University offers female students extra credit for not shaving their armpits

Gender studies professor encourages class to challenge social norms on appearance

Students say they were shocked by reaction from family and friends

Female students at an Arizona university have been offered the chance to earn extra credit by not shaving their armpit hair for a whole semester.



The unconventional offer was made by women and gender studies professor Breanne Fahs as a way to get her students to challenge social norms.



Male students on the Arizona State University course are also able to apply for extra credit, but to qualify they have to shave all their hair from the neck down.



Course challenge: Students, from left, Kurt Keller, Emily Dysart, KC Lindley, and Grace Scale show off their new looks on the gender studies course

Fahs, who is director of the Center for Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality, encourages her students to document their experiences in a journal for the 10-week semester.



Social experiment: Professor Fahs offers female students extra credit for not shaving their armpits

She said the social experiment helps students analyze society's attitude to genders, with female students facing ridicule for having hairy armpits, and the men gaining insight into how much pressure is put on women to stay hair free.

'There’s no better way to learn about societal norms than to violate them and see how people react,' Fahs told ASU News.



'There’s really no reason why the choice to shave, or not, should be a big deal. But it is, as the students tend to find out quickly.'

Many of the students who have taken the hairy path to extra credit described it as a life-changing experience, and said they were shocked at the reaction from their partners, friends and family.



' Many of my friends didn’t want to work out next to me or hear about the assignment, and my mother was distraught at the idea that I would be getting married in a white dress with armpit hair,' Stephanie Robinson said.



She had refused to take part in the experiment on two previous occasions, but finally joined in during her third class with Fahs.



Another student, Grace Scale, said some of the strongest reactions she had were from male friends.



'One of my dearest friends - at the time - compared my underarm hair to "the sludge in the bottom of the garbage can",' she said.

Fahs said the number of students taking part is often governed by whether a majority decided to join the challenge.



'It's interesting how peer pressure within the class can create a new norm. When practically all of the students are participating, they develop a sense of community and enjoy engaging in an act of rebellion together,' she said.

The professor noted that the reactions from men appeared to be the biggest stumbling block for the male students as well as the female ones.



While the women in her class often worried about the reaction from their boyfriends, the men were also concerned about how male friends would perceive them.

