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For most women, hair removal is a fact of life. But not everyone gets rid of erstwhile hairs. We put together a list of the top celebrities who are metaphorically sticking it to The Man by refusing these strict beauty standards – keeping their pit hair loose, flowing, and free. Scroll down for underarm hair 101 and the best celeb armpits with hair!
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The History Of Underarm Hair
Body hair removal is by no means a recent practice. In fact, archeologists have found razors dating as far back as 3,000 BC. Queen Cleopatra herself used to undergo ‘sugar waxing’ to remove leg and pubic hair. Hairlessness became associated with femininity and desirability.
And the pressure to go hair-free intensified when hemlines rose, sleeveless clothing came into fashion, stockings fell out of fashion, and women started showing much more skin than before. The obsession with clean-shaven armpits continues ‘til today, even to the point of fetishisation – there are entire threads on Reddit for celebrity armpits, including a very active one dedicated to Taylor Swift.
Today, women have plenty of options for hair removal such as shaving, plucking, waxing, and laser treatments. But with the rise of feminism, more and more women are choosing to go au natural, or at least rejecting the expectation that they should have 100% smooth and hairless skin all the time.
There are plenty of valid reasons someone would choose not to shave. One, hair removal often results in painful, itchy, and unsightly ingrown hair. Two, it isn’t cheap – either you spend on shaving implements or at-home waxing kits, or you splurge on the occasional trip to the waxing/laser hair removal clinic.
Lastly, a ton of women feel like the double standard is unfair. Body hair on men isn’t just ‘tolerated’, it’s celebrated. Men are free to grow out their hair as much as they like. In fact, the world record for the longest armpit hair in the world belongs to a man and clocks in at 21.7cm.
The no-shave movement attempts to level out the playing field and give women more power over their bodies. While society still has certain expectations about how women ‘should’ look, the no-shave movement is not nearly as controversial as it was two or three decades ago.
Women in 2019 are embracing their natural hairy state. Some are even proud of their body hair and aren’t afraid to call attention to it, sporting decorative dyed or braided pits.
The Top Natural Celebrity Armpits
Lady Gaga
Gaga rocked teal armpit hair at the 2019 Annual MuchMusic Video Awards.
Amanda Palmer
Palmer has been at the forefront of the no-shave trend for a while. In May 2019, she tweeted, “i never met a red carpet i didn’t want to wave my armpit hair at.”
Madonna
Although she keeps it smooth and clean most of the time, the “Material Girl” singer has sported underarm hair on a few occasions.
Miley Cyrus
It should come as no surprise that showbiz’s very own wild child isn’t scared to show off her armpit hair at official events.
Amanda Stenberg
The African-American actress stirred up some online #drama when she was spotted with armpit hair on the red carpet.
Cara Delevingne
The model and actress actually got her underarm hair lasered off, so she had to don ‘armpit wigs’ for her 2018 film Her Smell.
Bella Thorne
In response to a fan question on Twitter, Thorne admitted in 2018 that she stopped shaving her armpits and proudly shows off her underarm hair during shoots and appearances.
Halsey
Halsey came under fire for her Rolling Stone cover where her underarms have visible stubble. The move was praised by fellow celebrities, including Demi Lovato.
Julia Roberts
Roberts admitted that her Notting Hill premiere armpit scandal in 1999 was less of a statement and more of a miscalculation, but this ‘accident’ helped pioneer the no-shave movement two decades ago.
Gigi Hadid
Hadid’s unshaven armpits barely made an appearance in this video, but fans and haters alike went wild.
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren is evidence that not all women in the 20th century hopped on the hair removal train. There are plenty of photos of Loren proudly raising her arms without a care.
Let Your Hair Down
Like with most things related to feminism, this all boils down to choice. Whether you shave your armpit hair or not, what matters is that you what you want, not what society tells you to do. So keep your pits smooth, let it all hang out, or alternate between the two – your body, your choice.
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