Rachel McAdams has made headlines by displaying her grown-out underarm hair in a shoot for Bustle Magazine - a move that’s caused something of a furore on the internet. Twitter threads are raging, the pictures have been rolled out through Instagram feeds worldwide, all because that underarm area isn't bald. This begs one question. Why, in 2023, is a women’s armpit hair still making news?
Appearing in Bustle Magazine, The Notebook and Mean Girls star was photographed kicking back on a plush red sofa. Styled in a lace-lined jumpsuit, jewels and a just-bitten, blush-toned lip, the actress was the embodiment of old Hollywood glamour. The least interesting thing about shot? Rachel’s unshaven armpits. It is reported that Rachel requested these pictures remain ‘minimally edited’ – a move that has been described as ‘bold’ and 'daring' across social media.
Blazing headlines on the Mail Online read, ‘Rachel McAdams, 44, poses with her armpits showing,’ and ‘Rachel McAdams proudly displays armpit hair,' while tabloid comment sections at large were littered with both scorn and praise - once again, proving women, their bodies and what they choose to do with them remain a divisive topic of discussion.
'This is my body, and I think that’s so important to reflect back out to the world,' Rachel told Bustle. 'It’s okay to look your best and work at it and be healthy, but that’s different for everyone.'
Of course, Rachel is far from being the first celebrity to go against societal norms. In the past we’ve looked to stars like Sophia Loren, Grace Jones and Madonna, who have all refused to bow down to this indelibly ingrained expectation that women's armpits be hairless. And let's not forget Julia Roberts' milestone moment, the star's wave at the premier of Notting Hill in 1999 that revealed her underarm hair growth. The disgust and revulsion that moment conjured up worldwide was marked, the sentiment? How could a woman be so neglectful of her personal grooming? In 2023, fourteen years on, we (wrongly) assumed that we were past such attitudes. It appears that there's still a lot to learn.
A reminder, then, that what women choose to do with their body hair is a fine example of a ‘you do you' scenario. If you want to remove armpit hair - or hair from anywhere else on your body for that matter - do it. And if you want to embrace your hair? Do that too. There's liberation in choice. And maybe, just maybe, when the ruckus dies down, Rachel's Bustle photoshoot will prove itself as another crucial step towards normalising women and their body hair.
Main image credit: Mark Seliger for Bustle