No-Shave November is normally thought of as a man’s month. Men do not shave their beards for the entire month, but men are not the only ones who participate. I participated in No-Shave November and shock of all shocks, I am a woman. The experience was, well, different.

As much as I hate conforming to society’s expectations of women, I had to say it definitely felt weird not shaving. For most of the month, I barely noticed. I let my armpits and legs grow out: It felt as gross as it sounded, but I was determined to see it through.

Even though they were covered for most of the month, I felt more self-conscious than I had since I was in middle school. It did not really hit me until the middle of the month, because up until then, it was nice not worrying about shaving. The weirdest part for me was remembering the exact date, November 17. I looked at my legs and thought, “I cannot wait to shave.”

It also did not help that I went swing dancing with my friends around that time. I wanted to wear a dress that kept me cool, but I ended up feeling the need to wear a cover-up and leggings so my friends would not see my legs or armpits. What made it even worse for me was I felt like I could not tell anyone, for fear that I would be judged. I even felt the need to justify participating in No-Shave November because I hoped saying I was doing it for an article would make people’s judgmental looks ease up.

By the end of the month, enough of my friends were asking me what it was like, that I just wanted to shave it off so people would stop bringing attention to the hair. When December 1st finally hit, it took me 20 minutes to shave my armpits and legs.

But I know when this story comes out, many men will think I am disgusting. The reaction on social media over the past few years involving No-Shave November has been that any female who does not shave is disgusting. Twitter user @KenThuhGOAT said in 2013, “to the women participating in ‘No-Shave November’, go spend your eternity in the depths of hell.” Another Twitter user, @SuGanjaa, said on November 1, 2015: “all females that participate or even consider participating in No-Shave November are DIRTY.”

“Men and women both grow hair all over their bodies. Why is [it] attractive on one gender and disgusting on the other?” asked Rayne Blumenthal, writer for The State Press. The official No-Shave November website states that their mission is “growing cancer awareness and raising funds to support cancer prevention, research, and education.” No-Shave November raised over 1.6 million dollars this year to give money to organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Prevent Cancer Foundation, Fight Colorectal Cancer and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The official website even says that participants can get involved by “growing a beard, cultivating a mustache, letting those legs go natural, and skipping that waxing appointment.” These all point to each gender being able to participate, as the whole point of No-Shave November is to raise awareness for prostate cancer.

So while I myself did not do it for cancer awareness, I was doing it to raise awareness to the fact that there are some double standards in this society. Events like No-Shave November only seem to reveal this double standard more than normal, but hopefully these same events can help to change those standards while raising money for good causes.

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