Rachel McAdams has made headlines over the past few weeks when she decided to keep her Bustle cover shoot images as natural as possible, which meant including her armpit hair.
McAdams shoot was to promote her latest film offering, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”.
It seems the public had mixed reactions to her attempt at normalising the human body, but it sparked a great conversation about what society deems acceptable in terms of beauty standards for women.
Armpit hair is on brand for Rachel McAdams
Although this is the most recent, this isn’t the first time that McAdams pushes the boundaries against what’s acceptable.
Back in 2018, a mere 6 months after having a baby, she did a promotional shoot for her film “Disobedience” for Girls. Girls. Girls. Magazine. She was fully glammed up, donning Versace and Bulgari diamonds, oh, and her statement piece: a breast pump.
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At the time, she was breastfeeding and needed to express milk for her son between shots, which spontaneously inspired this particular shot.
Mixed reactions
The public, as always, is highly critical of public figures. And this is particularly true when it comes to women pushing beauty standard boundaries.
It’s also particularly interesting to note the number of women bashing other women publicly.
Jaci Stephen from the Daily Mail wrote a piece entitled, “No, Rachel McAdams, it’s NOT normal for us gals to have bushy armpits. Give us razors, tweezers and – yes! – shears to hack it all off… because hairy women just aren’t attractive.”
It’s as if aspiring to be attractive was the main objective in our lives. And even if attraction was a question, attractive to whom? Are we still subjecting ourselves to the male gaze?
To counter that, there are also multiple European countries where society embraces women’s naturally occurring hair in the armpit region.
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McAdams for Bustle Magazine
McAdams told Bustle, “I love that juxtaposition of beauty, glam, fantasy, and then truth.”
I find it admirable that McAdams continues to use her platform to spark conversations about what it looks like to be a woman and mother in 2023, especially in Hollywood (which should really have been called Silicone Valley) is known for portraying an unrealistic image of beauty for women.
McAdams also noted that she insisted on barely edited final images, giving us a glimpse into her real body and features.
What stood out for me the most was the fact that the question about agency over our own bodies has been reignited. There has been an abundance of commentary echoing what women should and shouldn’t do. Even in 2023. Even when we’re told that we are equal, society sure has some strong opinions on something as trivial and natural as armpit hair, an issue that bleeds into so much more.
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Feature Image: Getty
