Earlier this week, sports bible Nike published a photo of a model in their clothes to its Instagram account – so far, so normal. The model – young, beautiful – gazes into the camera, strong and defiant; again, what’s new? Well, Annahstasia (for it is she) is posed with an arm reaching above her head and resting behind her shoulder. You can see her armpit. Beat. It has hair on it.
While the history of female body hair is much longer than the history of its removal, we’re all familiar with the societal norms which have conspired to make this kind of display nothing less than shocking. Body positive movements, on and off line, have gone some way towards calming us all down about a bit of fuzz, and underwear retailer Aerie used a model with full pits in a campaign last year. Nonetheless, the uproar surrounding this latest foray into female freedom – on both sides of the argument – speaks volumes about how far we have yet to go before female bodies aren’t subject to our collective policing.
Some commentators branded the image ‘disgusting’ and a ‘horrible PR move’; meanwhile, other users fought for Annahstasia’s right to do what she wants with her body (including, um, letting it do its thing) – ‘why is there so much hate? this photo is beautiful on so many different levels✨ love the bra and the model’s confidence✨’ wrote @haile.09. In response to the (maybe) most infuriating genre of comments from men online – variations on a theme of ‘No thanks’, as though the supermodel were propositioning them personally – feminist Instagram largely stood its ground. User @beautybygabbie, for one, broke the discussion down to its simplest terms: ‘Y’all are childish... Why is a woman expected to remove her armpit hair and a man is not’?
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The crux of the debate online hinges on this double standard: we’d be willing to bet that Annahstasia's male detractors, typing valiantly from behind screens across the world, are largely behind on their armpit waxing schedule. Occasions like this one offered by Nike are often the most public and accessible places for these debates to unfold, and — ultimately — for minds to be divested of oppressive and outdated ideas about gender. The online uproar surrounding the picture is testament to the power of similar images to open up much-needed conversations about sex and selfhood. Wherever you stand on body hair, surely debate is healthy. For what it's worth, we’re #TeamAnnahstasia – big mood indeed.