Rachel McAdams divided opinion by bearing her grown-out armpit hair in a photoshoot for Bustle.
The 44-year-old Notebook actress insisted on limited editing of the pictures accompanying the article in a move to promote more realistic beauty standards for women.
Rachel, who played the infamous Regina George in Mean Girls, has been shown support by a wave of women online including Maria Margolies who also posts pictures showing off her armpit hair.
Yoga teacher Maria, 42, who lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, shaved since she was 12, but she put down the razor after realising she saw no good reason to continue to shave her body hair.
She told the New York Post: “Women are taught that it’s not OK to have body hair. But I’m confident in my choice not to shave if I don’t want to. It’s empowering to stand my ground.”
READ MORE: Rachel McAdams flashes armpit hair after request for photo editor
Maria, a “Certified Holistic Coach” and a mother proudly bears her natural body online on her TikTok account, where she has 446,000 followers.
She said: “I don’t need anyone’s approval. I feel sorry for anyone who feels they need to be hateful toward me based on whether I shave or not.”
Actress Rachel McAdams spoke about her decision not to shave under her arms in Bustle.
She said: “This is my body, and I think that’s so important to reflect back out to the world. I love that juxtaposition of beauty, glam, fantasy, and then truth.”
In a video for the site, the actress – who once dated her The Notebook co-star Ryan Gosling – said of shaving: “This is the advice my mother gave me, ‘Once you start, you can never stop.’ I remember rolling my eyes about that and thinking, ‘Ugh, that’s not a fun answer.’ But it’s so true, life is long and shaving is intense.
“But if you’re gonna go ahead with it anyway, watch the ankle bones and the shin.”
It is thought that women began shaving their body hair in the 1910s, and the first razor marketed to women came into the market in 1915, made by Gilette.
It is thought the fashion for shorter hemlines and skimpier dresses encouraged the lifestyle choice, as people became accustomed to the sight of bare legs and underarms.
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