Female beauty standards put a lot of pressure on women's appearance. At 13 years old, 53% of American girls say they are dissatisfied with their bodies. By the time they're 17, the number grows to 78%. Body hair is a big source of shame for many women, as hairlessness gets associated with femininity.
But some women are trying to end that stigma. Claudia du Lievre is one of them, as she decided to document her mustache-growing journey on TikTok. Unsurprisingly, people have mixed reactions. Some are championing her project and calling for "body hair summer." Others are borderline repulsed: "Not my cup of tea."
Bored Panda got in touch with Claudia and she kindly agreed to have a chat with us about what inspired her to grow her 'stache' and how she's been dealing with people's reactions so far. Read our conversation below!
More info: Instagram | Photography
A woman decided to document her body hair journey online to challenge female beauty standards
Image credits: freepik (not the actual image)
She is embracing her facial hair and growing out her mustache
Image credits: cdulievre
Image credits: cdulievre
Image credits: cdulievre
Image credits: cdulievre
Image credits: cdulievre
"I don't think it makes me look like a man any more than before," Claudia claims
Claudia feels the pressures of beauty standards, too: "I'm not suggesting fully natural is the way"
Claudia tells Bored Panda that her moustache project wasn't consciously planned. It all came about when she came back from a week vacation in Greece and decided to stop grooming.
"I thought before removing it I'm gonna post something about it to be controversial and create engagement," she says. "Joke [is] on me because most people loved it. So, I thought, before I remove it, I'll track the growth of it and see what it looks like at full growth."
At the same time, Claudia admits she feels pressured by beauty standards. "I wear foundation to even my skin, I put a teeth whitening filter on TikTok. I shamelessly do Botox and fillers, I photoshop my pictures on Instagram, and I have rather extreme body dysmorphia," the content creator is honest.
"The truth about body hair is that in armpits and bikini area they don't bother me," she goes on. "They bother me on my legs so I remove them. I'm not [making] a statement to suggest to anyone that fully natural is the way. And the truth about my whiskers is that, if I take a step back and look at it, I do think it's actually kinda cute."
Image credits: freepik (not the actual image)
However, she says the whiskers have given her even more confidence
As far as Claudia's concerned, the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. She says it's the first time a mostly female audience engaged with her content. "All the girlies loved it, many said they want to start doing the same, guys loved it too."
"The hate was just completely drowning under the love and any person leaving a hateful comment or even expressing that they simply don't like it would get attacked by an army of people defending me," Claudia says.
She focuses on the support. People have been thanking her for opening their eyes, especially teenage girls with darker facial hair. "I have been using my hairy armpits for years for engagement so I'm used to mean comments and I always knew what it meant.
"People are triggered and insecure, and upset that they find me pretty but they don't see me doing the things they want me to do to maximize my stereotypically feminine self."
"So it's easy for me to take the hate as a compliment. But all this love I received I'm still processing it. It's very new and I'm so happy about it," Claudia gushes.
"Have you ever bleached or shaved your head and noticed a change about people's behavior towards you?," she asks. "Well, the whiskers is this times a thousand."
"I think people still find me conventionally pretty and they notice my facial hair, and they understand it's a conscious choice not to remove it, so, they assume I must have an insane amount of self-confidence, and it makes them more interested in me."
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection (not the actual image)
Society perceives body and facial hair as masculine
Modern beauty standards would have you believe that women don't have body or facial hair. Or, if they do, that it's minimal and almost unnoticeable.
But studies show that almost half of all women will grow facial hair in their lifetime. Hirsutism, a condition where excessive body hair appears in a male pattern in women, affects between 5% and 10% of women.
So, if facial hair is that common, why are women conditioned to be so ashamed of it? For one, our society associates body hair with masculinity. And looking like a man certainly doesn't adhere to female beauty standards.
Historically, women with excessive facial hair have been othered. Take P.T. Barnum's bearded lady Annie Jones, who was deemed a "circus freak" due to her hirsutism.
Women who grow out their hair elsewhere on their bodies, like their armpits, legs, and the pubic region, are rebels as well. To let your body do its natural thing – grow hair – is thus seen as an act of rebellion.
Image credits: billiebodybrand (not the actual image)
Even talking about facial hair removal for women is taboo
We accept that men grow beards and mustaches, and shaving is just a normal, everyday thing. Yet it's different for women. As dermatologist Dr. Zainab Laftah explained to Refinery29, even talking about hair removal is taboo amongst women.
"Removing facial hair is not a topic of open discussion. It's almost a shameful secret that is kept behind closed doors, but openness around this topic will help break down the stigma surrounding it," she believes.
What's more, most women are not ready to stop removing their facial hair. Women and gender studies professor and author of "Unshaved: Resistance and Removal in Women's Body Hair Politic" Breanne Fahs found that women will rebel by growing out their armpit or leg hair, but not shaving their facial hair is often seen as too much.
According to a 2006 British study, a woman will spend 104 minutes per week managing her facial hair. More than half of the participants of that study also said they constantly check their facial hair in mirrors or by touching it.
However, there's nothing wrong with wanting to remove your facial hair. Sure, growing it out can be empowering, but some women might simply not be ready, as 75% of women in the 2006 study claimed facial hair sometimes gives them clinical levels of anxiety.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual image)
People had mixed reactions: some cheered, others asked, "Why?"
