My body hair is a flower : Case study of MaYHAIR initiative and personal relationships with one’s hairy body

Abstract: I analyzed the hairy experience of seven women participating or linked to MaYHAIR initiative, through the ex/in-corporation framework (Zeiler, 2013). MaYHAIR is a movement inviting to question the double standards on body hair by challenging people to keep their body hair for the whole month of May. Although previous studies mainly focus on hairlessness and body hair removal, I concentrate in this study case on the - feminine – experience of body hair and the excorporation feeling that realization of the hairless norm may create. I address the acceptance of one’s body hair leading to the acceptance of one’s body; the politization associated with hairiness; the importance of intersectional concern leading to challenging choice rhetoric; as well as the necessity for support and diversity of representations.