Woman Embraces How She Looks After Men Demand She Shave The Hair On Her Stomach
Belly hair, don't care.
angelicaabbeyx / TikTok The concepts of self-care and body positivity have circulated across social media, taking root to shift rigid standards of what’s deemed acceptable. Conversations we once held in hushed tones are now being amplified.
As Angelica from West Yorkshire, England has shown through TikTok, accepting ourselves in our entirety is a compassionate and loving act of self-care.
After men demanded that she shave the hair on her stomach, the young woman fully embraced her appearance.
In a TikTok post, Angelica responded to unsolicited comments from various men sharing their opinions on her body. One comment declared, “You should shave your stomach hair for summer.”
Angelica took a step back to reveal her outfit of the day — a coral-colored crop top paired with blue sweatpants. She mouthed along to a song playing in the background, stating, “Uh, no, I like it.”
“I’d date you, only if you got rid of that stomach hair,” the next comment read. Angelica responded to the stranger’s unwanted advice, echoing the next line of the song, “So what, I like it.”
In the caption of the post, Angelica wrote, “Only shaved my stomach last year, it was my first time… Never again, wouldn’t let anyone make me.”
Her refusal to shave her stomach is a form of nurturing herself. It's both resistance and true self-care.
Angelica has decided to live in her body in a way that makes her happy, which is where true beauty comes from. As we push against narrowly defined expectations, we realize that we’re working together to make a softer, more welcoming space for everyone to land.
In another TikTok post, Angelica answered the following question: “How [do] you get the confidence to show belly hair with a crop top? I feel like I would be judged and I’m an overthinker, too.”
In her response, she explained, “I do have hair on my belly. I have shown it before. I used to struggle so much with my confidence, especially being around other people and wearing a crop top.”
She acknowledged that radical self-acceptance isn’t easy to cultivate, as it takes practice to build those muscles. She suggested taking steps towards the path of self-acceptance, saying, “One thing that’s helped me [is] setting small goals [for] myself.”
Angelica created a crop top action plan. She started out by wearing crop tops at home, in a space where she felt safe and comfortable. Then, she eased her way into baring her belly in public, designating certain school days to wear a crop top.
She modeled a way to offer ourselves care after doing something uncomfortable, advising, “Treat yourself, as well, afterward. Do some self-care, some skincare, go to the cinema. Do something to celebrate.”
Angelica shared an essential part of her self-acceptance, which was realizing that “no one actually cares.”
“No one is actually looking at me,” she determined, after wearing her crop top at school. “And I struggle with social anxiety as well, I overthink a lot of things.”
“Going out in public with body hair can be challenging sometimes,” she said, speaking directly to the person who asked how to feel confident. “I totally understand where you’re coming from.”
“I hope my videos can help you embrace your belly hair and your body hair,” Angelica concluded.
Being a woman in this world often means that we keep ourselves guarded. We’ve been trained to prioritize how men see us, how we’re viewed from the outside, making us passive bystanders in our own existence. Once we untangle and separate our sense of self-worth from anyone else’s opinion, we learn how to love ourselves completely, for all our beautiful imperfections.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.