Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, which is all about armpits!  Hooray!

Well, okay, it's not really about armpits.  By not shaving my armpit hair for a whole month (I know, OUTRAGEOUS!) I'm hoping to raise a little bit of cash and a lot of awareness for Verity, a UK charity that supports women whose lives are affected by Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  As well as causing health and fertility problems, the syndrome (which affects 5-10% of women), can also impact a woman's appearance and self-esteem.

Which leads me on to the other reason I'm taking part in Armpits4August, which is to show my solidarity with women who don't subscribe to the drivel the beauty industry shoves down our throats and who actually do what makes them happy and confident when it comes to their appearances, which is something everyone should have the right to do without harrassment.

The Armpits4August website writes:

'Armpits4August will provide a stimulus and safe space to discuss women’s often complicated, emotional, or embarrassing experience of body hair. We believe the shame a lot of women feel about their body hair is a consequence of living in a society that regulates, controls and dictates that women’s bodies must conform to incredibly narrow beauty standards. This creates a physically, socially, and mentally damaging image of what is ‘natural’ – an image that turns out to be no more than an idea. There is no standard, universal, typical – let alone ‘normal’ – pattern of body hair for women.'

I heard the other day about 11 and 12 year old girls getting bikini line waxes to pull out so called 'virgin hairs' which would apparently mean that they would need to wax less in the future. I am outraged that girls this young are being denied their right to go through puberty without being constantly bombarded by messages that tell them that their beautiful, natural bodies are objects that need to be trimmed, waxed, and modified (and kept as prepubescent as possible) to be accepted by society.  I hope to have children one day, and I don't want them to grow up in a world like that.

So, I'm embracing my underarm fuzz for one month to raise money for a great charity and in solidarity with women that are brave enough to wear their body hair with pride. I also want to spend a little while just sticking two fingers up to an industry that insists that women should not be happy with themselves just as they are. Screw that!

Please support me in my fuzzy quest!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks, people.  Please don't take the p*** if I wear tank tops and bare my fluffy underarms over the following few weeks. Or, if you do, do it with a loving smile and then buy me a drink. :)

Thanks again for reading, and love to you all. :) x