Beauty & the Beat

“[Charlotte] Free knows that women’s hair is a battleground, and she’s fighting for control on all fronts. The photographer Terry Richardson recently posted some photos on his website: close-ups of Free, pink-lipsticked, tongue out, arms in the air and armpits defiantly unshaven. It’s a powerful image. Is it a feminist statement? “Absolutely!” Free says, shocked that I would wonder. “It’s an equal rights thing. It’s ridiculous that women have to shave their armpits and legs every day. I don’t have time. I think it’s asinine that men have this standard that women should be perfectly shaven.” But how can she keep it up in fashion? “I only shave them once in a blue moon for a really big job. I like to keep my body hair. It’s a symbol of how I’m not going to conform to something that’s so ridiculous.”

- Becky Barnicoat (The Guardian)

Philip Joy says: (On the forevertwenteen blog)

March 3, 2012 at 11:06 am - ”Armpit hair is basically too horny for most men who want to domesticate women into little girls.”