
Deidre Palacios: It’s not meant to be taken literally; it’s more about women reclaiming the notion of hair. I thought only my friends would care—I never imagined it would spread like it has. I think the debate makes people think in new ways. A girl contacted me today and told me her boyfriend wouldn’t accept her having hairy armpits. She was really shocked, and it shed new light on him.There’s a picture of your own hairy underarm on your group’s Facebook page. Are you personally offended by the negative comments you’ve received?
No. However, I do care when women who’ve uploaded pictures of their pits get death threats. When that happens, I contact the police. Why do you think Swedes have been so provoked by a little female body hair that’s completely natural?
That’s something I really don’t understand. I work as a sex-education teacher and talk to teenagers a lot. I’ve noticed body hair is more or less a taboo. I let the students know everybody is different—some are hairier than others, and that it’s completely normal. Are you going to organize any public events similar to the protest in Malmö where girls gathered to publicly display their fuzzy pits?
I think I’m going to take it further in one way or another. A lot of the members are active hair campaigners, so I really think that something will come out of this. I recently saw a YouTube video of girls singing a song about hair.
