Hairy armpits - liberating or gross?

[SausageCrush]

As I'm unable to go swimming at the moment I haven't bothered/been able to keep up with many of my usual beauty/maintenance routines.

For the first time in my life I now sport long underarm hair and am quite fascinated by it! It's very unfashionable in England, but I like it. What are your experiences..?

I'm tempted to keep it and wondering wha

I have not shaved an inch of my body in nearly a year. I'm blonde and the hair is dark blonde, not nearly as bushy as I would have liked.

Yeah, you get looks sometimes, but it's about how confident you feel in yourself. I think attitudes towards body hair needs changing. There are too many people who sneer at women who choose to go au naturale. It causes more hairsuite women than my self to think they are somehow less womanly, and tie themselves in knots trying to purge it.

A friend of mine with a middle eastern background gets the most awful reaction to shaving and wax, and cant afford laser. She does her best to remove it but is extremely distressed and refuses to go out if it is showing through. I wish I could get through to her that she is beautiful whether or not she is hairy.

I've shaved my armpits every day for 38yrs. I've not bothered since lockdown, first time ever. The hairs that have grown over the weeks are no longer than the hairs on my forearms and are really fine, I'm very surprised!

It's just hair. Stopped shaving 30 years ago. Never looked back. Funny how it's mainly women's body hair that is problematic.

Gross - it traps the sweat and no matter how much deodorant is used, the smell is pungent.
Even if I dont shave anywhere else on my body my pits are the one thing I have to maintain. Same goes for my DH (I really think all men should too though!)

If you wash your pits daily, preferably with soap, and use an effective antiperspirant deodorant you should not smell, hair or not.

Not gross, why would it be? I only tend to shave mine if it's hot and I'm wearing something sleeveless, and only then because of societal pressure. I quite like having matching pits 'n bits fluff.

KitKatKit how bloody rude, you may be a smelly person but I'm not. A wash and some antiperspirant works just the same whether I'm hairy or shaved.

If you maintain proper hygiene then it’s not going to be gross. I strongly suspect that the people who find body hair gross are the ones that don’t shower daily or don’t use proper soap. I don’t regularly remove body hair but I do sometimes remove arm pit/leg hair during summer because I find that I get a bit hot otherwise. Especially my legs (not even that hairy but then again that may be the issue because I get hot patches on the bits where the hair is while the rest of my leg feels cold).

I don't shave my armpits and people do like to comment. I've had people recoil, screw up their noses, tell me I don't "look the type", shudder and say eewwwww.

Social conditioning is strong.

I think people’s arm pit stubble from shaving looks worse than hair.

@KitKatKit are you sure that you don’t just have a really sensitive nose? I don’t smell most people unless my face is basically in their arm pit.

Men and women have hair on the legs, under arms, pubic area for a reason. Its only in more modern times women have removed it from pretty mich all places but their head......some men too!

Personally, if a woman wants to have hairy armpits or legs it's up to her. No one has the right to say its disgusting or tell someone not to do it. That said we all have tastes and preferences and as a man its not something I would like, in the same way some women like men with facial hair and others hate it. Its just preference. My wife often goes for weeks without shaving her legs or armpits its not my favourite but not my place to tell her to shave either.

I'm not bothered either way. I've reduced mine with lumea, some remains and I shave it off when I can be arsed.

Out of interest, for those who say it makes them smell, do you prefer any male partner to shave theirs off too? Or does it only matter when women smell?

Don’t shave my armpits or any other part of my body, well, apart from my head occasionally. The reason I don’t smell is because I practice good personal hygiene and use antiperspirant.

Hair is just hair, it’s perfectly natural and I don’t see why I should waste my time shaving it off just because other people think I should.

Up to you! I don’t care either way. I’ve had girlfriends who prefer not to shave, and ones who do. I fancied the pants off them either way and would never have thought to try to influence them one way or another...

I wouldn't say it's gross but I don't like the look or the feel of it.

It's not liberating though, it's just hair.

And I’ e never noticed it making anyone smell more - that’s down to personal hygiene...

I think it's ok not to shave your body if that's what you prefer. I shave my armpits everyday, and it's been a long time since I've had underarm hair. I don't shave my legs that often, as the hair grows very slowly.

It doesn’t bother me at all on other people, as long as they don’t stink!

I prefer to shave as I get sweaty/stinky pretty quickly if I’m hairy under my arms.

But it’s your choice! It’s ridiculous that people are disgusted by a bit of female body hair.

Out of interest, for those who say it makes them smell, do you prefer any male partner to shave theirs off too? Or does it only matter when women smell?

I don't want to be close to anyone who smells. If that means practicing better hygiene or shaving, it doesn't matter what sex they are.

I find I’m sweatier and smellier without hair, plus the stubble and the itching... I haven’t shaved my pits for about 6 years now and couldn’t go back to it

It's just social conditioning. I shave mine but DH doesn't have his. Neither of us smell because we both wash and use deodorant.

*have =shave

For those thinking it's gross - get a grip! It's not a healthy attitude to find a natural part of your body repellant

Keep yourself clean and it's no issue. Neither liberating nor gross, just being an adult.

If you like to shave then do so, if you don,t then don,t. Don,t judge others who like to do it different to you. It,s not disgusting it,s part of our bodies.

Neither liberating or gross. It’s not something I wish to have as I prefer the smooth look but that’s personal preference.