We all have the right to do whatever we want with our own body hair, and whether we choose to shave it all off or let it grow, we shouldn't be judged or criticised for our decision. That's the message one body positive influencer on social media is trying to get across to people - even though people have told her "femininity is dead" because she doesn't shave her arms.
Spencer Barbosa chooses to shave her legs and armpits but doesn't bother with other parts of her body, leaving some critics to claim she isn't doing enough to look "attractive for men", the Daily Star reports. But the influencer says that she isn't trying to impress anyone with her natural body, and instead just wants to feel comfortable in her own skin for herself - and wants others to feel the same way.
WARNING: The below video contains explicit language.
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The 19-year-old content creator posted a video on TikTok responding to a woman who had commented on another video Spencer had made in which she showed off her arm hair. In the clip, the woman said: "Feminity is dead. This whole movement ... girls just don't want to look attractive for men anymore."
And Spencer - who posts under the username @spencer.barbosa - replied to say it's "not acceptable" to criticise someone for what they do with their own body.
She explained: "Girls don't want to be attractive for men? Hi, I'm the really hairy 'gross' girl in the first video. Let me just say, I don't get into TikTok drama but that p***ed me off.
"I love men, I think men are amazing but I can promise you I don't look attractive for men - it is for me. Also being 'feminine' doesn't mean being hairless.
"Also, the world is not going to explode and die, you will be ok. The world isn't a sad place just because a 19-year-old girl has decided her natural body hair is beautiful, and it's ok.
"I don't hate shaving, I shave my armpits and I shave my legs and I do it for me because I want to shave it because it's my body. I would never tell you what to do with your body."
Spencer went on to say that while she now spreads positivity on social media to inspire others to feel comfortable in their own skin, she wasn't always confident in herself.
She added: "I started this TikTok account when I was 17 in high school because I woke up every single day and I felt ugly. I didn't look ugly, but I felt ugly because the media had 'brainwashed' me into thinking my body hair is disgusting. So I decided to start this safe space on the internet where women could feel beautiful and empowered the way that they are.
"You don't have to look a certain way. I can tell you when I started this account, I didn't expect another girl to be mad about the fact I want women to feel beautiful."
And at the end of the clip, the influencer urged the woman who criticised her to embrace her body and be happy in her own skin, and encouraged others to do the same - whether that means shaving or not.
"In conclusion, I wasn't trying to get your panties in a knot because I think that I'm hot and that my arm hair is sexy," she noted, "to the girl in the video, I think you’re absolutely beautiful and I think that you should do whatever you want with your body, and if shaving every single square inch of your body and having no hair on your body works for you then that's what works for you.
"But it's not what works for me."
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