Naturally, I am not a hairy person and as such I have never had to wax or shave my legs or arms. And I have not also thought about waxing or shaving the visible part of the body in relation to African women.

In Europe, both white men and women continue to wax their legs and arms but over the weekend, a conversation with my friends at a dinner got me thinking about what my African sisters do.

Next to our table, two loud hungry Ghanaian women took refuge and one of these women had hairy legs and arms.

I noticed it but considered it to be normal because back home, many of friends have such hairy features—legs, arms and sometimes chin.

However, my two friends said it was ugly and she needed to wax or shave. I was pretty shocked and asked; do you girls wax or shave your legs and arms? They all nodded…

I only expected the emerging African beauticians to be waxing their legs—I didn’t know it was of a general concern to the extent that, someone who has not done it is termed ugly.

For our African men, I see enough with hairy bodies to say, I don’t think majority of the men are waxing or shaving their arms and legs.

So if it’s acceptable and normal (not ugly) for the African man to be hairy, why should it be a problem if an African woman is hairy? After all, we were created that way.

Anyway, the big question is; must an African woman shave or wax her legs and arms? Is any of you into that? Share your experience and reasons with us…