Social media model beats arm hair shamers to the punch: 'Get. Over. It.'

Photo: Twitter/NASTYG4L
Photo: Twitter/NASTYG4L

Body hair is one thing humans have in common. But somehow, when it comes to women and arm (or leg, armpit, bikini line) hair, people seem to forget that fact.

Tayset Kenton, a musician and Instagram personality, posted two photos from a casual outdoor photoshoot to Twitter. In one of the pictures, she strikes a “putting my hair behind my ear” pose, which means her dark arm hair is on display underneath her shredded T-shirt. Beating the trolls to the punch, she decided to call out the body hair herself.

“I’m gonna get so much s*** for my arm in the first pic lol. It’s 2017 & ya mcm doesn’t know girls are born w/ hair on their bodies. He’s 27,” Tayset wrote. “It’s either people telling me to shave or ppl telling me they didn’t even notice the hair & i’m just attention seeking lmao. can’t win.”

She follows it up with details about the shaming she’s had to endure for the simple, human fact that she has arm hair. “Now that I pointed it out, they’re saying that I pointed it out for attention and that it wasn’t noticeable otherwise. Twitter will be Twitter,” she wrote.

Tayset tells Yahoo Beauty that she has been bullied since she was very young because she has her arm hair. “I knew that if I posted that picture with no caption, someone would say something about my arm, so I decided to point it out myself instead,” she says. “I love my hair and I find it ridiculous that people think it’s something that I should get removed.”

The photo has gotten thousands of likes and retweets, with more than 90 people writing in to support or disagree with Tayset’s statements. “ur stunning sis don’t worry about them,” one admirer wrote. “Girl you a peach, embrace your fuzz!” another cheered. Others wrote in about their own arm hair, saying that they’ve covered it up out of shame.

All the responses, regardless of whether they’re for or against arm hair, are just reminders that having body hair is somehow seen as up for debate. As Tayset herself acknowledges, women are under unfair scrutiny when it comes to hairiness. Men? Apparently they just get to sit back and judge.

Tayset explains that her body hair philosophy is “just to Get. Over. It.” Hair is something we all have, she says. “It’s something to be embraced not looked down on.”

Despite the drama, Tayset is still keeping her positive attitude. She capped her comments to haters with some kind words: “I honestly just have a whole lot of love in my heart for everyone. even if you’re rude to me i still wish you the best.”

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