More young women are now embracing their body hair, according to new figures.
London-based market research firm Mintel found that the number of young women aged between 18 and 24 removing their underarm hair fell from 84% in 2014 to 77% in 2016.
In the same period, the number of young women aged between 18 and 24 removing their leg hair dropped from 91% to 85%. A similar pattern emerged among women aged between 25 and 44, the Daily Mail reports.
Mintel's Roshida Khanom suggested the trend could be partly attributed to "a number of campaigns encouraging people to embrace the au naturel look." Her colleague Jack Duckett told the Daily Mail that these campaigns have been "reinforced by images of a number of celebrities who have appeared with body hair, which has been considered controversial in the past."
In March, Paris Jackson posted a perfect response when she was criticised for showing her underarm hair in an Instagram post. "I love hair, and sweat, and BO," the model, actress and daughter of Michael Jackson wrote. "I fucking love it, 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."
Sadly, Mintel's research also found that 83% of people aged 16 to 24 believe there is still too much pressure to remove or groom your body hair. In 2017, this is clearly a sad and unacceptable state of affairs. It's your body hair, and you can do precisely as you please with it. If you don't want to remove it, that's cool – but if you do, that's cool too. Just don't ever feel as though you have to. And either way, these women shattering the stigma surrounding body hair are definitely worth celebrating.