I Hid My Hairy Chest For Years - Not Anymore | SHAKE MY BEAUTY

May 25 2021

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AN ARTIST is embracing her chest hair and challenging beauty ideals by creating a self-liberating photography project about body hair and femininity. Esther Calixte-Bea - also known on social media as 'Queen Esie' - from Montreal, Canada, said she inherited the hairiness from her father's family who is part of the Wè tribe in Ivory Coast, Africa. Esther spent her teenage years hating and obsessively shaving the hair on her chest and legs, to the point that it left her severely depressed. Tired of hiding her chest hair like 'a heavy burden' for years, she began questioning the cultural norms and ideals around female body hair. At the age of 22, Esther finally decided to ditch the razor and let her body hair grow out. She has also launched a photographic series, 'Lavender', to proudly display her chest hair in self-portraits and encourage other women to love themselves.