It was in April 1998 at the premiere of "A Night at Notting Hill" in London when the talented Julia Roberts Wearing a bright red creation, she raised her hand to greet her fans and revealed, for the first time to the general public, a more personal and "mortal" version of her, that of the woman next door who leaves her armpits unshaven.
Twenty years later and speaking on Busy Phillips' show "Busy Tonight" the award-winning Oscar actor revealed that "this image remains alive in my memory to this day."
Justifying the fact, he clarified that "I probably had not calculated the length of the sleeve of the dress correctly in combination with the greeting and the" revelations "that would be made by raising my hand, thus announcing more personal things about myself".
In fact, she did not hesitate to admit that this was not a "statement", but a personal moment, as all women have.
Today, exactly twenty years after this event, more and more photos of women appearing, without taboos, with unshaven armpits are flooding social media, making everyone wonder if it is a new trend or a form of reaction and response to social stereotypes. who want women to be groomed in στην hair!
More and more appearances of celebrities with unshaven armpits
The example of Julia Roberts who started in 1998, although unwittingly, was followed by many celebrities and representatives of international showbiz making appearances, even on the red carpet, with their armpits in their natural form.
Among them is Madonna's daughter, Lourdes, who at the Vogue Awards event in November 2018 wearing a white, mini dress did not hesitate to be photographed with her hand raised, thus revealing the natural hairs on her armpit. Of course, the 20-year-old was not the first time she appeared in front of the camera like this, as a few months earlier, in May of the same year, during her participation in an advertising campaign of a well-known sportswear brand, she appeared in exactly the same way.
A year earlier, in December 2017, Victoria Secret model Gigi Hadid, photographed for the Christmas calendar of a well-known company, appeared with natural hair on her armpit, thus praising the female body and his hair, as is the case for everything. the human bodies in the world.
Another shocking example is that of her Paris Jackson, daughter of pop legend Michael Jackson, who has never tried to hide her physical features. In fact, in a story on Instagram, the blue-eyed musician has stated that "I did not realize that the audience would be so upset with the hair on my armpit. I never thought such a thing would become such a big issue. It's so funny. People are really crazy. There are many who find it extremely disgusting, especially for women, to appear with body hair. Remember that it is completely natural, as it is for all human bodies. That's why get over it. "
Survey numbers and their conclusions
In a relevant survey conducted two years ago regarding the selection of women not to shave their armpits, but also other parts of their body, it was observed that this tactic was becoming more common. More specifically, according to the study, women belonging to the generation of millenials show an increase in their desire not to shave their hair.
For example, compared to 2013 and over a period of three years, 95% of women between the ages of 16-24 who shaved or waxed their armpits, decreased significantly to 77%. The same happened with the shaving of the feet, which from 92% fell to 85%.
According to the researchers from Mintel, who conducted the study, these figures show the desire of women not to interfere in nature but also in the fact that they do not want to cause "harm" to their skin.
At the same time, this new trend shows the differentiation in terms of beauty standards, especially for women, who no longer find it so disgusting for a woman to appear with her natural hairy armpit.
After all, it is a fashion or a new female beauty model
Countless beauty trends have been observed throughout history, with the most recent ones "imposing" wide eyebrows, false eyelashes, rhinestones on various parts of the body (even on the buttocks or armpits). If you search even earlier you will find that women completely removed their eyebrows during the Middle Ages, drank arsenic for skin whitening etc.
But what about preserving, or returning, in this case, our physical data? Although at first it seemed like another trend, with influencers not hesitating to share their photos on social media with their natural hair in armpits and legs as it evolves proves to be a form of feminism or if you want more simplistically a form of familiarity and acceptance of the female body and beauty, just the way it is. Absolutely no intervention.
For some women, this attitude is a way of protesting against the beauty standards that have been imposed from time to time by society. This is applauded even by men, such as photographer Ben Hopper, who uses models with natural hair on their armpits to convey the same message, telling Metro.co.uk that "we attach great importance to trivial things".
