Spanish-Kenyan content creator Martina Glez has opened up about one of the most intimate and culturally revealing experiences of her early days in Kenya.
In a sit-down with Ajib Gathoni, Martina recounted a moment from when she was 22 years old, freshly graduated from university, and newly arrived in Kenya — a moment that left her shocked, bruised, and questioning how differently women’s bodies are perceived across cultures.
According to Martina, before she moved to Kenya, she had been heavily involved in feminist circles during her university years in Spain. At the time, feminist activism in Spanish campuses was peaking. As part of that wave, Martina made a personal decision and stopped shaving entirely.
“I stopped shaving everything,” she told Ajib. “My armpits, my… everything. It was an act of protest, almost a political manifestation on my own body. Because it’s natural — it’s hair. And in Spain, rejecting someone for that would be frowned upon. People would look at you like: are you sexist?”
In Spain, she said, her choice was never questioned. No partner complained, no one suggested she was undesirable because of body hair, and the idea of being rejected for it was socially unacceptable in her circles. So when she arrived in Kenya, she didn’t expect the difference to be so stark — or so painful.
Martina recalled meeting a Kenyan man shortly after moving into her apartment. He was her neighbour, and though they were not in a relationship, they had what she described as a “casual situationship.”
“I’ve never really told this publicly,” she said. “We weren’t a thing or anything, but we had a kind of… caste relationship, let’s call it that.”“He basically rejected me,” Martina told Ajib, still sounding baffled as she narrated the incident. “He told me he had a problem… because I have hair. Everywhere.”
Martina’s reaction was a mixture of shock and bruised pride. Having never been rejected for something so natural, she struggled to understand why her body hair carried so much weight.
“When I tell you my ego took a massive hit — even my self-esteem a little bit,” she admitted. “I was so mad. I had never been rejected like that in my life. I remember thinking, what do you mean you’re rejecting me? For hair?”
What made matters worse was the explanation the man offered.
According to Martina, he told her that “sometimes to get what we want, we need to make efforts,” implying that shaving was a small sacrifice she should be willing to make to maintain his interest.
Martina emphasized that she understood cultural differences and that beauty standards vary from country to country. She acknowledged that shaving is seen as normal or even expected in many places, including Kenya.
