GRL Talk With: Januhairy

Laura Jackson started Januhairy back in 2018, a campaign to celebrate body hair and reclaim patriarchal notions of how and where a woman should grow their hair. Since then, she’s inspired thousands of people through their Instagram to join the movement. As its namesake would suggest, January is a big month for the campaign, so we caught up with its founder to hear more about them…

I wrote and performed a one-woman show in May 2018, all about the ideologies of being a woman and grew out my body hair for the first time just for this performance. There had been some parts that were challenging for me, and others that really opened my eyes to the taboo of body hair on a woman. Some of us don’t like it, some of us do… but we are all still feminine, hygienic and beautiful, no matter how smooth or hairy. After a few weeks of getting used to it, I started to like my natural hair. I also started to like the lack of uncomfortable episodes of shaving. Januhairy is something that I wanted to follow through on from that discussion, to help women feel they are in a safe space to challenge the embedded norms of shaving. It’s an experiment for people taking part and the people viewing the process. And of course, the sponsorship money goes to this years charity, Tree sisters.

Our mission is to Ignite a conversation and educate one another on the prickly subject of body hair on women. We fight against the pressure to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty that can drive destructive behaviour. We want women around the world to feel confident and empowered with whatever they choose to do with their bodies… free from the judgment of others… free from societal pressures.

There has for sure been some backlash and there is still some at times. I have learnt so much from the beginning of creating Januhairy. If I make mistakes and get called out for not saying things right and including all areas of the topic, then I learn from that. I welcome criticism and negative comments on the movement; Some of them can be quite useful for ways to improve. Others can just be rude and narrow-minded comments, which actually help to remind me and many other people who are having this conversation, why it is that we are doing this movement, and what opinions need to be changed. During the movement, I left all negative comments on the posts so that people can see such mixed opinions, which in turn, gets them to start thinking about their own opinions on the matter. However, after the first month on Januhairy finished, we have made a new policy that any indecent or negative comments will be deleted and may be followed by blocking the user… I want the Januhairy platforms to be a safe space for women to come to, in order to share their story and empower each other. This movement is about empowering women, not sexualising or undermining them.

When I started to grow my hair out for the show, I thought that everyone else’s opinion mattered more than my own. It was during the heatwave in 2018, and I would wear jeans and long tops so no one would see my hair. After the first couple of weeks, I started to really love it, I wore shorts and felt my leg hair in the breeze… something I have never felt before. I felt liberated, closer to myself, and I couldn’t remember what I was so terrified about. But then I was reminded, sooner or later, by the judgment of other people, that this was something that was seen by the majority as abnormal. I had to explain myself to people and I couldn’t just be… me…free from care and judgment.

After the show, I shaved again for a month or so. Then I questioned my actions and thought I was a terrible hypocrite, as I started shaving again. But then I realised, it’s about choice. Feminism is the right to choose and the right to feel welcome, appreciated and equal, in making that choice. Shave whenever, but make sure you make that choice for you, and no one else. Following this, I went on holiday to turkey and started growing my hair again whilst I was out there. For me, it was an act of self-care and therapy; exploring my natural habitat in a place where I would express the most skin in front of others. Even some family members didn’t understand. Having people who love you and are closer to you than most, tell you that your leg hair looks ‘disgusting’ and ‘you should shave’, hurt more than any comment from a stranger. I didn’t shave it, I kept it.

I decided to make Januhairy, as some women, like me, need the initiative and support to step out of the norms and experiment getting to know this part of their bodies. Having a community of women supporting and empowering one another is so important to have when exploring something way out of your comfort zone.  It got a lot of negative comments, just like I did on holiday, but at least those people are talking about it- if we see the same things again, and again, it becomes normal. Hopefully, one day, this subject won’t need to be talked about any more.

Januhairy 2020 is going to be big, we’re building a website, partnering with brands and influencers who are supporting the movement, we’ll also start selling merchandise through our website and through the Daughters of Witches clothing line. We are also continuing to support the charity Tree Sisters, who protect and restore natural carbon solutions through reforestation. A message we resonate with as women within this movement; to protect and restore the habitat of our environment, as well as the natural habitat of our personal bodies.