Body hair on females is not something that society accepts. Commercials for hair removal products flash the screen in between TV shows that feature hairless women. Even characters in movies that take place during the apocalypse magically have no body hair. Girls are taught at a young age that their body hair is shameful and something to be removed. So, when I waltz into a crowd of people with my unshaven armpits that have been dyed a vibrant blue, I turn heads.
Once I realized that shaving your armpits is not a necessity, and really more of a chore, I would let it grow out a little longer. After perusing the internet one day, I found a picture of a girl with blue armpits, and I knew immediately that I wanted that girl to be me. I was making a statement without saying any words. With a little bit of color, I could tell people how I believe that society’s expectations of women were bogus.
The first time, I dyed my armpits a vibrant blue in the bathroom of a close friend. I bought a bottle of Manic Panic and ended up using about a tenth of it. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I loved it. It was right during indoor track season
The second time, I convinced one of my friends to do it with me. We both don’t often shave our body hair, so we also decided to try to dye some of her leg hair. The color was a darker blue, so it wasn’t as obvious, and it faded quickly. However, it was so fun to do, and we loved being able to show off the look at one of our races.
I got a lot of questions as to why I dyed my armpits blue, and most of the time, my response was “Why not?” No one really has much of an argument against it. The reason I chose to do it was because it was something fun that also allowed me to oppose a lot of the expectations of women that exist today. Body hair should not been seen as something that is gross. One of my hopes is that I can break down that belief by having my armpit hair dyed.