More and more, women in western culture are expected to be completely hairless creatures, and many go to great lengths to defuzz their legs, arms underarms, backs, faces, bikini area.

But slowly, some women are starting to hit back, refusing to shave or wax and leaving their bodies as is — 'imperfect, hair and all'.

Arm hair, in particular, is a feature that makes many women self-conscious, so Allure magazine asked six women to proudly show off their arm hair in a series of pretty portraits and share their feelings about hair removal.

Proud: Several women, including Ayqa Khan, 22, posed for Allure.com with their arms — hair and all — front and center

Wax on: The women discuss their experiences with their arm hair, with most saying they'd removed it at some point (left: Ayqa Khan, right: Sam Escobar)

Standards: Sam Escobar, 28, said arm hair has always been a point of self-consciousness but slammed society, which 'thinks of masculinity as being associated with hair'

The site actually asked seven women to pose, yet one of them has noticeably bare arms — but she said it hasn't always been that way.

Nicole Dellert, 32, said she was teased a lot while growing up because 'I'm really hairy all over' — and that was not the ideal look when she was growing up in the '90s and '00s.

Nicole blamed her genetic makeup — 75 per cent Mexican, one-eighth German, and one-eighth Italian — for her hairiness, and said people would always notice her arms when she would go into a room.

So finally, after graduating from college, she shaved them.

And while some women have spoken out about societal pressures regarding hair removal, Nicole feels good about her decision to shave, noting: 'I think it would be more disempowering for me not to shave them just because there's some movement that I feel forced to be a part of.'

Changing: Paige Viti, 25, aid she was self-conscious of her arm hair, too, but has noticed a movement in recent years of people being encouraged not to think of their differences as flaws

'People can think arm hair is "manly" or putting you outside the category of how a woman should look, but I think that I'm going to embrace it,' she said

Ladies: Hannah Choi, 25, complained that pressure for hair removal is specific to women

Issues: However, she said her perception of women's bodies was more affected by going to private school, where girls were told to cover up

The other women profiled have felt self-conscious, too, but still have their arm hair and have come to either tolerate it or embrace it.

Ayqa Khan, 22, is American and South Asian, and said removing hair is part of both of those cultures. Her mother emphasized those beauty ideals, too, and had her 'constantly removing my body hair' once she hit her teens.

In fact, she said, her whole family was critical of it.

'They associate hairiness with dirtiness. They also associate it with masculinity,' she said.

Now, she wears her arm hair as-is, though she feels conflicted about it since it's not considered 'conventionally attractive'. She has 'definitely felt like s*** a lot' by letting the hair grow, but has decided to focus on 'self-empowerment,' even if it's not easy.

Puberty: Amber Venerable, 34, pointed to societal pressure as the reason she briefly shaved her arms in middle school

Never mind! She did it when she was 13 or 14 but ultimately decided it was dumb

Early signs: Cristal Veras, 26, said she first tried to remove body hair when she was seven or eight — but has now given up on it completely

'I think we just need to stop judging each other and telling each other what's right and what's beautiful and the way we should live, the way we should look,' she said

Sam Escobar, 28, is Allure's Digital Deputy Director — and has made headlines in the past for essays in which she said she doesn't identify as either male or female.

Sam said arm hair has always been a point of self-consciousness, dating back to the time she asked a classmate to dance and he rejected her because her arms were too hairy.

After that, she started shaving her arms, and did so for the next 15 years. Finally, though, she grew exhausted of shaving all together and just stop.

'The older I got, the less I cared,' Sam said.

'And then I think partially coming out as genderqueer helped, because I feel like it validated some of the ways that society views gender constructs: They think of masculinity as being associated with hair, and they think of femininity as being associated with being hairless.'

Bullying: Nicole Dellert, 32, said she was teased a lot while growing up because 'I'm really hairy all over'

She continues to shave, explaining: 'I think it would be more disempowering for me not to shave them just because there's some movement that I feel forced to be a part of'

Paige Viti, 25, said she was self-conscious of her arm hair, too, but has noticed a movement in recent years of people being encouraged not to think of their differences as flaws.

'People can think arm hair is "manly" or putting you outside the category of how a woman should look, but I think that I'm going to embrace it,' she said.

Hannah Choi, 25, complained that pressure for hair removal is specific to women, while Amber Venerable, 34, also pointed to societal pressure as the reason she briefly shaved her arms in middle school.

Cristal Veras, 26, said she first tried to remove body hair when she was seven or eight — but has now given up on it completely.

'I think we just need to stop judging each other and telling each other what's right and what's beautiful and the way we should live, the way we should look, because everyone's different,' she said.