“YOU forgot your moustache.” The taunts from school peers still echo in my brain to this very day as they mocked my self-portrait painting.
I was 11 and had reached a milestone in puberty that most of my male friends had yet to reach.
I was hairy; I had a moustache, hairy pits, prickly legs and a pesky mono-brow to boot.
Unlike the celebrated bearded men of Movember, not all have welcomed Armpits4August and common disapprovals include that underarm hair is, masculine, unhygienic and unattractive.
Gillette VenusUnderstandably my saving grace came when I first saw Gillette’s ‘Venus’ advert. It sang “baby, she’s got it” whilst a flight of doves shot out from behind a beautiful woman with outstretched fuzz-free underarms. From then on, I knew and truly believed that to be exempt from ridicule, to be beautiful and, as it were, “reveal the Goddess within”, then I really needed to shave.
Of course, the pursuit of smoothness doesn’t end with shaving for most women; it involves a painful cycle of plucking, epilating, waxing, threading and even lazoring to achieve what is essentially pre-pubescent skin.
It’s a well established social norm and women are so committed to their depilatory regime that, for the majority, to give it up would not just be a difficult feat, but down-right humiliating.
Throughout this month however, an ever-growing group of women have been doing just that; letting their armpit jungle grow for all and sundry to see during what is one of our most exposing times of year.
Charity event Armpits4August is a collective of women who aren’t afraid to go au naturel for the sake of a cause and purpose.
Taking the premise of ‘Movember’ - the successful campaign that sees men ditch the Justin Bieber baby-face look and grow a beard in a bid to raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer - Armpits4August encourages women to grow their armpit hair in solidarity for the women suffering with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), an illness that affects 10 per cent of women, with a notable side effect - excessive hair growth.
Armpits For AugustGina Fuller, a fundraiser for Armpits4August said: “Many women have accepted hair removal because of the images we continually see of hairless models and actresses on advertisements without questioning why this is considered the norm.”
“Armpits4August challenges this very rigid beauty ideal and says well, there is an alternative” she said.
Armpits4August began fundraising for PCOS charity, Verity, in 2012 with a modest fundraising target of £300. Impressively, Armpits4August surpassed targets and raised £4,000 and has since gained a massive cult following, with women marking the growth of their fuzz on social networks and taking to the streets to flaunt freshly dyed underarm locks.
Even so, condemnation is to be expected when you challenge a deep-rooted social convention such as blitzing female body hair. And, unlike the celebrated bearded men of ‘Movember’, not all have welcomed Armpits4August and common disapprovals include that underarm hair is , ‘masculine, unhygienic and unattractive.’
When Emer O’ Toole choose to proudly flaunt her underarm hair on This Morning, she was met by a barrage of criticism, collective horror from beauticians and left open to ridicule by men and women on social media. Read our article on Emer here.
Emer O'Toole
Even so, Emer’s confidence to air her armpit fuzz on live television was also met by widespread feminist applause and in doing so, Emer opened up the conversation - why do we feel such pressure to shave our armpits in the first place?
Keisha Thomson, a poet, actress, musician and feminist from Manchester, urges females to ask ourselves this very question in her one woman show, ‘I Wish I Had a Moustache.’ which comes to the Contact Theatre, Thursday 12 September.
Describing the show as a “disturbing comedy”, Keisha sets to explore the very concept of beauty, gender anxieties and the taboo of body hair, through poetry, music and theatre.
She said “I chose the topic of body hair because it seems everyone is fixated by hair in general and it allowed me to explore other feminist issues.”
As a supporter of Armpits4August and the charity Verity, she also plans to raise awareness about PCOS: “I think considering the significant level of PCOS sufferers in UK, it is about time we challenge the taboo labels attached to some of the symptoms, such as, female body hair. There are many vehicles for political change but the most engaging one for me is political theatre.”
At the core of Keisha’s show and Armpits4Augusts fundraising is the want to promote feminist values to a wider audience and highlight what they believe to be old, archaic values that forces women to conform to gender stereotypes and ideals.
“I think there’s nothing wrong with shaving, and you can be a feminist and shave, as long as you accept why you’re doing it. It is mostly due to conformity” said Keisha.
Nonetheless Keisha acknowledges that female body hair is difficult to get used too, especially when the world around you is hair free.
“When I started not shaving my armpits I was very nervous about people’s reaction. Yet, I decided it was silly as it’s my body and I should be able to do what I want with it. Now, I find it liberating.”
Keisha - I wish I had a moustache
A sentiment Gina also agrees with, “We just want to give women back their choice. We give women the opportunity for one month to just see what it feels like - you may grow it for one month and then go back to shaving, yet you never know you may want to carry on growing your hair. You may like it.”
Whilst I’m genuinely rendered with admiration for the women who have confidently ‘got their pits out’, my heart still fills with fear at the thought of doing, what can only be described as, a ‘Julia Roberts’ myself.
Maybe I’m personally too far brainwashed by patriarchal standards to truly benefit from the liberation these women appear to feel since giving up their razor blades.
Yet Armpits4August’s bold stand against conformity is one that is hard to ignore, just as much the work to raise awareness about PCOS. And whilst for now my armpits are still tendered to on a daily basis, for the most part, I don’t think I could watch a Venus razor blade commercial the same way ever again.
Follow L'Oreal on Twitter @loreal_b
You can find more about Armpits 4 August and donate at armpits4august.org
Also take a look at charity, Verity to learn more about PCOS.
Catch Keisha Thomson’s show I Wish I Had A Moustache Thursday 12 September at the Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6JA. Follow her on Twitter @keke_thom
Photo credit: Main image, by Dave Pearce.
