"I'm trolled for my 'gross' body hair but I love my hairy armpits"
- 10 months ago
A woman who "couldn't be bothered" to shave embraced her furry armpits and feels "liberated" showing them off in a bikini - despite being trolled for her "gross" body hair.
Jo Brown, 28, used to shave each time she found her hair growing, before she decided to embrace her natural body hair during the pandemic.
Since ditching the razor, Joanna now hardly removes any of her body hair - instead flaunting her natural dark hair under her armpits, along with her bikini line and on her legs in skimpy bikinis and is urging others to do the same.
Jo, a nanny, from Colliers Wood, south west London, said: “I got a lot of trolling.
"A lot of very mean comments saying it’s gross.
“I then, as a rebuttal, came back like ‘screw you all’.
“I’m not going to change for them.
"It wasn’t even a conscious decision. It was lockdown. It was summer and I couldn’t be bothered to shave.
"I feel very proud of my body, very appreciative, I love the way it is, and I love being me."
Jo started shaving at the age of 11 - after seeing her older sisters remove their body hair.
She said: “I would only really shave as a child because I thought that’s what being a grown up is.
"I thought I couldn’t go out without shaving - which is sad really and I wish I hadn’t had cared so much.”
Jo ditched the razor during lockdown - when she wasn't going out - and has now found the confidence to leave her natural hair.
She is now an advocate from the health benefits which come with ditching the razor.
She said: “Shaving is actually really painful.
"It can actually cause some nasty rashes and skin problems. It is inconvenient.
“Women are removing everything. There’s a lot of pressure which started in the 80s porn industry.
"I definitely felt that pressure. I think most women sadly do.
“Everyone went from having big bushes to waxing and shaving body hair and since then there has been an increase in UTIs, thrush and bacterial infections.
“Ironically, it’s actually much better for your body to not shave.
"The hair is there for a reason it wicks the sweat away.
"It draws the sweat away, so it actually prevents body odour.”
Jo said she now feels liberated by her body hair and happily dons a bikini in summer – showing off her hairy pits and legs with pride.
Jo Brown, 28, used to shave each time she found her hair growing, before she decided to embrace her natural body hair during the pandemic.
Since ditching the razor, Joanna now hardly removes any of her body hair - instead flaunting her natural dark hair under her armpits, along with her bikini line and on her legs in skimpy bikinis and is urging others to do the same.
Jo, a nanny, from Colliers Wood, south west London, said: “I got a lot of trolling.
"A lot of very mean comments saying it’s gross.
“I then, as a rebuttal, came back like ‘screw you all’.
“I’m not going to change for them.
"It wasn’t even a conscious decision. It was lockdown. It was summer and I couldn’t be bothered to shave.
"I feel very proud of my body, very appreciative, I love the way it is, and I love being me."
Jo started shaving at the age of 11 - after seeing her older sisters remove their body hair.
She said: “I would only really shave as a child because I thought that’s what being a grown up is.
"I thought I couldn’t go out without shaving - which is sad really and I wish I hadn’t had cared so much.”
Jo ditched the razor during lockdown - when she wasn't going out - and has now found the confidence to leave her natural hair.
She is now an advocate from the health benefits which come with ditching the razor.
She said: “Shaving is actually really painful.
"It can actually cause some nasty rashes and skin problems. It is inconvenient.
“Women are removing everything. There’s a lot of pressure which started in the 80s porn industry.
"I definitely felt that pressure. I think most women sadly do.
“Everyone went from having big bushes to waxing and shaving body hair and since then there has been an increase in UTIs, thrush and bacterial infections.
“Ironically, it’s actually much better for your body to not shave.
"The hair is there for a reason it wicks the sweat away.
"It draws the sweat away, so it actually prevents body odour.”
Jo said she now feels liberated by her body hair and happily dons a bikini in summer – showing off her hairy pits and legs with pride.