Every one of us eventually reached that part of puberty where we were handed a razor and a can of shaving cream. And most likely, the vast majority of us shaved off our first signs of body hair without questioning why — it’s just what you do. But it doesn’t have to be.
Body hair positivity should be a bigger part of the body positivity movement than it currently is; it’s all about embracing the way we naturally look and grow, and refusing to apologize for it. But when all the posters or commercials you see feature hairless women with smooth, “perfect” bodies, it can be hard to remember that your leg hair isn’t evil, or ugly. Luckily, some on the internet have taken up the quest to remind us all that it’s normal and perfectly acceptable to have body hair. Check out these Instagrammers for some body hair positivity that can hopefully inspire you to stop worrying so much about whether or not your legs are prickly.
- Morgan Mikenas (@i_am_morgie)
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Morgan is all about nature and the natural, which couldn’t be more fitting for body hair positivity, because despite the perpetuation of hairless models, body hair is natural! She even made a YouTube video about why she doesn’t shave that now has over 2 million views. Giving her a follow will get you a mixed bag of music, nature photography and body-positive images, all of which we guarantee are a plus to your Insta feed.
- Women of Illustration (@womenofillustration)
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Women of Illustration is an artistic community with a goal to “build visibility up for female artists and seek out their exceptional voices, until that act itself becomes ordinary.”
They share art from their community of creators through multiple outlets, including podcasts and visual art on Instagram. Their Instagram content is incredibly empowering, whether you’re looking for body positivity or just female empowerment. Their artists portray body hair in a very beautiful way, hoping to normalize and highlight the beauty of the natural body.
- Ryse (@they.them.ryse)
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Ryse, as it says in their bio, is a mental health advocate and social justice educator, so pressing that follow button will add more than just body hair positivity to your feed. They’re not shy about loving their body, hair, and all, and their captions are always thought-provoking (which, in the age of thoughtless scrolling, is definitely a good thing).
- Hannah Good (@hannahgoodart)
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Hannah Good is an artist who creates and posts art centered around female and femme-identifying body positivity. All of the people pictured in her art are covered in tattoos, body hair, and cellulite, having the bodies we don’t tend to see on social media every day.
- Harnaam Kaur (@harnaamkaur)
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Harnaam is an activist and recently worked with Lush Cosmetics on the My Body, My Rules campaign to spread messages of body positivity and challenge beauty stereotypes. Harnaam faced bullying from her peers when she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which caused her to grow facial hair. She then decided to take the high road and flaunt what she has without feeling ashamed.
- Emily Bador (@darth_bador)
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Though Emily is a model, she’s breaking the mold of the stereotypical hairless, idealistically flawless model. She flaunts her armpit hair and stomach rolls without an ounce of apology, and we’re honestly in awe of how gorgeous she is. Follow her for body hair positivity, but also for general fashion inspo—we’d love to raid her closet.
- Pink Bits (@pink_bits)
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Pink Bits is one artist trying to, as the bio states, “illustrat[e] the bits and shapes we’re told to hide.” The illustrations of various women are so inclusive, and tons of them feature body hair on their legs, armpits and “down there.” The account is just one big celebration of the female body that highlights the beauty in reality, rather than some imagined ideal.
These accounts will make sure that in the frenzy of social media posts you’re bombarded with every day, you’ll be reminded that you don’t need to change a single thing about your body to feel good—and that includes shaving.