IMAGINE getting extra credit at uni for not shaving? Yep, that’s right, students at Arizona State University (ASU) in the US are passing their course by letting it all grow out.

The Women and Gender Studies class is run by Professor Breanne Fahs who encourages her female students to stop shaving their underarms and legs for 10 weeks during the semester and to document their experience in a journal.

Student Stephanie Robinson said it was a “life changing experience.”

“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,” Robinson told ASU News .

Professor Fahs said it's a great lesson about the social issues around gender roles.

“There’s no better way to learn about societal norms than to violate them and see how people react,” said Fahs. “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.”

Male students were also able to participate however Fahs believes it’s not quite the same as it is for females with “manscaping” more accepted in society. For the extra credits, the male students were made to shave all their body hair from the neck down.

“One guy did his shaving with a buck knife,” Fahs said, commenting on the macho element when it comes to males.

Surprised by the positive feedback, Fahs idea has spread to other universities and given some students the confidence to challenge social norms.

Jaqueline Gonzalez credits the body hair project with helping to shape her into the activist she is today. “The experience helped me better understand how pervasive gendered socialisation is in our culture,” Gonzalez said.

As the Director of the Center for Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group at ASU, Fahs has been active in women’s issues with her research focused on themes of women’s sexuality, critical body studies, radical feminism and feminist histories, and social movements and political socialisation.