It's 2019 and yet women and femmes are still being policed every day for the decisions they make regarding their bodies — including the choice not to shave. You see, although body hair has become more accepted in the last few years, setbacks still occur, like when Nike posted an ad featuring a model with underarm hair and people called it "disgusting." Now, supermodel Emily Ratajkowski is being criticized for showing off her underarm hair in a new shot for the September issue of Harper's Bazaar, and quite frankly, it's infuriating.

The photo in question showcases a breathtaking Em Rata wearing a lacy black bralette, smoky eye makeup, and dangly earrings, with her arms above her head and her underarm fuzz on full display. As for the caption, it quotes a portion of the model's words from the magazine, in which she discusses what it means to be hyper-feminine.

It reads: "Sure, I'm positive that most of my early adventures investigating what it meant to be a girl were heavily influenced by misogynistic culture. Hell, I'm also positive that many of the ways I continue to be "sexy" are heavily influenced by misogyny. But it feels good to me, and it's my damn choice, right? Isn't that what feminism is about — choice?"

It's ironic, and unfortunately so, that Ratajkowski talks about choice here, considering it didn't take long for folks to judge her choice to let her underarm hair fly free. The post has only been up for a few hours and has already garnered backlash. "So to be 'hyper feminine' means to let a bush grow under you arms 👎🏻 sorry but it's just disgusting to me 🤦🏼‍♀️," said one commenter. "Being a feminist doesn't mean leaveing your hygiene behind 🙄," added another. "Simply degusting.. sorry to tell u that."

On the other hand, Ratajkowski has many supporters too. For instance, many fans are sticking up for her with messages like, "To shave or not to shave is a preference and has absolutely nothing to do with hygiene." And "The amount of y'all crying over natural body hair here is truly alarming 🤔," and "😍 THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH BODY HAIR."

Also, let's get one thing straight for the people who don't understand the meaning of hygiene…having armpit hair has nothing to do with one's hygiene. One commenter also pointed out the double standard there as it relates to body hair and gender: "Ok but post a shirtless man lifting his arm and watch all the hateful commenters leaving thirsty comments."

While it's extremely unfortunate that this is the reaction that ensues when a woman simply shows off her body hair, we can only hope that these conversations will eventually lead to more understanding and acceptance. As of now, Ratajkowski has yet to comment on the controversy.

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