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Blogger spends a year without shaving and her photos provoke huge internet buzz
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"Why would I remove something that Mother Nature has placed in our bodies and obviously destined us to have?" - photo by Erika Strassburger
Since our teenage years, women have learned that shaving, plucking and waxing is part of a womans beauty routine. It's as essential as bathing and brushing, right? But is it a needed step of female grooming, or has it been unnecessarily imposed by society?

One woman stopped shaving all together

Beautiful fitness blogger, Morgan Mikenas, doesn't care what society thinks when it comes to her beauty regime. She threw away her razor in 2016 and proudly displays the hairs on her legs and underarms.

Mikenas explained that her choice to stop shaving is not to protest anything. In her Youtube video, she explains: "I guess my number one reason why I stopped [shaving] was that it took so much time to get in the shower and have to shave everything, and then wash my hair and then wash my body." She was also bothered at how her hair felt prickly and itchy after shaving.

What her boyfriend thinks

She said she used to feel obligated to shave her legs to feel good and attractive. But last year, she just stopped shaving and thought if felt much better than shaving and began to feel quiet comfortable having hairy legs. In her video, Mikenas says how she "will never remove my body hair again ... I'm completely comfortable and I like it." The blogger also explained how that her boyfriend thinks that she looks beautiful either way.

What society thinks

While the beautiful blogger's intent was not to critique society, she did wonder what was being taught to young girls when she draws attention to an experience she had as a child care instructor. "One day, I took the children from the nursery where I work to swim, and as soon as they saw me in a bathing suit, they became incredibly alarmed and shouted 'Wow, you look like a man!' She was worried about how current generations are being taught.

How people have reacted

The reaction of people on the Internet couldn't be more diverse. Many have supported Mikenas courage to do what she wants, regardless of the opinion of others. Others have referred to her hair using adjectives and phrases like "disgusting," "just puked", "bizarre" or "ugly."

And Mikenas' opinion? "Imagine if everyone just decided that today was they day the loved themselves and embraced every part of themselves," Mikenas said in her video.

Mikenas says she did not decide to expose her hairy legs and armpits to the word to encourage all women to give up shaving and waxing. Rather, she wants to inspire women to do what works best for each of them as individuals so that they feel great and comfortable, despite societal standards. She doesnt want women to feel they have to adhere to practices they dont like just to appear more acceptable to others.

"If you are focused on being true to yourself at every moment, you will be less concerned about what others think, which will lead to peace of mind," Mikenas said.