Accept yourself as you are: "I wish every woman would do the same"

In recent years, more and more women - and men - have been paying close attention to their physical appearance. Social media with its filters and gimmicks has created icons that are increasingly impossible to follow - and this is why many people have decided to say "enough" and have decided to go au naturel.

Some women, for example, have decided to show off their so-called aesthetic "defects". Esther Calixte-Bea, a 25-year-old Canadian artist who has chosen to stop removing her body hair, and has invited other women to do the same.

via Indy100

Esther has had to battle with unwanted hair since she was a child: the  hair on her chest made her feel insecure for years. She hated how she looked so much that she gave up swimming. Additionally shaving or waxing which caused her skin irritation. But then Esther decided she'd had enough and she stopped shaving altogether after a trip to Haiti.

After traveling the world, Esther realized that beauty standards vary from country to country: "This made me realize that I could choose for myself and I didn't have to wait for society to accept my body and my looks," she commented. So, once she got back home, Esther revealed to her family and friends that she had a hairy chest: "Nobody knew this, but I felt comfortable about revealing it and I didn't want to hide anymore because it was a huge burden on my mind," she said.

Esther started wearing shorts and dresses, revealing the hair all over her body and she was immediately accepted by her loved ones: "My friends are really very proud of me and they appreciated my initiative. My mother, my sister and my aunt knew that I had chest hair, and they totally supported me," she said. But Esther still had to face the "swimsuit test": that is, showing oneself off in a bikini without first having waxed and shaved.

At first, Esther confessed that she felt very nervous, but then she saw a very hairy man on the beach who didn't care about the looks he was getting. She knew it was a bit different for her - because she was a woman - but she still wanted to try to break down this stereotype. Screwing up her courage, Esther put on her bikini and stepped out onto the beach. She ran on the sand and played in the waves, later saying: "I had so much fun!"

People around Esther couldn't help but notice her hairy body and and some clearly stared at her in disbelief - but Esther reacted in the best possible way: "I decided to smile and wave to them as they were staring at my armpit hair. Why would I feel offended by staring when I would have done the same in their place? In the end, it wasn't so bad. Now I feel a freedom I've never felt before and I love myself much more now".

What do you think about this?