if you want smooth skin with fewer nicks and bumps, you need the right tools for the procedure. Many people are now eliminating their pubic hair simply because it is the ‘in thing’. What they fail to acknowledge is the fact that this hair is like a pocket between the skin and the underwear allowing an amount of air flow to ward off excess moisture.

 

Simply put, if you shave it completely, you have to go without underwear! Otherwise recurrent bacterial infections will follow you.

 

As you adhere to your routine of shaving, using wax or creams, scissors, razor blades (this is safer for shaver) or whatever aid does it for you, ask yourself: Why am I really shaving? (I would love to hear your responses before, during or after those shaves😊)