Image: JD Hancock Last August I took part in the great PCOS fundraiser Armpits4August to raise money for Verity. A charitable continuity of the hair inspired fundraiser Movember, in which men impress their friends and family with their ability (or lack of) to grow a moustache in order to raise money for research into prostate cancer. When I embarked on Armpits4August I didn't know it would be such a life changer. Because I didn't know I felt the way I did about body hair.
I wrote about the process inXOJane.co.uk I don't think I realised truly how I felt about armpit hair. If I might quote myself writing last August (yes I can): "My armpit hair started to grow when I was about 11 and, thinking it unsuitable for a child of my age to display signs of puberty I used my mum's razor, I've never seen these kittens get beyond a cm. Since then shaving my armpits and legs regularly has seemed like no big deal to me, apart from that screeching rite of passage - the severe ankle nick...Will my armpit hair be soft and springy, coarse and wiry or disappointingly stunted?"
I sincerely had no clue what my armpit hair was going to look like, if it would cause my BO levels to rocket, not that I would ever do anything so unladylike as to sweat, but sometimes I glow really hard. Of all the things I did expect I did not think it would be so slow to get going. Considering the day after shaving I tend to have stubble I thought my hair roots would be fecund and rise to the Armpits4August challenge like a pro. Much to myrecorded disappointment they did not.
They were not and for the majority of August I had very little to show for my sponsors. I got approached by a women's magazine to write about how I and my boyfriend were coping with my armpit hair growth. "I don't have a boyfriend but I can still write about me and my armpits..." I said. I omitted to mention I couldn't even get any of my friends to pretend to be my boyfriend. There it was, a magazine wanted me to freak show myself in print and I couldn't get anyone to pose with me. Was this the pits? Yeah - kind of. The magazine did not get back to me.
I sincerely had no clue what my armpit hair was going to look like, if it would cause my BO levels to rocket, not that I would ever do anything so unladylike as to sweat, but sometimes I glow really hard. Of all the things I did expect I did not think it would be so slow to get going. Considering the day after shaving I tend to have stubble I thought my hair roots would be fecund and rise to the Armpits4August challenge like a pro. Much to myrecorded disappointment they did not.
They were not and for the majority of August I had very little to show for my sponsors. I got approached by a women's magazine to write about how I and my boyfriend were coping with my armpit hair growth. "I don't have a boyfriend but I can still write about me and my armpits..." I said. I omitted to mention I couldn't even get any of my friends to pretend to be my boyfriend. There it was, a magazine wanted me to freak show myself in print and I couldn't get anyone to pose with me. Was this the pits? Yeah - kind of. The magazine did not get back to me.
| It wasn't until the end of August the hair got going and, having tried to nurture those pit wookies for so long it seems that, come September, to shave them would be churlish. "I'll do it next week" I thought week after week. Until I had very well established hairy pits. Proper, noticeable, these are deliberate hairy armpits. | I'm looking forward to seeing a hairy model in a family newspaper. |
Nobody doused me in water/alcohol to try to cleanse my hirsute lack of hygiene. Nobody seemed to care. And so in March I gave in. I shaved. After I had done it I thought my armpits looked wrong. Odd. Kind of chicken skinnish. I didn't shave again until last month. The PVC feeling of a shaven armpit makes me feel uncomfortable and yet I have continued to shave.
This Armpits4August season a Sun Page 3 model is taking part. On her Just Giving page Nicole Neal says "I'm actually quite nervous about not shaving my armpits for a while as normally it's something that I do everyday." Nicole will be keeping a diary of her armpit hair growth in the paper, I'm looking forward to seeing a hairy model in a family newspaper.
Will this start a hair put trend, will certain Snog Marry Avoid participants demonstrate their desire for Page 3 fame by lifting their arms to reveal luxuriant dyed pink hair? I hope so.
Of course I should conclude in admitting I am not taking part this year. Quite why it should take me so long to get together a Just Giving page and stop my shaving routine I don't know. What can I say? August, rather like armpit hair nowadays, crept up on me this year.
Squeamish Kate
This Armpits4August season a Sun Page 3 model is taking part. On her Just Giving page Nicole Neal says "I'm actually quite nervous about not shaving my armpits for a while as normally it's something that I do everyday." Nicole will be keeping a diary of her armpit hair growth in the paper, I'm looking forward to seeing a hairy model in a family newspaper.
Will this start a hair put trend, will certain Snog Marry Avoid participants demonstrate their desire for Page 3 fame by lifting their arms to reveal luxuriant dyed pink hair? I hope so.
Of course I should conclude in admitting I am not taking part this year. Quite why it should take me so long to get together a Just Giving page and stop my shaving routine I don't know. What can I say? August, rather like armpit hair nowadays, crept up on me this year.
Squeamish Kate
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