Armpits4August: ' as a gentleman? Movember's version, but with a decidedly feminist feel ' photograph: Hannah Daisy for the Guardian"Swelling, mood swings and acne are telltale signs that it's that time of the month," says grey cat, "but when it comes to my PMS, menstruation and ovulation does not follow". Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is the leading cause of female infertility, and with 10% of women estimated to have the disorder, is the most common hormonal condition to affect women of child-bearing age.
Gray was diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome when he was 19 and, now 31, said that she felt "less than a woman" due to the lack of a monthly cycle and upcoming barriers to starting a family. "My mother was the most upset, worrying that she would get no grandchildren. For me, it's visible effects that do more harm. " Along with increased chance of infertility, heart disease and diabetes, common symptoms include obesity, acne and HIRSUTISM. High levels of testosterone can cause all kinds of problems of hair, skin and weight, and Gray says his teens and 20s were marred with "being fat, spotty and, worst of all, hairy".
Amy De Luca was not swim or sunbathe since had 12: "puberty and PCOS on hair growth all over my chest and back and, 10 years, don't look or feel better." Shaggy for women, dealing with body hair can feel like fighting a losing battle, regardless of the amount of razors and lasers in its arsenal. Hirsutism is not simply a case of excessive hair on the female body – can manifest as male-like hair growth with Bristly hair, sinew on his chest, stomach, Chin, and upper lip. The hair may grow back quickly enough to require a newspaper or shave twice a day, a practice that can be so painful as that required time. De Luca is the sour observation that is the fear of judgment, rather than the same, provided that pushes the routine: "I'd no longer feels the need to de-fuzzing constant, but I'm terrified of what others will think of me so the beard".
This summer, hundreds if not thousands of women will be to break the cycle for the first time, by foregoing the razor in order to raise funds and awareness to polycystic ovary syndrome. Armpits4August is a collective of women shaggy, polycystic ovaries and hair body-positive who are tired of the pressure to pinch and preen to perfection and are setting the challenge simply stop a practice over an area for a month. As the release of a man of Movember, but with a decidedly feminist touch, the charity event has an obvious but under-appreciated alternative to hair removal. In the words of a 70s Clapton classic: let it grow.
The campaign invites all women to take a month from their usual grooming regime, to see how it feels to break the habit of a life in the name of causes women's health. In this way, Armpits4August's experience raises a couple of curious questions. First, do you feel under pressure to conform to any standard of beauty hair tied? Secondly, how to grow your garden underarm? Those who are not going to be hairy again marathon can sponsor other participants, with all proceeds go to charity PCOS Verity.
Some of the group are already Armpits4August au naturel and are all too familiar with the criticism reigns from pro-shaving that being hairy is inextricably linked with being unhygienic and unattractive. Still, scientific research identifies a useful work for armpit hair, prompting perspiration and odor-causing bacteria from the skin. "Bacteria prefer to reside on underarm skin" [instead of underarm hair], says Dr Ansari in a recent publication of Cosmetology, the Handbook of Cosmetic Science and Technology. First time Laura farmer Brown agrees: "until I stopped shaving, I never understood that slimy skin next to sweaty skin looks gross ... Just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable. "
Is the idea of decline rather than forgetting to shave really hard to digest? "It makes sense that it would be," says participant Armpits4August Brown, "because all around us we see images of women with their legs completely smooth and silky." Except for the messy, celebrity unprepared they are papped to confound body style commentary, most of the photos of the stars is edited beyond reality to remove spots, pores, wrinkles, cellulite, stretch marks and follicular fuzz.
So perhaps a more gradual approach to PCOS and Hirsutism is to encourage self-esteem and self-acceptance. Counseling, support networks and advocacy can help everyone to empower women to shoot that body-negative image into a thousand pieces. "Physician are classed as a shaggy female," says Sarah, one of the women behind Armpits4August. "I absolutely hate my body hair due to bullying. I feel better about it by meeting other feminists. " In the case of Sarah, the turning point comes when she could talk with other women-positive body and hairy solidarity share.
Since the diagnosis at the turn of the century, Gray has learned to live with his disease: "it was not easy," she says, "because there is no medical care and are not able to get pregnant naturally." Gray States that living a healthy lifestyle will help manage your cholesterol levels, and they totally cut out wheat and dairy products has slightly reduced his excess weight, body hair and acne. "Some things, like my fertility, they cannot be changed. But seeing other women who expose their condition and are still totally gorgeous convinced me that attitudes can and will change. " Celebrate or at least recognize that different forms of female beauty could go some way to normalize these so-called imperfections and degendering the choice to remove or display them.
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