{"id":18671,"date":"2025-05-09T22:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T22:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/?p=18671"},"modified":"2025-05-09T22:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T22:24:05","slug":"daring-photo-series-challenges-female-body-hair-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/?p=18671","title":{"rendered":"Daring photo series challenges female body hair standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nA powerful and provocative photo series is flipping the script on female beauty standards and challenging women to put down their razors and pick up a new accessory: natural armpit hair.<\/p>\n

Long before razors, lasers, and waxing strips became everyday items in beauty routines, hair removal was already a deeply rooted practice.<\/p>\n

In fact, the journey goes as far back as the Stone Age when both men and women used primitive tools \u2013 like seashells and sharpened stones \u2013 to scrape hair from their bodies.<\/p>\n

\u2018Primitive ancestry\u2019
\nThousands of years later, Charles Darwin\u2019s theory of natural selection introduced a new lens: fur loss attributed to sexual selection.<\/p>\n

According to Darwin, the less body hair one had, the more \u201cevolved\u201d they appeared. This pseudo-scientific rationale gave hairlessness a new kind of social currency \u2013 sexual attractiveness and evolutionary advancement.
\n\"\"
\nBeing hairless became a sign of progress and desirability.<\/p>\n

Feminine duty
\nBy the 1900s, the idea that being hairless was a feminine duty was firmly cemented in society. Body hair became shameful, a flaw to be corrected rather than a natural state to be accepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been deeply stigmatized \u2013 it still is \u2013 and cast with shame,\u201d Heather Widdows, author of \u201cPerfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal,\u201d told CNN. \u201cToday, most women feel like they have to shave. Like they have no other option. There\u2019s something deeply fraught about that \u2013 though perceptions are slowly changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Very masculine\u2019
\nNow, after centuries of \u201cbrainwashing,\u201d women are flipping the script, rejecting long-held beauty standards that equated femininity with flawlessness \u2013 and hairlessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe armpit hair is considered to be very disgusting, non-hygienic, repulsive, grotesque, very masculine,\u201d London-based photographer Ben Hopper told Bored Panda.<\/p>\n

Speaking of using his work to present women unfiltered, the photographer explained he wanted to explore why hairy armpits of females are \u201csuch a taboo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was also interested to explore the concept of how we perceive beauty in popular culture. [When] you look at fashion and film industries, you have a very, very specific kind of beauty standards for women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Raw unconventional look\u2019
\nExploring how people respond to \u201cfemales with armpit hair,\u201d Hopper created his daring photo series, \u201cNatural Beauty.\u201d
\n\"\"
\n\u201cThe whole point [of the series] is contrast between fashionable female beauty and the raw unconventional look of female armpit hair,\u201d Hopper told the Huffington Post of the black and white photo spread. \u201cI expect [the photos] will surprise a lot of people and I guess, in a way, that is one of my intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Primal power\u2019
\nThe project, that Hopper started to create in 2007, features intimate anecdotes and quotes from models and actresses fueling this movement. Participants share their personal journeys of liberation, choosing to showcase their natural selves unapologetically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt so relieved and free when I let it grow out. It felt like being able to breathe,\u201d said one of the models who goes by the name Kyotocat. \u201cIt was incredibly comfortable too. I felt a confidence and boldness returning, like I was replenishing some kind of primal power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophie Rose, another one of Hopper\u2019s hairy subjects explained it was \u201cempowering\u201d to not hide her body hair: \u201cYou feel stronger for not giving [in] to the way you\u2019ve been told to be. I really enjoyed people recoiling in disgust, it was funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriela Eva, who grew her hair specifically for the photoshoot, revealed she was curious to know how she\u2019d respond to the judgements. \u201cIt made me feel natural and vulnerable at first, and eventually empowered,\u201d Eva said. \u201cI\u2019ve grown accustomed to my armpit hair, and it makes me feel beautiful. If I removed it now, I\u2019d feel a little bare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political statement
\nSienna suggested that growing her armpit hair didn\u2019t necessarily\u201d make her feel empowered \u2013 \u201cjust comfortable.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t think women refusing to shave should necessarily be considered a radical act. Of course, it\u2019s a way in which women can refuse to conform to patriarchal beauty standards, but I don\u2019t want my body to consistently be read as a political space,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Emilie Bostdt, a Swedish actor, writes in her excerpt that women with armpit hair should not be a political statement. \u201cThe fact that in this society something natural like growing your armpit hair is almost a statement, or a political act, is weird \u2013 and that\u2019s a reason to grow,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Questions beauty standards
\nDespite the message of embracing body hair, Hopper clarified that he doesn\u2019t necessarily \u201cwant women to start growing their armpit hair.\u201d
\n\"\"
\nI just think that it\u2019s a possibility and people shouldn\u2019t dismiss it. I\u2019d like people to just question [beauty standards], the whole thing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

As more voices join the conversation and projects like \u201cNatural Beauty\u201d gain traction, the possibilities for a more inclusive understanding of beauty continue to expand.<\/p>\n

Please let us know if you think the world ready to embrace true natural beauty and then share this story so we can hear from others!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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