Model Rain Dove Posts Inspirational Message About Body Hair

While celebrities like Kiersey Clemons and Paris Jackson have been outspoken about their choices to not shave their armpit or leg hair, it's clear that we still have a long way to go before people fully accept the fact that we all know to be true: body hair is natural, and no one should be shamed for having it.

Model Rain Dove is the latest to speak out against the beauty standard in a video posted to her Instagram on Wednesday. In the short clip, Rain is seen shaving her body in the bathroom — legs, underarms, and all.

"When people tell you that your body hair isn't feminine, and that you have to get rid of it to be beautiful, here's what's to remember: We may feel that if we don't follow social constructs, that we're going to end up alone," she says in the voiceover. "But there are 7.4 billion people on the planet, and odds are in your favor that someone will love you for you...Whether you're fuzzy or hairless, you shouldn't feel ugly for it. This isn't about beauty — it's about freedom."

In the post's caption, Rain writes that womenfemales in particular "are taught from a young age that their hair is disgusting. Not of their identity. Not pleasant for others. Something to be ashamed of and removed." As the video progresses, Rain starts to apply a glue stick over her chin and upper lip, before applying the shaved strands of hair to her face in the shape of a beard and mustache. "If you think this beard is a statement about masculinity, it's not. Beards can be feminine, too."

"The fact that we exist at all is a pure miracle. It’s complex and incredible," Rain wrote in the caption. "What it takes for the hair to exist on your body, should you have it, is a wonderful maze of science that requires a perfect combination of occurrences. Your hair is there to protect You from the suns rays, the environment, and even bacteria that clings to the body by bringing it farther from your skin. It’s functional. A part of your mechanics." She goes on to say that the choice to remove body hair is entirely subjective, and closes with a final, powerful statement: "Because hair or not, ugly is a feeling not an aesthetic. No amount of shaving or waxing will ever create true beauty."

Commenters were quick to support Rain’sher empowering message, leaving responses ranging from, "Yes to this!" to one user who added, "We should stop obsessing about about how we look and start LIVING and LOVING and accepting our human natural beauty through all the ways that it expresses itself."

"I remember being a lot younger and watching moderately horrified as my armpit hair and upper lip 'stache came into full bloom," Rain told Teen Vogue. "I was called 'ugly' or 'mannish,' and spent a lot of my childhood isolated from my peers, nose deep in a book because of that. I personally don’t believe in the words 'masculine' or 'feminine.' For some, the binary is a comfort, or even a truth. Hopefully one day soon, we can find a balance between people's personal definitions for themselves and the world around them... and creating a limitless space for all beings to exist without being shackled by someone else’s language."

Commenters were quick to support Rain’sher empowering message, leaving responses ranging from, "Yes to this! 👌" to one user who added, "We should stop obsessing about about how we look and start LIVING and LOVING and accepting our human natural beauty through all the ways that it expresses itself ❤."

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