Bachelor alum Bekah Martinez just took to Instagram with an important announcement: The new mom just went to a red carpet event without shaving her legs and she doesn’t care who knows it.
The 24-year-old posted this announcement to Instagram on August 15, after attending a fancy event with her former co-stars Kendall Long and Corinne Olympios. She supplemented her photo with a lengthy caption explaining how the experience was liberating, but scary, too. “This may sound really dumb, but it was a big deal for me. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I feel (almost) totally comfortable like this,” writes Martinez in her Instagram caption.
She continues, “I stopped shaving my legs and armpits about a year ago as a practice of self-love. I grew up HATING the hair on my body. I was teased for it, snuck my mom’s razor at age 9, and would pray that god would remove my hair from the neck down. I would panic every time I got invited to go swimming and hadn’t shaved.”
“When I got pregnant, I decided to work to overcome this insecurity,” says Martinez, referencing her pregnancy with her now six-month-old daughter, Ruth. “It’s not about ‘not believing in shaving,’ it’s about believing I AM BEAUTIFUL, ATTRACTIVE AND “FEMININE” NO MATTER WHERE I HAVE HAIR ON MY BODY. It’s about showing girls you don’t have to listen when society tells you your natural features are ugly or gross. It has taken months to get used to it. The horrible online comments don’t help. But I’m getting there.”
In April of 2018, the former reality star posted a series of photos and videos to her Instagram story protesting the act of shaving her armpits and legs. She explained how shaving her armpits aggravated her eczema and made her itchy and uncomfortable. At the time, she said, “I shave my legs most of the time, but I just don’t really care.” According to Martinez, she quit shaving completely four months later, in August of 2018.
The Instagram post garnered a lot of positive responses. One user commented, “Hell ya to famous ppl living their truths for younger ppl to see! Keep up the loud self love!!” Another Instagrammer wrote, “Learning how to be comfortable with yourself is hard — you’re doing awesome…you inspire me.” Some people even shared their personal journeys about becoming more confident in their own skin.
“Remember, if someone has a problem with the way you look, that’s an issue with THEIR mentality, not YOUR body,” Martiez concluded.
