‘We’re giving too much importance to these petty things,’ photographer Ben Hopper tells metro.co.uk.
He’s the man behind Natural Beauty, a photo series normalising one of those little things that people keep making a big fuss over: armpit hair.
As part of Natural Beauty, Ben recruited women ‘who look like models and actresses’, asked them to grow out the hair under their arms, then took their photos.
‘The project started back in 2008/2009, and it was published in 2014,’ Ben tells us.
‘The motivation was both my own liking of seeing women with armpit hair, and a joke about modern art and contemporary art, how if you repeat something enough it will make an impact.
‘I personally like the look. I find it attractive.’
Why women who looked like models and actresses? To challenge our expectations of beauty.
Usually, the traditionally beautiful women we see in adverts and media are smooth all over, so seeing these types of women with hairy armpits still feels a little surprising.
Each time Ben was photographing women who were either models, actresses, or ‘looked like them’, he’d ask them if they’d be okay to let their armpit hair grow out.
Some agreed, some recommended friends. Soon, as his project picked up steam, women began approaching Ben to get involved.
Years later, he’s republished the series with text written by the women involved, to include their views on armpit hair and traditional beauty. It’s now being shared all over the internet as a celebration of having armpit hair and not giving a f***.
Next up, he hopes to get more influencers involved, to spread the message even further.
‘I really wish I could photograph people like Madonna for it, or Miley Cyrus,’ he explains.
‘The culture right now has been designed by celebrities, so if you take someone like Kate Moss and she has armpit hair, a lot of women would start growing their armpit hair.
‘The whole idea behind the project was kind of using the system to f*** with the system.
‘That was the whole trick in the project – the fact that all the women look like models, and people are not used to seeing them like that.
‘All of a sudden they have armpit hair, and people are more accepting towards that look. They are more willing to reconsider female body hair.’
Of course, armpit hair is just a small part of the way we bash women’s bodies in their natural state. But Ben reckons that normalising this tiny thing could set the tone for acceptance of the rest of our bodies, too.
‘There’s all this talk about free the nipple right now,’ says Ben.
‘The reason why the female nipple is such a big deal right now is that you don’t see it very often, and it’s the same thing with the armpit hair. The reason it’s such a big deal is because you don’t see it that often.
‘If you see it more often, it won’t be a big deal. It’s the same thing with nudity.
‘In Europe if you go to the beach, it’s not a big deal to see women sunbathe topless, but if you go to Venice Beach in California, you can get arrested.
‘The more armpit hair is on display, the less of a big deal it will be. People will just get on with their lives. It’s nothing. It’s not important. It’s just hair.’
But next, he says it’s time for the advertising and beauty industries to step up and stop pressuring women to change their appearance.
‘The beauty industry is brainwashing everyone,’ says Ben.
‘The reason that so many women are insecure with their bodies is because the beauty industry comes up and says: “you need to look like this, this product f***s up your skin, so you need to use this one, and this one.
‘It’s simple. People have double standards right now, and it’s tricky and dangerous.
‘I think people should just not make a big deal out of things. We’re just people and this is who we are.
‘If you don’t like the way someone looks, it’s fine, you can find someone else that you like their looks.
‘I mean, hair. Who cares? It’s just hair.’
‘I let my armpit hair grow when I realised that I could,’ says Mina.
‘For the most part of my teenage years and young adulthood, it never even once crossed my mind to not shave.
‘The first woman I saw with armpit hair was my aunt when she was in her late twenties. I couldn’t understand where it came from, but in my head it was just impossible. Impossible because to me, she was one of the most beautiful people on this planet, and she just didn’t give a f***.
‘Meanwhile, my sisters and me gave many f***s; despite being half Asian and never having a lot of hair, I remember us shaving just for the sake of it. We wanted to have a sense of belonging to the ‘grown-up’ world – and whatever ‘grown-up’ means anyway…’
I think everyone should try going without any non-essential grooming at some point in their life,’ says Maya Felix.
‘I am mixed race and have quite fair sensitive skin and thick dark hair. This made shaving a very difficult and often painful process.
‘Stubble would always grow back within 24 hours, and trying to shave the stubble would end in bleeding and rashes. My underarms were never ‘pretty’ or ‘feminine’.
‘I hated it and was made miserable by it.
‘When I was about 17 and in my first serious relationship with a boy who loved my body a lot more than I did, I decided to try something radical. I decided to stop putting myself through pain, to stop being angry with my body for not being the way I wanted it; I stopped shaving.
‘I think everyone should try going without any non-essential grooming at some point in their life.
‘It will shave (pun intended) lots of time off your routine, and it’s really interesting to see what your body naturally does. You may find it freeing and empowering.
‘You may even find that you like the way it looks as I did, and if you don’t you can always just go back to shaving, no harm done.’
‘I can’t think of anything more feminine and sexy than a woman who proudly shows her body in its natural form,’ says Imogen Rose.
‘By showing my underarms in their natural form, I hope to lessen the impact of shock and judgment on other women who decide to give themselves this freedom.
‘It’s part of a much bigger picture and this isn’t about me wanting all women to be hairy, it’s simply a wish for women to be able to express themselves in the way that they want without unjust judgment and expectation from others.’
‘I never stopped shaving because I never started,’ explains Ayan Mohamed.
‘I do remember my mother shaving when I was younger and I thought that was pretty unnecessary since she was a strict muslim.
‘I later realised it’s a thing women do to look more desirable to men.
‘It really irritated me that the people who reacted negatively to my natural armpit hair were men.
‘Like it was the most disgusting thing in the world. It really gets on my tits.’
‘Not shaving shouldn’t be a statement but it is,’ Alexis Calvas told Ben.
‘I stopped shaving after reading Judith Butler and realising that I had no idea what my natural body looked like, as I was convinced to perform my gender and shave by 15.
‘I then continued not to because I felt the need to overcome the embarrassment I felt for not conforming.
‘Eventually it became a really liberating experience and showers are so quick and easy now, I will never go back!’
‘The people complaining have a lot more to deal with than their own body hair growth,’ says Ruby Bird.
‘I did receive some rather alarmingly nasty comments from Internet trolls on my photo, but I thought in a round about way they were even more empowering than the compliments.
‘These people were commenting this way almost unanimously, out of ignorance, and perhaps their own insecurity. In the face of something so natural, this reminded me that I’m lucky as hell not to have that narrow mind holding me down.
‘They feel they have to conform to a societal pressure I really don’t adhere to. So negativity equaled empowerment and much hilarity for how small minded some very unfortunate souls could be in the face of natural physicality.’
‘It came alongside the realisation that the desire to wear makeup, shave or alter myself was born out of the notion that beauty can be sold,’ says Cassia Chloe.
‘That beauty can, and must be bought; a concept not surprisingly enforced by the ’beauty’ industry that have the most to profit.
‘That we are not innately beautiful, that beauty is a product.
‘This is quite obviously delusional. As if people were not attracted to each other in all of human history before the first female razor blade was sold – only one hundred years ago.
‘It was the obscure concept that I had to change myself to be beautiful.’
‘Hair just seems to be a bad thing for women, unless it’s straight, bleach blonde and perfect, and on your head – where it’s supposed to be,’ says Louise Raines.
‘I first stopped shaving because it was irritating my skin and I wanted to give it a rest. After that, I decided to just let it grow and see what happens. I then stopped shaving altogether and let it alter my perception as it went.
‘Previously I felt like I had to shave every last hair from my armpits and legs, as it’s what you’re ‘supposed to do’.
‘People were picked on at school for being more hairy than other people, even before it became time for some hair to grow in. People are pointed out in the street for any difference anyone seem to find, and it seems okay for people to laugh and stare.
‘I have had it pointed out to me negatively several times over my life, that my arms are slightly hairier than some other people’s, as if that’s somehow important or they didn’t think I could judge that for myself.’
‘I stopped shaving my armpits about 6 years ago,’ says Kat Hanula.
‘One day I just decided to let it grow because I didn’t like all the discomfort that goes with the shaving process.
‘In the very beginning I had some moments of doubt when going out wearing sleeveless tops in the company of my girlfriends who were always shaved.
‘When I started travelling and met other female travellers with hairy armpits and pubes I was reassured that this is something normal.
‘Not shaving was a part of the long process on my journey to self-acceptance and self-love.
‘Now I know that being raw, naked, hairy, with no make up can feel comfortable and I can still be considered as beautiful and lovable.’
‘As my hair grew, I grew stronger with it,’ says Gabriela Eva.
‘It really intrigued me to see my whole body in its natural state. I wanted to know what it would feel like and how I would feel. I wanted to witness people’s judgment on my body first-hand.
‘I wanted to see how that impact would affect myself.
‘It made me feel natural and vulnerable at first, and eventually empowered.
‘I’ve grown accustomed to my armpit hair, and it makes me feel beautiful. If I removed it now, I’d feel a little bare. I like the colour of my hair against my skin.
‘People’s reactions are mixed, as it’s not mainstream.
‘I feel it’s extremely important to feel cushty in your own skin no matter what’s on the outside.’
‘I think it’s beautiful,’ says Emilia Bostedt.
‘Armpit hair grows naturally, so one would think people would ask, “why do you shave?” not the opposite.
‘The fact that in this society something natural like growing your armpit hair is almost a statement, or a political act, is weird – and that’s a reason to grow.
‘I like to colour my armpit hair in blue, pink or white.
‘I think it’s beautiful.’
Martha Gantner told Ben that growing out her armpit hair made her feel ‘at peace’ with herself.
‘I realised that beauty is really just in the eye of the beholder, and that all of us have a choice.
‘On a deeper level, it made me more connected to my feminine side and to mother nature too.’
‘It’s 2017, wake up and look however makes you happy,’ says Charlie. ‘You won’t regret it.’
‘I decided to stop shaving a while back, I realised it was unnecessary and uncomfortable. I didn’t care what I looked like so why should shaving matter?
‘If I wasn’t supposed to have the hair it wouldn’t grow.
‘Personally I am happy with my decision, why wouldn’t I be? It’s a natural occurrence of the body; of course it’s beautiful.
‘It makes me feel strong and empowered, taking on my full form as a human being. I made a choice to do something and stuck with it.’
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