Photography by Marisse Caine.

“Once I hit puberty and started to grow hair, my Mum just handed me a razor and said shave,” says Deborah Emmanuel, a writer, performer, and musician.

For show business veteran Audrey Lim, body hair was something that was simply never spoken about. She goes on to tell me a story of her junior college classmate who was mocked for her armpit hair during a swim PE class. That classmate was never seen again after the first 3 months.

This is nothing new. Hairlessness has been a hallmark of feminine beauty for a very long time.

Encyclopedia of Hair argues that ancient Egypt’s Cleopatra was the first person to set the modern beauty standard of going completely hairless. During the days of the Roman empire, hair removal signified both cleanliness and class—but only for women. Later on in 1915, Harper’s Bazaar told us, “The fastidious woman to-day must have immaculate underarms if she is to be unembarrassed.”

And today, we have the quintessential Nivea ad.

Despite all this, more women are starting to make their own choices when it comes to shaving: legs, armpits, and pubes all included.

Yet, it’s still controversial for them to sport armpit hair.

For many women, the reality is that choosing whether to shave is never an aesthetic decision. Rather, they are choosing between whether or not they will be liked; whether or not they will be perceived as attractive; whether or not they will be judged as self-respecting.