Leema Interview - English

PROJECT WWHA: What’s the first time you remember noticing your own arm hair? How did it come up?

LEEMA: The first time I became aware of my arm hair, I was around 12 years old. One of my Aunts used to shave her arms and suggested I do the same too. This was pretty much the norm if you came from a South Indian background so I didn’t think much of it and quite liked the smooth feel of my arms after it had been done. What I hated was the stubble growth after and was always self conscious in case anyone accidentally rubbed past me and felt it too. That’s when I was encouraged by my aunt to epilate instead but I found that whole process way too painful so stuck to shaving instead..

PROJECT WWHA: What emotions did you work through when you first found challenges around your arm or body hair?

LEEMA: We grew up in a predominantly white area in England and my sisters and I were pretty much the only Asians at our school. I was fortunate however to never have anyone comment about my body hair but I became more aware of it by the age of 16. That’s when I started to get electrolysis on my upper lip which was incredibly painful and I still have a little scar as a reminder. To this day that burning smell and tea tree oil takes me back and sends shivers down my spine!

PROJECT WWHA: Did you ever, and how long if at all, did you remove your arm hair?

LEEMA: By the time I went to Medical school in London, every single Asian girl there went to great lengths to remove all body hair. I followed suit and started to bleach all the hair on my face and tried every single form of hair removal including sonar, threading, waxing, light therapy and finally laser. The bleaching was ridiculous as I would literally have blond hairs decorating my dark skin and in hindsight made it look so much worse. I was teased by a couple of immature boys and naturally it got me down. This fueled my need to fork out vast amounts of money and spend hours on hair removal methods. I felt ugly and ashamed. I became insecure as my confidence took a huge knock.

PROJECT WWHA: What changed for you when you decided to let your arm hair be?

LEEMA: My arm hair started to become slightly less of an issue as over the years, waxing eventually reduced the hair growth to a more manageable amount. I only stopped waxing just as the pandemic hit 2.5 years ago. I wasn’t going out as much so I let the hairs grow. I also noticed that my 5 year old daughter who is of dual heritage with light skin started to have darker hairs on her arms and legs. Her cousin a year older and of a similar colouring had got upset when a child innocently pointed out the hairs on her leg at school one day.

That’s when I decided to broach the subject with my daughter and put a very positive spin on it, saying how lucky she was as her hair would always keep her warm. I encouraged her to tell people she was proud of it if anyone should ever point it out and from that day on made a promise that I would stop waxing my arms and embrace it too. I now love how soft it feels and my daughter loves hers too.

PROJECT WWHA: What prompted writing a children’s book about arm and body hair?

LEEMA: Shortly after I was inspired to write a children’s book about it as I felt if I’d have had that resource as a child, I wouldn’t have seen it in such a negative light. I also wanted to create something for children growing up to read and have fun with. I want them to welcome just how different all our bodies are and that that really is something to sing and dance about!

PROJECT WWHA: How do you think that most young women in the next decade will feel about their arm or body hair?

LEEMA: Over the next decade I hope that having hairy arms won’t be such a stigma. I think it’s great that celebrities like Penelope Cruz and Mo’nique flaunt their beautiful arm and leg hairs for the world to see just how normal it should be. I pray girls will feel the need to conform less although the negative side of social media and what some see as the ‘ideal body’ does still scare me. 

PROJECT WWHA: How is Project WWHA doing at normalizing arm hair? What could we do better?

 LEEMA: That’s where Project WWHA is doing a pivotal job of portraying women with hairy arms in such a gorgeous light. I am not aware of any other resources that specifically speak to arm hair empowerment.

PROJECT WWHA: What did seeing other women with arm hair on Project WWHA do for you? Did you show it to anyone else?

LEEMA: I showed the pictures to my sisters who were blown away by them. We could all have done with this when we were growing up and the world is lucky that you are taking on this positive mission. Thank you.

Kevelly Interview - Español

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Cómo te afecta el vello del brazo?

KEVELLY: He sufrido mucho con todo o prejuicio, pero hoy también me amo y creo que mis brazos son hermosos.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Cuál es la primera vez que recuerda haber notado el vello en su propio brazo?

KEVELLY: Hace mucho tiempo atrás.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué emociones sentiste cuando notaste por primera vez el vello en tu propio brazo?

KEVELLY: lo encontré tan lindo

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Cuánto tiempo te has afeitado el vello de los brazos?

KEVELLY: Nunca disparé.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué cambió para ti cuando te quitaste el vello de los brazos?

KEVELLY: Todos somos hermosos y nuestros brazos son hermosos. Esto debe mostrarse.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué ha hecho por ti ver a otras mujeres con vello en los brazos en Project WWHA?

KEVELLY: Creo que es genial y deberíamos mostrar más.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué consejo le darías a las mujeres jóvenes que solo notan el vello en sus brazos y se sienten diferentes?

KEVELLY: Entonces, incluso en este mundo preconcebido, no somos muy bonitas, nuestro cabello es encantador.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Por qué decidiste participar en este proyecto como modelo?

KEVELLY: para que mas personas se amem

Selena Interview - English

PROJECT WWHA: How does your arm hair affect you?

SELENA: It used to make me feel insecure, but not anymore. I don’t think about it much anymore.

PROJECT WWHA: What’s the first time you remember noticing your own arm hair?

SELENA: Probably in my early years, around 10 or 11

PROJECT WWHA: What did you feel when you first noticed your own arm hair?

SELENA: I don’t think I judged it until I was 16 and I watched my fellow peers removing it

PROJECT WWHA: How long if at all, did you remove your arm hair?

SELENA: Many, many years! Probably till I was about 30 

PROJECT WWHA: What changed for you when you let your arm hair be?

SELENA: I just remember having an inner tantrum within myself not wanting to keep doing something that didn’t feel right, so I just stopped one day. 

PROJECT WWHA: What did seeing other women with arm hair on Project WWHA do for you?

SELENA: It was refreshing! I was also shocked to see all the different ways in which arm hair can show up on women. 

PROJECT WWHA: What advice do you have for young women who are just noticing their arm hair and are feeling different?

 SELENA: I think they should embrace it, and remember that our natural bodies are beautiful, unique and perfect as they are.

PROJECT WWHA: Thank you for being a part of our project!

Ennis Interview - Español

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Cómo te afecta el vello de tu brazo?

ENNIS: ¿Debería afectarme de alguna forma mi vello corporal en los brazos? Quizá la única respuesta a eso es la poca empatía que tienen muchas personas. A lo largo de mi vida, he escuchado comentarios muy fuera de lugar, que pues, creciendo afectan el autoestima, y quizá muchos de esos comentarios fueron asquerosos o de personas que deberían enseñarme a apreciarme sin importar mis características. Mi vello corporal no me afecta en nada porque no debería afectar en nada a nadie. Es mío, y yo decido sobre todo lo que es mío.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Cuál es la primera vez que recuerda haber notado el vello de su propio brazo?

ENNIS: Mi mamá me dijo que cuando nací parecía un monito, creci con mi vello corporal de alguna forma, pero no lo recuerdo. Quizá cuando los chicos enpiezan a fijarse en tí, o las personas que dicen ser tus amigos o familiares comienzan a señalarte por tener vello, esos dias fueron cuando note mi vello corporal, que yo no tenía piel lisa, ¿fue agradable? No, ¿a qué niña de 7, 8 u 10 o no se, a cualquier edad, le gustaría que la hagan sentir fea solo por tener algo diferente?

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué emociones sintió cuando notó por primera vez el vello de su propio brazo?

ENNIS: Señalada, cuando las personas comenzaron a decirme sobre mi vello corporal y su disgusto hacía eso yo no sabía si llorar, correr o pedir que me quitarán mi piel. Era una niña, una niña muy pequeña que siempre fue muy prominente en su vello corporal, la forma en que algo de mi no era bueno para los demás, hace que juegues en contra de ti misma.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas eliminado el vello de tu brazo?

ENNIS: La primera vez que me depile mis piernas fue para mí fiesta de 15 años. Me depile algunas veces mis brazos, pero me sentía extraña. Realmente es un proceso extraño, no me depilo las piernas a menos que sea algo importante, pero tampoco las exhibo, he pasado por muchas cosas que hacen de mi una contradicción, simplemente mi vello está ahí, y ya. ¿Me depile mucho tiempo? No, ¿pase por varios procesos de depilación? Si, pues es obvio que quería gustarle a las personas, pero hoy en día, soy esto y me gusta esto que soy.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué cambió para ti cuando dejaste que el pelo de tu brazo fuera?

ENNIS: Realmente no me deje mi vello corporal porque yo decidí hacerlo, para mí es muy tedioso estar quitándome el vello, si me depilo con cera a los 10 días ya tengo vello creciendo, si me rasuro al día siguiente ya veo puntitos de crecimiento, así que solo me depilaba cuando usaba shorts, faldas, vestidos o iba a la playa o piscina, lo cual no hago mucho, he tenido un crecimiento muy difícil, me han apuñalado en el autoestima por tantas cosas que hoy en día se quién soy y soy como soy por toda la mierda que me ha tocado vivir, y mi vello corporal no me avergüenza.

PROJECT WWHA: Vaya, esa es una declaración muy poderosa, ¿puede explicar más?

ENNIS: He aprendido que es parte de mi, que la gente muchas veces es una gran mierda que no sabe tener respeto a los demás, y pues, vivo todos los días en un proceso de aceptación, porque no tengo autoestima, pero se que soy una reina, me lo digo todos los días frente al espejo, mi vello corporal ha estado ahí mucho tiempo, y no lo tenía que notar porque es solo vello corporal, no tengo que tener un antes y un después de "depilarme" no debo, y aún así lo tengo. No es una señal de empoderamiento, no es nada porque es solo vello corporal, he entendido que es mío, y si yo puedo verlo y decirme "eres una reina" no importa cuando tiempo estuvo o no.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué hizo por ti ver a otras mujeres con vello en los brazos en el Proyecto WWHA?

ENNIS: Yo no sabía de la existencia de este proyecto, cuando me contactaron y vi un poco de todo lo que es, fue tranquilizador, porque pueden existir más niñas como lo fui yo, niñas que no tendrán que pasar por ese proceso feo de no saber que querer o que ser o que sentir, que hay muchas mujeres así, que todas somos hermosas, que tengas o no tengas vello, eres hermosa y que es solo una característica que te hace única. Me sentí muy aliviada de que hay alguien preocupandose por algo más que el prototipo creado de lo que debe ser una mujer.

PROJECT WWHA: ¿Qué consejo les daría a las mujeres jóvenes que simplemente notan el vello de sus brazos y se sienten diferentes?

ENNIS: Tu cuerpo con cicatrices, con vello, con manchas, con granos o como sea que sea, es tuya. Tu decides sobre el, que eres libre, que no escuches comentarios que realmente no significan nada. Es más valioso ver el arte que eres como mujer que sentir esa tristeza por no ser como la chica que viste por ahí. A veces es difícil entenderlo, mucho, pero es un proceso, que habrá días en que odies con toda tu fuerza como te vez, pero habrá días en que admires lo tan tú qué eres. No te impida usar ciertas prendas de ropa porque tienes vello u otra cosa, y si escuchas algo feo de como te vez, resulta que deberías estar feliz, eres una bomba que llama la atención y quizá eso es lo que la gente teme, que somos un poco más de lo que muchos quieren que seamos, mujeres reales que saben amar a mujeres reales.

PROJECT WWHA: Gracias Ennis!!!

Ennis Interview - English

Lea la versión en español aquí.

PROJECT WWHA: How does your arm hair affect you?

ENNIS: Perhaps the only answer to that is how little emphatic many people are. Throughout my life, I have heard comments that are very out of place, which, well, growing up affect self-esteem, and perhaps many of those comments were disgusting or from people who should teach me to appreciate myself regardless of my characteristics. My body hair doesn't affect me at all because it shouldn't affect anyone at all. It is mine, and I decide over everything what is mine.

PROJECT WWHA: What’s the first time you remember noticing your own arm hair?

ENNIS: My mom told me that when I was born I looked like a monkey, I grew with my body hair in some way, but I don't remember it. Maybe when the boys start to look at you, or the people who claim to be your friends or family begin to point you out for having hair, those days were when I noticed my body hair, that I did not have smooth skin, was it nice? No, what girl of 7, 8 or 10 or I don't know, at any age, would like to be made to feel ugly just for having something different?

PROJECT WWHA: What did you feel when you first noticed your own arm hair?

ENNIS: Noted, when people started telling me about my body hair and their disgust about it, I didn't know whether to cry, run or ask to have my skin removed. It was a girl, a very little girl who was always very prominent in her body hair, the way something about me was not good for others, it makes you play against yourself.

PROJECT WWHA: How long have you removed your arm hair?

ENNIS: The first time I waxed my legs was for my 15-year party. I waxed my arms a few times, but it felt strange. It really is a strange process, I do not shave my legs unless it is something important, but I do not show them either, I have gone through many things that make me a contradiction, my hair is simply there, and that's it. Do I wax for a long time? No, did I go through several hair removal processes? Yes, well it is obvious that people wanted to like me, but today, I am this and I like this that I am.

PROJECT WWHA: What changed for you when you let your arm hair be?

ENNIS: I really did not leave my body hair because I decided to do it, for me it is very tedious to be removing my hair, if I wax after 10 days I already have hair growing in, if I shave the next day I already see stubble, so I only waxed when I wore shorts, skirts, dresses or went to the beach or pool, which I don't do much. I have had a very difficult time growing up; I have been stabbed in my self-esteem for so many things but today I know who I am and I am the way because of all the shit that I have had to live with, and my body hair does not embarrass me.

PROJECT WWHA: Wow that is a very powerful statement.

ENNIS: I have learned that it is part of me, that people are many times a great shit that don’t know how to respect others, and well, I live every day in a process of acceptance, because I do not have self-esteem, but I know that I am a queen , I tell myself every day in front of the mirror, my body hair has been there a long time, and I did not have to notice it because it is only body hair, I do not have to have a before and after "waxing" I should not, and still so I have it. It is not a sign of empowerment, it is nothing because it is only body hair, I have understood that it is mine, and if I can see it and say "you are a queen" it does not matter how long it was or not.

PROJECT WWHA: What did seeing other women with arm hair on Project WWHA do for you?

ENNIS: I did not know about the existence of this project, when they contacted me and I saw a little of everything that it is and it was reassuring, because there may be more girls like I was, girls who will not have to go through that ugly process of not knowing what to want or what to be or what to feel, that there are many women like that, that we are all beautiful, whether or not you have hair, you are beautiful and that is just a characteristic that makes you unique. I was very relieved that there is someone caring about something other than the created prototype of what a woman should be like.

PROJECT WWHA: What advice do you have for young women who are just noticing their arm hair and are feeling different?

ENNIS: Your body with scars, hair, spots, pimples or whatever, is yours. You decide on it, that you are free, that you do not listen to comments that really do not mean anything. It is more valuable to see the art that you are as a woman than to feel that sadness for not being like the girl you saw out there. Sometimes it is difficult to understand it, a lot, but it is a process, that there will be days when you hate with all your might as you see yourself, but there will be days when you admire how you are. Do not prevent you from wearing certain clothes because you have hair or something else, and if you hear something ugly about how you look, it turns out that you should be happy, you are a bomb that draws attention and perhaps that is what people fear, that we are a little more than many want us to be, real women who know how to love real women.

PROJECT WWHA: Thank you Ennis!!!

Human Contours

The human body is among the most complex biological systems in nature; its appearance, its function, its variation, its adaptation, all the subject of extensive ongoing academic study.  And so, the average person lacks understanding of its capabilities, maintenance and limitations, contributing to world-wide poor health both physically and mentally; poor physically with preventable conditions like obesity and poor mentally with widespread lack of self-confidence and optimal self-care. Even here in the developed world, the lack of simple, unadulterated self-love runs rampant. 

A key to transforming that poverty however is lying under our nose, and some of us have it figured out; it is a realization, a connection of cause and effect relating to the biological system that is our body, our entire physical "self".  I'll call this realization the “aha” moment.  The "aha" moment happens when a person makes the connection between what you do to your body and how you feel about your body and how your health is. With the key in hand, this knowledge having been transferred, it is evident that the practise of self-love and self-care matters down to the smallest hair on your body.  

When you begin to truly care about your body you find out what your body needs to be properly and optimally fuelled, and you put it in. You find out what the most beneficial foods are for your personal situation, and you invite them into your life to the exclusion of others, for the sake of good health and optimal function of that biological system, your body.

When you begin to truly care about your body you find out how it needs to move and how it should not move and you keep doing what it needs and stop doing what it shouldn't do.  You put in the work to motivate certain areas of your biological system for improved strength and performance, or to get your goals accomplished.  Contrast that with those who do not truly care about their bodies and have expectations that they can live any lifestyle they choose, augmented with pills to force or trick the biological system into doing something unnatural.

When you truly love your body, the decision to wear red or white only matters if you think you’ll spill wine on yourself and, you will be simultaneously informed about how much wine to drink and with whom. When you can connect the cause-and-effect of all body-talk inside your head you can start to break down former comparisons that used to define your concept of beauty and actually love yourself down to each individual, tiny little hair. 

Hair, the innocent bystander that it is on most places around the human body, has a bad reputation in conversation and has become in recent years, something that some people dislike about themselves. Until the "aha" moment happens, hair is that one natural human trait that can sometimes be found alongside words such as imperfection, flaw, bad, unwanted, or worse; ugly. Enter the "aha" moment, and a person can finally draw connections to words such as integral, complex, suitable, natural, needed, or even beautiful. 

The "aha" moment brings people a choice, a real choice, a choice without loss, a free choice, and from that choice self-confidence and love for our bodies flow through acknowledgement of their uniqueness and astonishment of their wonder. Our bodies, with variations in the bones, the skin, the musculature and the hair exist in billions of forms and make each and every person on earth completely unique, completely lovable. Complete in its natural form and needing of nothing more or nothing less when at optimal self love, self care and health, and where beauty flows as a self-evident truth instead of a judgement or comparison. For me, that is where the feeling of completeness, happiness and satisfaction endures.

For Project #WWHA, Human Contours is my expression of just a small fraction of the wonder and beauty that is the human body.  Human Contours explores the body’s intricacies, musculature and minutiae… down to the smallest hair.  

See the full presentation gallery here, at the Human Contours project page.
 

Diversity

Written and photographed by Chris Pieneman
Clothing supplied and styled by Emma Barrette and Alex Backa: Purple Hippo Vintage
Makeup and hairstyling by Maureen Posadas

The 1960's were a time of great change in western society but also a time during which many standards formed that still endure today more than 50 years later. Of course I'm speaking of standards that have bearing on body image. 

During this time, media now had the opportunity to reach everyone and influence purchasing habits across vast areas through the growing audiences who would see advertisements. Photographs were starting to replace a predominantly drawing-oriented advertisement landscape in print media, and televisions also became more ubiquitous.

The producers at the time had no knowledge however of the long-lasting effects on body image that their casting choices would have. Little did they know that with each model they photographed and put into their advertisements they would be setting events in motion to continue a similar hiring trend for another half-century. I need not explain more than asking you what you might expect to see if you did a search for "1965 fashion ad". 

Imagine, what those 1960s ads might have looked like if the producers at the time knew that their photographs would be playing into, in a formative manner , the body image of women for generations to come.

I imagine the photographs might look a little different.  

... In fact I created my own. 

Read our full Purple Hippo Vintage fashion feature here

A Fresh New Take

Written and photographed by Chris Pieneman
Clothing designed and hand-made by Natasha Sakhuja
Makeup and hairstyling by Brittney Kennedy and Alana Wagner

Growing up I always hated the hair on my arms and my legs. Having English ethnic heritage, its no surprise that like many, I am light-skinned and fair-haired. I hated my body hair not because it was there, but because as a male, I didn't think it was manly enough. Not long enough. Not dark enough. Not thick enough. 

I can remember as early as 10 years old, that felt I was "less than" my hairier classmates with French, Greek or Scottish blood, be they male or female.

Through my childhood and burgeoning awareness of and attraction to the opposite sex, I became aware of the female point of view on body hair which had a similar effect, yet with an opposing set of ideals; for women - or more accurately, for young women, body hair can be an issue with limbs being all sorts of things that don't equate with the social construct of "woman". Not smooth enough. Not silky enough. Not clean enough. Not pretty enough. 

Today, there is a growing number of people challenging that social construct, for both women and for men, and as they do, the ideals that were set long ago which create those "not enoughs" inside our minds are starting to fall apart. 

But it wasn't always that way.

As I developed the ability to succinctly discuss the subject with others by around 18 years of age, I began to find the female experience of being "less than" having body hair far more abundant among women than my experience was among men.  I even had a first date with a girl who "Naired" her arms just for me thinking I was a "certain type" of guy, fearing my disgust at the natural sight of her.

Knowing this feeling inside of myself had created in me the desire to act. 

The fact of the matter is that we have become disconnected from our natural selves, so much so that we berate ourselves for normal, natural things.  When you stop to look at it, the body produces hair in complex and symmetrically evolving patterns just like those observed elsewhere in nature that we might actually exclaim out loud as beautiful, such as clouds, ripples in sand, the crystalline structure of a snowflake or the stripes on a tiger. But utter the word "beautiful" in respect of hair on a woman and you'll be labelled weird, gross or a fetishist. 

Not this time.

In fact, not any more at all. 

#WWHA effects real change in the world on the subject of body hair. Through the#WWHA project, we can start to chip away at the social conditioning that has people look at their own healthy bodies in negative ways and give them the choice to actually love and respect themselves just as they are, in the spirit of As|UR.

The project continues every day and now involves several photographers active in Mexico, Brazil, the United States, and me in Toronto and wherever I happen to travel.  I am thankful I have the support of people from literally every corner of the earth, who have been involved in this journey for years through its development. 

I've published some photos from one of my most extravagant and impactful successes both on the #WWHA homepage and in As|UR's article base. In 2015, I was fortunate to work with a Toronto designer, Natasha Sakhuja, to create a high-fashion modelling experience for a group of women who each has had an experience similar but opposite to my own with respect to their forearm hair. The results of that shoot are shared below, and testimony from each of the models can be found on As|UR's YouTube channel. 

Thank you to the models, the designer and the supporters for being a part of this project, and here is to many more to come. 

Markana is wearing a two-piece sequin embroidered gown with fringe skirt detail. This gown is from Sakhuja’s  “The Three Thirsts” collection that explores the three cravings in Buddhism: For Existence, for Non-existence, and for Sense Pleasures.

Joa is wearing a white chiffon gown with black organza back and metal zipper detail. This gown is from Sakhuja's debut collection "... and it tasted like bitter almonds.

Tiffani is wearing an embroidered white cotton silk and chiffon princess gown. This gown is from Sakhuja's  “The Three Thirsts” Collection.

Andrea is wearing a python bodice print gown with organza skirt. This piece is from Sakhuja's "The 5 stages of Grief" Collection.

Rose is wearing an embroidered white silk gown with cross back detail.  This gown is from Sakhuja's  “The Three Thirsts” Collection.