Two Influencers Made a Statement, “You Don’t Have To Be Hairless To Go to the Beach”, but Not Everyone Agrees With Them

For more than a decade, women have been meticulously taming the hair on their bodies. However, in recent times, champions of body positivity are all about celebrating a woman’s freedom to choose. Shaving legs and armpits? Some are saying, “No, thanks!” And guess what? These two fabulous young women are boldly flaunting the message that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with rocking natural body hair — even when you’re hitting the beach.

Sara Puhto and Bella Davis are body-positive influencers.

Meet Sara Puhto and Bella Davis, two extraordinary young women rocking Instagram with uplifting vibes. They love spreading body positivity by sharing their “imperfections” and cheering on fellow ladies to embrace and adore their bodies, no matter what society says.

They’ve stirred up the discussion by saying beach shaving should be a choice, not an obligation.

They recently shared a collage of themselves in swimsuits, proudly displaying their unshaven bikini lines. “It’s your personal choice to shave, wax, or grow your body hair,” the caption said. “There’s no wrong way for your body to look. You don’t owe anyone a smooth, bump-free, hairless body!”

Their post went viral, accumulating over 50K likes and hundreds of comments. However, not all the responses to their body hair-positive message were in agreement with the two influencers.

Their post caused division, drawing both agreement and disagreement from commenters.

Some people were unhappy with the girls’ photos and rushed to write to them about it in the comments:

• “I would never wear a bikini with a full hairy bikini line like this, never, not even if paid. Besides the gender stuff, there are also cultural aspects too. I was born an raised in the country that carries the name of the waxing technique.”
• “It is unhygienic don’t fool yourselves because you don’t want to shave/wax. The rest of you body fine keep your hair on those arms and legs whatever floats your boat but armpit and pubic hair has to go, even if it’s at least once a month.”
• “If you keep it to yourself you should be free of judgment. If you throw it in people’s faces publicly you have no right to be protected from judgement.”

But there were much more grateful and supportive comments:

• “My skin reacts terribly to regular shaving, waxing makes me violent (hurts so much!) and hair removal cream on my nether regions makes me feel like I’ve been sitting on a cactus. Still, I persevere because it’s apparently ‘ladylike to be hair free’. My poor skin! Your posts give me something to think about.”
• “Thank you for doing this! I always think about the fact that, if we are expected to shave those areas, then why does it grow there?”
• “It’s really wild hearing people say body hair in certain parts of your body is unhygienic. Are you all showering and properly bathing regularly, or not?”
• “I really needed this post. Thank you so much for sharing and giving me a confidence boost. I suffer from PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which means my hormones are imbalanced and causes more male hormonal tendencies, a main one being more body hair. Being brunette I’ve found it extra self conscious and have struggled with it since I was 15. Big love to all the women out there living with hormonal imbalances. Sending strength, confidence and comfort your way.”

More and more women are choosing not to remove body hair and proudly showcasing it in photos. Perhaps, in a couple of decades, the trend for smooth armpits will become a thing of the past.