Yes, it is completely normal for women to grow armpit hair, and there’s no hygiene rule that says you have to shave it. Underarm hair develops around puberty and can help reduce friction between the arm and body. Keeping it, trimming it, or removing it is a personal choice. The trickier question, at least for me, is why that choice can feel so loaded.
It kind of doesn’t matter what I say in this post, because there are going to be people who form unshakeable opinions about it just from the headline. Some people think armpit hair on women is gross, unhygienic, disgusting, unacceptable. Some people think shaved armpits are a sad symptom of being held in captivity by the patriarchy. Others fall somewhere down the middle, with a “do whatever’s right for you” mentality. I’m a member of the latter group… or, at least, I want to be. My relationship with my body hair is a complicated one.
On the one hand, I can agree that women probably wouldn’t be shaving their armpits smooth every day of their lives if we hadn’t been told time and again that that’s what attractive, reasonable women do.
I can understand the argument that by not taking a stance against certain beauty standards, you’re letting the bad guy win. On the other hand, I like participating in some of the standards, because I like performing femininity.
I want to live in a world where nobody feels compelled (or forced) to follow strict and sometimes oppressive gender guidelines, and I also want to follow the ones that work for my personality and style.
At least at this point in my life, a lot of aspects of traditional femininity resonate with me, and I enjoy the girly rituals of painting my face, spraying stuff on my hair, and shoving my feet into strange objects to make my hairless legs look hot.
I started to enjoy these things even more once I got a better understanding of how gender identity worked, and when I realized that I get to pick and choose which feminine qualities I want to exhibit. I present my girliness consciously, on purpose. That’s why it’s really frustrating that I can’t decide what to do with my pits.
Removing armpit hair is one of my least favorite parts of the beauty routine, but I’d never really considered skipping it until very recently. Would I feel self-conscious in a tank top if I knew black hair could come peeking out?
Would I feel more relaxed and in tune with my natural body if I didn’t have to worry about razor burn or dull blades under my arms every morning? I’m not sure, because I’ve never tried. I’ve shaved that hair away since I was eleven years old.
I don’t even know what it looks like, what it feels like. Maybe I would completely hate going without a shave, or maybe it would feel so right that I’d never look back. Maybe I… should try it.
I still haven’t decided that I’m going to really do it– grow out my underarm hair, I mean– but I’m going to give it a little bit of a shot. I’m going to go four days without touching it, and I’ll reevaluate how I’m feeling after that. If anyone else is interested in embarking on this odd experiment with me (or if you have experience with letting your body hair roam free and you have some advice for me!), don’t hesitate to let me know. This is going to be weird, but I hope I’ll learn enough about myself to make it worthwhile.
Why do people grow out their armpit hair?
Ben Hopper is a London-based photographer who shot a series called “Natural Beauty,” which featured conventionally beautiful female models with exposed armpit hair. The series is jarring and plays off of the deeply ingrained idea that women should be free of all body hair in order to maintain their beauty, and the fact that the body hair doesn’t diminish their attractiveness is supposed to challenge our notions otherwise. It’s quite beautiful and minimal, and overall effective.
I don’t entirely understand our collective revulsion about armpit hair on women, but I admitted earlier this year that I wasn’t entirely immune. It’s a completely internalized prejudice based on an arbitrary standard, and it’s bizarre that someone somewhere decided that women had to remove their body hair in order to be attractive. But it went a step further–it’s not that body hair is unattractive, we’re told that it’s disgusting, unclean, masculine, and horrifying.
That idea is pretty limiting in the grand scheme of things, given that in reality people find a diverse variety of qualities attractive, and not everyone goes for the hairless thing. Hopper himself said that “It can be a beautiful look.” I know people of all genders who are attracted to women who don’t remove every ounce of their body hair, and that spans all sexualities, including straight dudes who’ve been told their whole lives to seek out waxed, hair-free women. The problem with having one beauty norm is that not every person on earth fits that mold or finds that mold attractive, even if they’ve been told they’re supposed to.
Hopper wants to be clear that he’s not taking a stand against hair removal if that’s what you want to do with your body.
“I don’t want to say that I want women to start growing their armpit hair. I just think that it’s a possibility and people shouldn’t dismiss it. I’d like people to just question [beauty standards], the whole thing.”
The key here is that all people should feel entitled to do whatever they choose with their bodies, and that beauty norms are stupid wastes of time that don’t actually serve a purpose. I think these photos are all beautiful (and actually really do fit the beauty norm with the exception of the body hair), and I only wish there were more representations of all forms of natural beauty more widely visible.
Why do we have armpit hair?
Armpit hair typically begins growing during puberty as hormones change. One of its functions is to reduce friction where your upper arm rubs against your body, according to Cleveland Clinic’s guide to underarm anatomy. That doesn’t mean you need to keep it for your underarms to function normally.
How much hair you have, how coarse it is, and how quickly it appears after shaving vary from person to person. Having noticeable underarm hair doesn’t make a woman less feminine, and removing it doesn’t make her more hygienic.
What to expect when growing out your armpit hair
The first few days may feel prickly
Freshly shaved hair has a blunt tip, which can feel rough as it grows. That doesn’t mean shaving made the hair thicker. Mayo Clinic explains that shaving doesn’t change a hair’s thickness, color, or growth rate. The stubbly stage can feel annoying, especially when skin or clothing rubs against it.
Four days might be enough to see how you feel about skipping the razor, but it isn’t a fair test of how longer underarm hair will feel. If you’re curious, try giving it a little more time. There isn’t a universal day when stubble stops being uncomfortable.
You don’t have to go straight from shaving to fully grown hair
You can trim it, let it grow for a few weeks, or shave again whenever you want. If clothing rubs or your skin feels irritated, loose sleeves and gentle washing may be more comfortable. Avoid applying perfume or fragranced oils to irritated underarm skin just to cover a smell.
Will growing armpit hair make you smell or sweat more?
Body odor happens when skin bacteria interact with sweat and other secretions, not because hair itself is dirty. Hair can hold moisture and odor, so some people prefer shaving, while others notice little difference. Having hair doesn’t automatically mean you’re sweating more. Washing your underarms and wearing clean clothes matter regardless of your shaving routine. Cleveland Clinic has a useful explanation of what causes body odor.
Is it okay for women not to shave their armpits?
Absolutely. Armpit hair is normal, and shaving is a grooming preference, not a requirement. There are practical tradeoffs either way. Leaving the hair alone avoids razor nicks and irritation from shaving; removing it may feel cooler or make odor management easier for some people. You can also change your mind with the season, the outfit, or your mood.
If you do shave, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends softening the skin and hair first, using shaving cream or gel, shaving in the direction of hair growth, and replacing blades regularly to reduce irritation.
What growing out armpit hair felt like for other women
The original discussion around this essay included very different experiences. These are personal accounts, not medical advice, and they’re a good reminder that no single grooming routine works for everyone.
“I would second waiting for longer than 4 days, as things will get a lot less prickly after about a week. I grew my leg hair out over winter (not consciously, I was just sick, stressed, and living alone and it slid to the absolute bottom of my priorities list) and it was a horrible slog for the first week or two. After that, the hair tips softened out and I just didn’t notice it anymore.”
“I did this earlier this year for similar reasons! I enjoyed having armpit hair, but once it got very warm out it was kind of (everyone hates this word, but it’s very apt here!)…moist. I think I will grow it out in the fall/winter and shave in the summer going forward.”
“I stopped shaving my armpits about a year ago, at first because I was lazy and also wanted to experiment, and then because it made me feel super-awesome and also more feminine. Now my hair is actually pretty soft and I haven’t felt more sticky through the summer.”
“I’d be happy to try this with you in the winter when I wear sweaters and can decide how I feel about this in private before accidentally showing my armpit hair to people / possibly having to answer questions about it.”
One reader liked having soft underarm hair but felt self-conscious about other people noticing. Another preferred to shave in summer and let it grow in winter. Their experiences don’t settle the argument, but that’s rather the point. It should be possible to wear a tank top with visible hair, shave every morning, or do something in between without turning your armpits into a public referendum on femininity.
