Gen Z women on growing body hair: ‘It’s sexy and empowering’
Young women have decided it’s time to give up a body habit imposed on them for generations, declaring it “sexy and empowering”.
Face & Body
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Model Sydney Jordan admits she’s lost out on a number of fashion gigs – because of her body hair.
And she’s not alone. The 25-year-old is one of many women who are making a stand against gendered stereotypes in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the New York Post reports.
After two years of lockdowns and fewer social interactions that saw women give up everything from hair dye to heels, women are flocking to TikTok to show off their all-natural approach to grooming.
The hashtag #bodyhairisnatural has more than 91 million views to date and the pro-body hair movement is gaining ground offline, too.
According to the 2021 YouGov Body Image Study, 35 per cent of Americans have no preference if women shave or not, while 7 per cent said they should not shave. For respondents between the ages of 18 and 35, female fur proved to be even less of an issue, with a majority confessing that they either find armpit hair attractive or don’t care if a woman has it.
While we don’t have stats on the topic in Australia yet, women Down Under have participated in social movements such as “Januhairy” and “Get Hairy February” in a bid to normalise female body hair.
It’s something American woman Sydney feels so strongly about, she’s said she’s willing to lose work in her efforts to “normalise” it.
“I’m not willing to shave. This is part of my brand,” she told the New York Post.
“I’m trying to normalise this.”
And while Jordan is getting pushback for her anti-shaving stance, other body hair activists are being rewarded for embracing their natural body hair.
“People never cared if I shaved,” 25-year-old model Elyanna Sanchez, who boasts more than 93,000 followers on Instagram, told the US publication.
“It just felt normal [to have body hair].”
The model, who splits her time between Los Angeles and New York, appeared in a 2019 underwear ad for Calvin Klein that prominently features her underarm hair.
Elyanna said she didn’t shave the day of the shoot because she “didn’t really think about it”, explaining the client had no problem with her au naturel look.
However Elyanna said commenters online weren’t so kind – something she sees as hypocritical.
“People say, ‘Can you use real models?’” she said of the pressure fashion companies get to hire more typical-looking people. “And then everyone bashes them and calls them ugly.”
Nevertheless, brands are increasingly taking big risks on body hair.
UK-based razor brand Sunny writes in their tagline: “To shave or not to shave, it’s no biggie is it? Prickly or smooth, it won’t change the world.” And American shaving company Billie is the first brand of its kind to show images of women with untamed hair on their legs, underarms and even inner thighs.
Flaunting hairy underarms scored supermodel Ashley Graham a partnership with razor brand Harry’s. After she landed the gig, she responded by posting a video on TikTok with her laughing at headlines about it – sticking it to the haters online who assumed beauty companies would only show clean-shaven women.
Now, regular women are giving it a go.
Chanté Glover, 29, said that when they first started growing out their body hair in 2016, they felt “pretty alone in my friend group” – however now finds it “empowering”.
“I actually got to a place of really loving it,” said Chanté, who added that they’ve received an outpouring of support from friends and followers online.
“There’s no shame in what we are and embracing what we are. I find [having body hair] to be a sign of confidence and adulthood.”
Virali Patel, a 28-year-old from London, also posts odes to her body hair online.
“I feel a lot of women are tired of changing themselves in order to fit in society’s definition of beautiful,” said Patel, who recently gave up on hair removal after 20 years of shaving and waxing. “We’ve been conditioned to believe smooth skin is sexy, and having hair makes us look ‘manly’ and unworthy of love – which just isn’t true.”
Australian feminist Kathy Ebbs recently weighed in on the issue, writing in one post: “Hair removal is an option, NOT a societal norm.”
New York author and sex worker, Liara Roux, who describes her job as “being hot online,” said posting photos of her body hair on social media validates other women who want to try tossing out their razors.
“I’ve had some people tell me that they decided to start growing out their body hair after they saw me with it,” Liara, 32, said.
“Because it’s just my job to be naked online and be hot, it sort of gives other people permission to do that … It’s easier for people to be like, ‘Oh, you can still be very attractive to people.’”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Gen Z women on growing body hair: ‘It’s sexy and empowering’