The latest trend with hairstyles has nothing to do with your hair on your head. In fact, it has everything to do with what is under your arms...gross, I know. Women everywhere, including Miley Cyrus, are letting their pits grow out and even dying them uncanny colors to make them stand out. Jemima Kirke of "Girls" also flashed her fair-colored hairy pits at the June 1 CFDA awards, one of the top fashion events of the year. There is even an Instagram account for the trend called "pitangels."
Is this really for fashion, or is this a feminist movement to get rid of the negative taboo of hairy underarms for women? I mean hey, why do men get to stay hairy and women have to be shaved bare with nothing but the hair on our heads and eyebrows? With this in mind, I see where women like Miley Cyrus and Jemima Kirke are coming from.
As it turns out, some celebrities have been sporting armpit hair forever. Lady Gaga used turquoise armpit hair wigs under her arms in 2011 while performing at the Much Music Awards to match the same color in wigs for her head and an over-the-clothes crotch piece. Julia Roberts is surprisingly another celebrity that rocked the armpit hair look in 1999 at the London premiere of "Notting Hill." Even Madonna has showcased her growing armpit hair on Instagram in March 2014 with the caption "Long hair...... Don't Care!!!!! #artfreedom #rebelheart #revolutionoflove."
While this is shocking to us in America, in parts of Europe and elsewhere around the world it has never been such a negative taboo for women. You'll see that it's far more common for women to have armpit hair, which goes to show the lack of striving to achieve a perfect, hairless body image, like women do in the States. We can also thank the rise of razors marketed specifically to women, along with the sleeveless fashion trend in the turn of the 20th century for making it seem like women needed to be hairless.
What has come to be considered beautiful is based on the standards of men and the media. To shave or not to shave is up to the woman, which is why many people are finding this woman-centered beauty movement to be refreshing. Jemima Kirke fought back critics and said it was just her own personal preference. Around the world, women are challenging this social norm of being hairless and embracing their natural underarm hair for reasons ranging from feminist ideology to just loving the natural look and convenience of not shaving.
The whole movement alone is about having a choice: you can shave it, but you shouldn't be forced to do so under the pressure of stereotypes and beauty standards. At the end of the day, what one woman decides to do with her body hair is her business and hers alone.
