During the month of November men from all over take the challenge to abstain for shaving. This month is called No shave November. 
No shave November isn’t just  a reason to not shave or a fun game to see how mad your girlfriend can get but there’s an actual reasoning to the ordeal: cancer awareness.  From the No Shave November website there isn’t a particular cancer they’re making aware of and there isn’t a gender they’re specifying this cause to. 
However, what interested me though was a part of the website that read, participate by growing a beard, cultivating a mustache, letting those legs go natural, and skipping that waxing appointment. Yes, I know men grow their impressive beards but the mention of women and no shave November is very little seen. 
November is a hot month to make fun of women and the lack of shaving that is being done during that time and all of winter. No shave November is seen to be a male dominant activity. But why? Is it really that strange for a woman to not shave for a cause? To embrace the hair that they have for awareness? 
Why is hair a taboo for women in society? Why is the size of a mans beard a measure of awesomeness in the community? Who decided that women had to shave to be considered beautiful? We did.
Our online shaming for something that is natural isn’t conscious (sometimes). Remarks like “ew”, “girls should shave”, and “no shave November is for guys only” don’t hurt you, but those who are actually trying to raise awareness don’t think the unconscious “gross” comment is funny. 
When asked students at CSU Stanislaus about No shave November and if it’s ok for women to participate the overall comments were positive. 
Vernal Chahal (junior,business) who has participated in the No Shave November movement for the past few years said, “I never heard of women letting their hair grow for November, but it’s not a big deal as everyone thinks. It’s just hair.” Gustavo Reyes (junior, business) also agreed that women growing isn’t a big deal, ” I think it’s cool, it shouldn’t only be a guy thing” 
If men in their 20s can talk about hair and see hair as being normal is the making fun of hair in a “private” area a way to fit into to social “norms”. 
How about women on social media. A lot of body bashing does come from women unfortunately. Comments that suggest how weird not shaving is or what they do or do not do in their lives are put on other women. But is that only applied when we’re in a private sector? 
Bianca Delacruz (freshmen, undeclared) was also unaware of the participation of women in No Shave November. When asked what she thought about women helping the cause she said, “they’re not shaving for no reason, it’s for a cause so why not?” But what about just women who choose not to shave? Is it really all that bad? “It’s their body they can do what they want with it” said Delacruz. 
With feminism continually growing and the image of beauty constantly changing who knows how far women can go helping out a cause that is said to be aimed at men only. 
“The idea of shaving and beauty have been around forever” says CSU Stan’s Gender professor Trystan Cotten, “beauty is different to everyone, you can’t please everyone but you should speak up if you agree or disagree with ideas that are challenging yours when it comes to these areas.” 
While I am not saying to get into a fight if someone is pro-shave, I am saying it’s not all that dumb to ask what the big deal is when seeing someone who doesn’t shave. What makes it “gross” or “weird”? 
If we decide on what’s hot and what’s not in society then why not throw out the vacuous comments on shaving and praise the men and women who go a month without the razor for the awareness of cancer. 
For more information on No Shave November and how to get involved go to their website.