So-called “manly men” with their charmingly ungroomed beards and overall lumberjack-esque qualities are all the rage these days. However, women still can’t catch a break when it comes to ungroomed body hair.

Most men (and, unfortunately, women) find body hair on a woman unattractive. We have been groomed (no pun intended) by society and advertising to believe women need to get rid of all their body hair to be seen or to see themselves as attractive.

There are many culprits to blame for this societal teaching, namely, the porn and beauty industries. The societal practice of shaving for women came about in America after the First World War when clothing became more revealing. Gillette came out with the first razor for women in 1915 and it’s all just history from there.

Body hair on women is seen today as unclean, unkempt and — amazingly — unnatural. Hair removal companies have succeeded in convincing most women that they need to get rid of it. It is about time we join the men of our era and embrace our inner unshaven, lumberjack selves.

Surely, there are women who prefer their legs, underarms, and everything in between hairless, just as there are women who grow body hair in all different manners. Some have dark thick hair while others barely have any at all naturally and as far as grooming all women do that differently as well.

The important factor that needs to be changed is the stigma attached to women having and growing their body hair. Women should be free to shave or not shave their body hair as they wish. There are not really negative consequences of hair removal other than pain and the occasional skin irritation or razor burn, but really we do have body hair for a reason, some of it is more useful to our modern lifestyle than others, but it is all there for a reason.

Women should be free to do what they please when it comes to body hair without pressure from society, porn and advertising. So ladies, get out into the world and bare those untrimmed pits for all to see and, perhaps, envy.