JANUHAIRY: Women who are showing off their hairy bodies on Instagram explain why

January is about women embracing their body hair. Majority of women these days are constantly putting themselves and their bodies through painful treatments. Costing them thousands and spending hours planning their outfits, all because its unconventional to show body hair. 

Januhairy aims to promote body positivity and encourage women to accept their body hair, it was started by student Laura Jackson in 2018, who is a graduate of Exeter University to help raise money for charity. People taking part in the 2020 campaign have been all over Instagram showing off their beautiful hairy bodies. 

According to the Metro, Emily Ross 29 said ‘I love Januhairy- what better way to start the year than with an initiative to normalise female body hair. Growing out my body hair has been a truly empowering experience- and external sign to the world that my body is for me.’

‘Women’s body hair is continuously policed, and choosing to embrace our natural body hair is often met with (usually male) criticism. At the end of the day, women should choose what makes them individually happy. Today that means I’m not shaving, but if a woman prefers to remove her hair thats great too! We are all individual owners of our bodies and have a right to feel at home in them, whether that pleases others or not.’ 

Another person taking part in Januhairy is Chloe 29, she said: ‘I started shaving my armpits and legs when I was 14 when I moved schools and was immediately picked on for having hair- it wasn’t something I’d ever really thought about before.’

‘If I didn’t keep up with shaving/hair removal, I felt a deep sense of shame, added to by the male partners who would comment in horror if my leg hair or pubic hair started to grow in. Not everyone did but it was enough to reinforce what I had learned: that body hair was gross. In 2018, I decided to grow out my armpit hair (it was winter, so nobody would see) to see how I felt about it and to challenge my own perceptions. It was strange. And then it wasn’t, it just felt completely normal. It turns out that I really like it. I think it’s important to normalise body hair, and remind everyone that it’s a choice.’

‘Grow it or not but never feel pressured to do something to your body just because society as a whole says you should.’