A new initiative is calling on women to grow their body hair for domestic violence
It’s called Get Hairy February.
Shaving, plucking, waxing, lasering, depilating – being a woman is hard.
February is about to become your new favourite month because it’s a good excuse to forgo any of that eye-watering pain.
Say hello to Get Hairy February, the fundraising initiative promoting no shaving for the month of February.
The campaign isn’t just saving you time in the shower. The movement is helping women who’ve been victims of domestic violence, by raising money for a specialist counselling service.
Donations from Get Hairy February will be donated to Full Stop Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation supporting women who’ve experienced domestic violence through over the phone, online and face-to-face counselling.
Founder Alex Andrews says there’s an inherent link between the need for a woman to remove her body hair, and the lack of control she has over her own body.
“It creates a vulnerability that can then be exploited by perpetrators, by industry, by lawmakers,” says Andrews.
Evidently, the philosophy behind the movement isn’t to promote women growing their body hair, or to criticise those who remove it. It’s to empower women to take control over their own bodies.
Andrews says the expectation of women to be hairless provides just one example of the gender inequality females experience.
Much like the bra-burning protests of the ’70s, the campaign says less about leg hairs than it does about family violence, the gender pay gap, female underrepresentation in leadership roles and countless more issues.
And yep, February is summertime so it’s all the more reason to be brave and bare your hairy, beautiful selves.
If you or someone you know needs help please phone 1800 RESPECT.
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