It's all the conditioning that happens early on. Indians are known to have thick, dark hair. We are told not to shave because it only makes the hair thicker and more coarse. As teenagers we started to wax our hands, legs, and armpits. When I moved to the US when I was 21 years, I saw that women had hairy arms. It was only the legs and armpits they cared about. Waxing was way too expensive as a student, and I couldn't deal with DIY. I started to shave.

I have friends who have stopped shaving and don't care what people think. Somedays when I don't have time to shave, I go with hairy legs to tennis and no one seems to care. I think at this point, just like my greys, I will shave for as long as I feel good about it and then ditch the practice.