There's nothing that makes us happier than seeing celebrities give a giant middle finger to patriarchal beauty standards and embrace their body hair [1] on every platform, from social media to red carpet events. In the last year alone, we've seen a handful of stars — like Julia Michaels [2] and Lourdes Leon — changing the narrative around body hair [3] to their millions of fans, one selfie at a time. While the photos we've seen that celebrate hair on all parts of the body have been encouraging, we've also noticed many celebs seem to have a special appreciation for their underarm hair [4].
What people do with the hair on their body is a personal choice (and it should hardly be considered revolutionary), but in an era when people — specifically women — are heavily scrutinised by the public for their looks, it's hard not to praise those who show theirs off with pride.
Read ahead to check out several celebrities who have fully embraced their armpit fuzz.
Julia Michaels
Fans applauded Julia Michaels on social media last year after noticing her underarm hair in her new music video for "Lie Like This." The singer tweeted a few months ago that she was going to stop shaving her armpits for good [5]: "Honestly, I'm not shaving my armpits ever again. I don't know why I ever did before. Social norms can eat an aubergine."
"There's something really liberating about doing the things that people tell you not to do . . . If it's something as simple as growing my armpit hair out, I'm down for it."
She later explained to POPSUGAR the reason behind her decision: "I had taken a trip with some of my friends and [my underarm hair] had started to grow out, and when I shaved it, I didn't feel like myself; it was really strange," Michaels said. "There's something really liberating about doing the things that people tell you not to do, and I get a kick out of that. If it's something as simple as growing my armpit hair out, I'm down for it. You'd be surprised at how many men comment on my social media still being like 'That's disgusting. You should shave it,' and it's like, why do you feel like you can comment on my body?"
Amandla Stenberg
In October 2018, Amandla Stenberg showed up to the London premiere of their film The Hate U Give wearing a sleeveless black gown, not bothering one bit to shave or remove the hair under their arms — and we're here for it.
Bella Thorne
After a paparazzi photo of Bella Thorne at the beach with unshaved armpits began to circulate in 2017, the former Disney star was quick to defend herself from critics [9], tweeting, "Hahaha don't they know I never shave?"
Emily Ratajkowski
In 2019, Emily Ratajkowski posed for a Harper's Bazaar cover where she showed fans her armpit hair. In the accompanying essay, she explained that hair removal is a personal choice for all people [13].
"If I decide to shave my armpits or grow them out, that's up to me," she said. "For me, body hair is another opportunity for women to exercise their ability to choose — a choice based on how they want to feel and their associations with having or not having body hair."
Paris Jackson
In 2017, Paris Jackson took to her Instagram to share with her followers that she had been growing out her armpit hair [14] for the previous two months. Of course, her photo was met with some unsolicited criticism, to which she responded in a video saying, "I love hair, and sweat, and BO. I f*cking love it," she added. "I think it's great. Some people think that it's like super disgusting, especially on girls, but every human body does it. It's natural. Get over it."
Miley Cyrus
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Miley Cyrus showed off her underarm hair [15] after she dyed it hot pink for fun. She later filmed herself waxing the hair off on her Stories.