"I'm trolled for my 'gross' body hair but I love my hairy armpits"

A woman who "couldn't be bothered" to shave embraced her furry armpits and feels "liberated" showing them off in a bikini - despite being trolled for her "gross" body hair.<br /><br />Jo Brown, 28, used to shave each time she found her hair growing, before she decided to embrace her natural body hair during the pandemic.<br /><br />Since ditching the razor, Joanna now hardly removes any of her body hair - instead flaunting her natural dark hair under her armpits, along with her bikini line and on her legs in skimpy bikinis and is urging others to do the same.<br /><br />Jo, a nanny, from Colliers Wood, south west London, said: “I got a lot of trolling.<br /><br />"A lot of very mean comments saying it’s gross.<br /><br />“I then, as a rebuttal, came back like ‘screw you all’.<br /><br />“I’m not going to change for them.<br /><br />"It wasn’t even a conscious decision. It was lockdown. It was summer and I couldn’t be bothered to shave.<br /><br />"I feel very proud of my body, very appreciative, I love the way it is, and I love being me."<br /><br />Jo started shaving at the age of 11 - after seeing her older sisters remove their body hair.<br /><br />She said: “I would only really shave as a child because I thought that’s what being a grown up is.<br /><br />"I thought I couldn’t go out without shaving - which is sad really and I wish I hadn’t had cared so much.”<br /><br />Jo ditched the razor during lockdown - when she wasn't going out - and has now found the confidence to leave her natural hair.<br /><br />She is now an advocate from the health benefits which come with ditching the razor.<br /><br />She said: “Shaving is actually really painful.<br /><br />"It can actually cause some nasty rashes and skin problems. It is inconvenient.<br /><br />“Women are removing everything. There’s a lot of pressure which started in the 80s porn industry. <br /><br />"I definitely felt that pressure. I think most women sadly do.<br /><br />“Everyone went from having big bushes to waxing and shaving body hair and since then there has been an increase in UTIs, thrush and bacterial infections.<br /><br />“Ironically, it’s actually much better for your body to not shave.<br /><br />"The hair is there for a reason it wicks the sweat away.<br /><br />"It draws the sweat away, so it actually prevents body odour.”<br /><br />Jo said she now feels liberated by her body hair and happily dons a bikini in summer – showing off her hairy pits and legs with pride.