A LIVERPOOL University student has taken the internet by storm this week after challenging taboos on sexuality and gender.
Yasmin Gasimova took to a blog to share photos of her hairy armpits, bushy legs and furry stomach.
The 19-year-old, who is Turkic in origin, doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t have excess body hair.
“As early as 10, boys were making fun of my moustache and I was trying to shave my noticeably hairy stomach,” she wrote in the post.
The computer science major said she made the decision to stop shaving and embrace her body hair when she was just 11 years old.
“Having naturally thick, fast-growing hair meant I’d need to waste an hour just to get prickly dots on my legs, which would grow back in a week,” she said.
“It’s a huge inconvenience for me, as it never made me feel comfortable, gave me loads of ingrown hairs, and my hairless legs wouldn’t match the rest of my hairy body.”
Ms Gasimova explained she stills does some maintenance to her eyebrows and nether regions, but admits this is for practical reasons, not to avoid social suicide.
“If I do shave, which is very, very rare, it’s for absolute necessity,” she said.
“If I’m going on a beach holiday, having swimming lessons, or if I’m trying to pull a one-night stand, I’ll shave.
“I still unfortunately prefer the inconvenience of shaving to the inevitable dirty looks and rejection.”
While her friends and family have grown to accept her decision, Ms Gasimova said it is still far from being socially accepted.
“We often associate hairy women with being lazy, unclean or an extreme feminist-cat-loving-lesbian,” she said.
“I dream of the day I can walk around in the summer in shorts, without being conscious of people judging me.
“It will, however, take many of my sisters joining me and ridding the public of the shock.”
As for women concerned with being hairy and finding a significant other, Ms Gasimova said there is no shortage of guys who find a girl with excess hair sexy.
“I am speaking from experience,” she said.
