Body Image w/Swathi Nair

“My brother thinks my armpit hair is gross,” says Nupur Saraswat,22. Based in Singapore, Nupur is originally from Bengaluru. Initially, the choice to keep body hair dawned on her as a realisation. “I was pleasantly surprised that the choice was mine- to shave or not to shave. This was a couple of years back. Since then, it stopped being something I grew to make a point, or to further my feminist beliefs, or even to inspire others,” she says. So why does she choose to keep her body hair? “Because I can,” says the fierce feminist who is also a performance poet. Her body hair is always a topic of discussion on dates. “Some have tried to barter it away with all sorts of favours,” she says. One partner once asked her:
“If I take the trash out today, will you shave?”

Nupur adds that the reason she stands her ground is because she is an advocate of complete control and right over ones own body even in romantic relationships. “I don’t believe that what my genitals look like should be according to the aesthetic preference of my partner,” she says.
Body hair has stopped being a “statement” and just been a way of life for Nupur. She identifies the need to shave body hair to have stemmed from a class struggle. “It is a Eurocentric behaviour stemming from the need of milky white satin smooth skin. And what is hilarious is that even in 2017, some of the hair removal products are sold with the exact same slogan,” she adds.

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