Senserotic

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Art By IG: @the_eggshibit

 mors alfabesi Instagram: @artwoonz

JoJo Pearson (@lemonadejar), photographed & written in July (2017). “I stopped shaving because I have extremely sensitive skin and my hair grows quite fast. It began to get painful because of the spots and cuts from shaving so regularly and it didn’t even look nice because of how rashy my underarms were. I started to question why I had to put my skin through this every day, even though all the men that I knew weren’t expected to. I realised how ridiculous it was and from then on only shaved when I actually wanted to (which is very rare and has become less and less). ⠀ At first I felt like I needed to hide my hair all the time in case someone saw and made a horrible comment. But after going out plenty of times without shaving I gained a lot more confidence. I feel more in tune with my body now that I’m not damaging my skin and taking more care of it. I also feel empowered by not shaving. For so long I had conformed to society’s expectations of what a woman should look like and I finally realised that I was beautiful regardless of whether I shave or not. I really inspired myself in a way, it can take a lot to go against what everyone sees as beautiful and normal, but I’m proud of myself for doing it.

I’ve had a lot of different reactions to my armpit hair. Some laughed, some looked uncomfortable and some agreed that I should be allowed to treat my body the way I want to. I often feel sad for the people who make nasty comments because they do not see the beauty of everyone’s individuality and the natural body. The people that accept me for who I am and love me no matter how I look are the people who matter to me.⠀

I’m a strong believer that, as long as you’re not hurting anyone else, you should be allowed to do what you want with your body. Every individual has a preference for his or her own appearance. Some people wear make up and some don’t, some people have tattoos and others don’t and some people have underarm hair and others shave. I’m glad that I have realised that what I do with my body hair is my choice and no one has a right to tell me how to look. Being a part of the ‘Natural Beauty’ project has made me fall in love with my natural self and I hope that it opens people’s minds to becoming more accepting.”

Hege Eriksdatter Østefjells for for “Natural Beauty” June 2017.

“Growing my armpit hair made me feel confident and beautiful because I made the choice solely for myself, not for anyone else. And that’s what I find drawn to in other people too. People who make choices and follow their own voice in what feels more true to them. It’s inspiring and hella attractive! And because, if anything, I will strive to live like the women Janne Robinson writes so beautiful and strong about in her poem ”This Is For The Women Who Don’t Give A Fuck“, in every aspect of my life. ⠀ The fact that it made me feel like I was making a small difference in the position women have in society strengthened the empowerment I felt. People are beautiful when left to be their true selves be it with or without armpit hair. I don’t mind if other people’s personal preferences are to rid of their armpit hairs, in fact, I think variety and differences are healthy, beautiful and strengthening. I still epilate my legs, I don’t quite feel as comfortable letting them grow yet. Or one day I might chose to shave my armpits again, who knows (though I doubt I will), but if I do so I hope and believe it will be because I chose so for myself. Beauty is relative and changes like everything else in life. What should be withstanding is people’s right to chose for themselves without being judged. Unfortunately our society is not quite there yet, but the more variety we see around us hopefully the more open and accepting we will slowly become. ⠀ I work as an aerial circus artist and mostly perform sleeveless. Since I let my armpit hairs grow I have only had one child commenting on my hairy pits. He pointed at them and told his mother “look, she has hair”. Amazing, I thought, perhaps it is his first time seeing a woman with her natural pit hair. I also teach circus a couple of days a week in Sweden where my students are aged 12-17. Some of the older teenagers always stare a lot at my pits; so much it is hard to keep eye contact at times. And it makes me happy. Scandinavia is generally very body-hair free, and so I’m happy they get to see an alternative, particularly at that time in their life when they are extra self conscious, in the midst of their own body changes and dealing with an ever growing body image and pressure from all corners around them. They might not choose to grow their hair, but at least they are exposed to an alternative. Body hair is generally not normalized yet, just like a whole lot of other things, and so being part of forming a richer image of body image, beauty and choices makes me feel pretty darn proud when I reflect on it.“