An Open Letter To The Girl With Hairy Legs At The Supermarket

You are so brave.

I saw you, about a year ago, over by the bottle returns at Kroger. That section of the store is always kinda gross and the floor is always sticky. My shoes kept sticking, so I looked down to see what I had stepped in, but my eyes got distracted on the way to the floor when they caught a glance of your furry, exposed calves. I froze in place when I saw them. Thankfully, you never noticed me.

When I saw your legs, I couldn’t help but smile. I fought this strange, intense urge to run over and hug you. I know it sounds silly, but seeing you existing so comfortably and confidently in your natural state, without giving a fuck what anyone thought, gave me a sense of empowerment.

It’s embarrassing to admit this, but during the periods of my life when I chose not to keep up with shaving my legs, I have had several nightmares in which I had forgotten to shave and was forced to go out in public in shorts or a dress and left feeling exposed. It is disgusting how deeply rooted society’s bullshit expectations of women have been ingrained in to us. It is so sad that I have had anxiety-inducing nightmares about simply existing, in my natural state, around other human beings. However, I am happy to announce that I haven’t had a single nightmare like that since I saw you that day.

Wherever you are, I hope you’re happy. I hope you’re conquering the world one exposed leg at a time. I hope your legs are still covered in the kind of hair that middle-aged men can only dream of and would give anything to have. I hope you make strangers uncomfortable, and they find discomfort in their discomfort over your existence. I hope you continue to catch people off guard and make them think about why your legs trigger so many emotions within them.

I hope you inspire other women in the same ways that you have inspired me.