If you spend enough time on social media, it soon becomes obvious that some people are very easily angered by very strange things. And, so far in 2018, the hot topic for people to be irrationally ticked off about is women having armpit hair.

You know, that hair that naturally grows in your armpits? The hair that everyone - regardless of gender - starts sprouting during that awkward teenage part of life? Yeah, some folks are seriously mad about it.

So, when Bella Thorne rocked the natural look while on holiday in Hawaii last week, some fans just couldn't keep their mouths shut about what was going on with her underarms.

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Dressed in a red Filthy Fang bikini (her own fashion line), the 20-year-old looked happy and laid-back as she posed for a picture while leaning against a rock with her arms above her head. In doing so, she exposed her armpit hair.

Now, if this was a guy doing this, the internet would probably have nothing to say on the matter. However, as Thorne is a woman, she's apparently expected to follow some unwritten rule that every part of her body must be smooth and hairless at all times.

And so, a wave of hate poured in:

"Someone needs to hold her down and shave her frigging armpits. Absolutely disgusting," wrote Instagram user, @bmarley0420.

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However, supporters of the armpit hair movement (which should maybe just be called the "being happy with your natural body and not caring about what internet trolls say movement") weren't just going to let these sorts of comments go without a rebuttal.

"Its more than okay to walk around with hairy armpits-it's natural, body hair is natural," said one Twitter user. "Go on somewhere with your 'every woman must be shaved to perfection' closeminded, mentality."

"If we took pictures of every male celebrity who went out with armpit hair, the internet would consist entirely of man pit pictures. Leave women alone. We’ll be hairy if we want to be goddamn hairy," wrote another.

And others commented to let the actress know how much she'd inspired them to be happy with their bodies: "I just want you to know how much your confidence rubs up on me," wrote one Insta user. "Be who you are, and that’s how I feel you are which made me learn to love me for who I am."

Of course, Thorne isn't the first woman to get hate for having body hair. At the end of last year, Gigi Hadid was put on blast for showing her natural pits during a campaign with LOVE Magazine; but, once again, people came to her defence:

"For all of you women commenting rude words and hating on this: You are missing the main point of this campaign.

"While you’re thinking ‘shame on Gigi for not shaving her armpits and letting me see them on Instagram (omg I won’t sleep tonite)’ you should really feel ashamed of yourself for showing us yet again that unity and unconditional love and support between each other is far from happening until there are these social boundaries that really exist nowhere but in your minds."

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Thorne might be getting a lot of hate at the moment, but at the least she knows that she's got millions of people on her side to back her up. There's literally nothing gross or wrong about armpit hair, and the sooner we realise that, the sooner we can stop body-shaming people for, well, having bodies.

Female armpit hair is, unfortunately, a subject of much controversy.

In the not so distant past, it was pretty much expected to be perfectly shaven at all times. However, an increasing number of women are shunning this outdated, patriarchal ideal and doing what they should have always done with their body hair: whatever they want.

Last year, Women in the World reported that one in four millennial women no longer shave their armpit hair.

Now, the latest woman to publicly ditch her razor is 24-year-old singer Halsey, who appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone with - gasp - a little armpit hair showing. Thankfully, the majority of her fans have been absolutely loving her au natural look.

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"No photoshopped armpits! Hell yes!" wrote one fan.

"I wish my stubbly armpits looked that hot," added a second.

"Why do I love the fact that she has regular armpits," commented a third.

"I love how they didn't photoshop your armpits, it makes me so happy," said a fourth.

But unfortunately, not all reactions to Halsey's unshaven pits were positive.

"Why are girls not shaving their bits? I'm confused," wrote one social media user.

"Why the armpit hair," questioned a second.

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"The hairy armpits are a bit much. But you're still gorgeous!" added a third.

"I thought you were a millionaire just buy some wax," said a fourth.

The haters, however, were soon rebuked by armpit hair defenders.

"Have you guys ever seen a woman?" questioned one user. "Our armpits are not all smooth and it's something normal!"

"This is literally what it looks like after 2 days of not shaving the armpits for us ladies with dark body hair. Some of y'all act like she has been growing it out for weeks," wrote a second.

"I love the armpit hair so much. Disappointed by the people in the comments telling her to shave or 'letting her know it's there.' She knows it's there, her photographers do too. Conscious liberation," remarked a third.

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The 24-year-old's armpit hair wasn't the only point of controversy the cover prompted either. She was also accused of deliberately darkening her skin and by extension cultural appropriation.

"Cultural appropriation at its best,"

"Someone tell her that she's not black,"

"So she wants to look 'completely natural' by showing hair in her armpits but still spent thousands [of dollars]  getting that UNNATURAL tan,"

In a 2017 interview with Playboy, Halsey said that she is biracial, with Yahoo reporting that her father is African American and her mother is Caucasian.

"I'm white passing. I've accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that's not mine. I'm proud to be in a biracial family, I'm proud of who I am, and I'm proud of my hair," she said.

"I look like a white girl, but I don't feel like one. I'm a black woman."

There's no doubt that Ashley Graham is one of the world's best-known advocates for body positivity.

Ever since she joined Instagram, the supermodel has been a tireless advocate for self-love and self-care and has been doing her level best to try and convince her fans to appreciate their size, shape, or weight.

Ashley recently flaunted her post-partum body in this video: 

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But now Ashley has seen fit to tackle another double standard and social stigma: female body hair.

This week the 32-year-old Graham took to Instagram to share a series of candid personal snapshots with her 11.5 million Instagram, the last of which included a nude selfie in which Graham could be seen proudly displaying her patch of armpit hair.

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Graham captioned her post: "Perfect bday with my boys (and if you didn’t vote yet, get out there tomorrow folks!!) [sic]"

Suffice it to say, a number of Graham's fans were clearly impressed with her display of body hair, and took to the comments section of the post to share their feelings on it:

For instance, one Instagram user wrote: "Love how you're rocking that under arm hair girl! We're all human, people need to stop expecting us to live up to a standard. [sic]"

Meanwhile, someone else chimed in: "Yesssss!!!!! Part of the women with long armpit hair crewwww! [sic]"

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In a 2019 conference hosted by Create & Cultivate, Graham opened up about her views on the importance of body positivity, stating:

"It’s really all about getting through the hurdles and building up your confidence, no matter what you’re doing.” It doesn’t matter what size or shape you are, you can be healthy."

"My mom told me my body was going to change someone’s life. And here we are, with so many different women saying, ‘I am represented.’” Your body is yours. Nobody else has ownership over it. This is truly your own journey.

"It’s not just about our size. It’s about our mind, our heart, our emotions. We get so wrapped up in this size conversation."

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However, even Ashley sometimes experiences backlash over her own representation, and she recently came under fire for describing herself as a "big girl" in a social media post.

An influencer from the United Kingdom has been praised after she uploaded an unedited video proudly displaying her body hair.

We're in 2023, and it seems as though some people still need to hear this PSA: Women have body hair.

It can be thin, thick, straight or coarse, either way, every woman has it.

Lydi AKA @lydi.hairy on TikTok, is best known for her raw content around body hair with the hopes that it will help destigmatize the idea for a lot of people.

Her posts range from what she describes as "thirst traps", all the way to life hacks and important discussions surrounding women's bodies.

A video from earlier this year has recently attracted a lot of attention - 1.2 million viewers' worth of attention if I might add - for its realness.

Titled "Sea Swim in the UK", Lydi took her followers on a little morning swim wearing an orange bikini that had her natural body hair peeking through.

Not only did the influencer show off her armpit hair, which she had been growing out for a while, but she also proudly flaunted her hair down there in a solid act of defiance against society's beauty standards for women.

Upon seeing the video, thousands took to the comment section to leave their thoughts.

Some people were seemingly disapproving of the look - why? Your guess is as good as mine.

"No Choubaka," commented one butt-hurt user to which Lydi had the best response.

"Chewbacca** at least get ur references right mate," she replied.

"Why u showing it of?", another questioned.

A third user - who has probably never seen a naked woman in their lives before - commented: "Can we bring back hygienic woman."

And this user offered Lydi an unprovoked "tip" writing: "You should shave just a tip."

How about no?

Others also referred to seeing the body hair as a "jump scare."

Credit: TikTok

Credit: TikTok

Credit: TikTok

Credit: TikTok

Credit: TikTok

Thankfully though, there were lots of supportive people in the comment section too.

"It’s literally natural what’s with all these comments?? Like if a man does it no one questions it. It’s refreshing to see," commented one user, while another added: "Guys it’s her life don’t make a big deal about it."

"I love accounts and people like this are [who] live how they want without falling into the pressure of how a 'woman should look,'" this TikToker commended.

And this person also praised Lydi for her bravery, writing: "I am in total awe of you being brave enough to bear your hair with pride. I’ve been growing out my leg and pit hair but I’m not yet brave enough..."

Credit: TikTok

Credit: TikTokThankfully, the negativity hasn't stopped the influencer from posting similar content as in a recent video, Lydi wore the same bikini during yet another swim but this time at an indoor pool showing off her "bikini body."

"Now this... this is a bikini body," the sound playing behind the clip said as she climbed out of the pool.

We have no choice but to stan!

Featured Image Credit: LeoPatrizi/Getty

It's an unfortunate by-product of the world that we live in, but even those who have won the genetic lottery still feel the pressure to live up to unattainable ideals. Case in point - bona fide goddess, and one of the most successful models out there right now - Gigi Hadid.

The 23-year-old recently opened up about her struggles with body confidence while serving on a panel alongside Kendall Jenner and plus-size models, Ashley Graham and Paloma Elsesser at the Vogue Forces of Fashion event last week.

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Despite being one of the most recognisable - and beautiful - faces on the planet, Gigi Hadid still can't escape the unsolicited comments of body-shaming trolls. After spending years in the industry, however, she now knows how to filter out hate like a pro.

"I loved my body when I was curvier," she said when speaking on the panel, alongside two of her fellow models. "Then, as I lost [the weight], people were still mean."

"Yeah, I know I'm skinny. I'm looking in the mirror. I'm trying to eat burgers and do squats. I want an a**, too," she continued. "I get it. I got it. Thank you!"
Graham went onto divulge that she too attracts similar online criticism. "People feel that they have ownership over your body in society today, and I think that it's ridiculous, because you don't — my body is mine," she asserted. "I work out because I want to stay healthy, and if I happen to gain 10 pounds or lose 10 pounds, it's nobody's business."

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This is not the first time that the model has spoken about her journey with body positivity, and all the changes that her physique has undergone in recent years.

Back in April, after Hadid was repeatedly shamed on social media for being "too skinny", she clapped back, revealing that she had recently been diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease which requires her to eat healthier and work out more.

"When I started at 17 I was not yet diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease; those of you who called me 'too big for the industry' were seeing inflammation and water retention due to that," the wrote on Twitter. "Over the last few years I’ve been properly medicated to help symptoms ... I have always eaten the same, my body just handles it differently now that my health is better."

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"I will not further explain the way my body looks, just as anyone, with a body type that doesn't suit ur “beauty” expectation, shouldn't have to. Not to judge others, but drugs are not my thing, stop putting me in that box just because u don't understand the way my body has matured," she continued.

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And in a subsequent interview with Harper's Bazaar - conducted by Blake Lively - Hadid stated that she has always been proud of her body, especially when she was told she was "too big" for the industry.

"I’m not skinny because I gave in to the industry. When I had a more athletic figure, I was proud of my body because I was an amazing volleyball player and horseback rider," she said. "But after discovering that I have Hashimoto’s, I needed to eat healthy and work out. It was weird as a teenager, dealing with this when all of my friends could eat McDonald’s and it wouldn’t affect them."

"If I could choose, I would have my ass back and I would have the tits I had a few years ago. But, honestly, we can’t look back with regret. I loved my body then, and I love my body now."

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The model summed it all up, however, when she concluded: "Three years from now you will look back at a picture from this time period and be like: 'Wow, I was so hot. Why did I feel so bad about myself because of some stupid thing someone said?'"

Amen to that.