Family

This startup is selling razors by celebrating body hair positivity.

[rebelmouse-image 19534195 dam="1" original_size="5850x3750" caption="Photo from Billie Body Brand/Unsplash." expand=1]Photo from Billie Body Brand/Unsplash.

There's something odd about razor commercials.

Razor companies seem to like to pretend that hairy women do not exist while simultaneously trying to sell them products. In most of these commercials, bikini-clad women are featured shaving their already hairless legs. But Billie, a razor brand, thinks it's time to finally break the status quo around body hair.

In June, Billie launched the "Project Body Hair" campaign to celebrate body hair positivity.

The message of the campaign is simple: Everyone has body hair — even women — and it's time for us to accept that.

According to their website, this campaign was largely motivated by the women's razor brand industry's failure to acknowledge female body hair in their advertisement in the last 100 years. In response, the startup made a video commercial featuring women from different body sizes and ethnic backgrounds showing off their hairy legs, underarms, stomachs, and unibrows. In addition, they also uploaded free stock photos of hairy women on Unsplash to counter the lack of images online of female body hair.

But you're probably wondering: If Billie is celebrating female body hair, then why are they selling razors?

The answer is quite simple. Billie believes whether or not a woman chooses to remove her body hair is up to her and shouldn't be up to what society finds acceptable.

This isn't the first time Billie has fought back against sexism in the razor brand industry.

Billie's sole purpose is to serve as an alternative option in a world where the so-called "pink tax" marginalizes female consumers. The pink tax refers to the trend of companies charging women more for products and services. It's a ridiculous trend that disadvantages women consumers.

To fight against the pink tax, Billie sells razors at an affordable price through a subscription service.

Billie is not alone in the body hair positivity movement.

Over time, more and more women are speaking out in celebration of their body hair. Julia Roberts was one of the first Hollywood actress to show off her underarm hair on the red carpet in her 1999 premiere of "Notting Hill." Nearly four years ago, Madonna posted an Instagram pic featuring the fuzzies under her arm. And last year, Bella Thorne posted a Snapchat photo of her unshaven legs.

Long hair...... Don't Care!!!!!! #artforfreedom #rebelheart #revolutionoflove

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on

It's not just celebrities either. Women diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) deal with symptoms that include excessive body hair growth. In this Allure story, 15 women with PCOS explained their decision to show off their body hair instead of removing it. Harnaam Kaur, who also has PCOS, decided to grow out her beard after many unsuccessful years of attempting to remove it. She now is a model and and anti-bullying activist.

Hopefully, Billie's Project Body Hair campaign will not only inspire more women to feel confident in their own bodies, but encourage other razor companies to follow suit.

Love Stories

A young woman was sad her boyfriend would never meet her mom. Turns out he already had.

Their connection is romantic comedy worthy.

Leah Menzies/TikTok

Leah Menzies had no idea her deceased mother was her boyfriend's kindergarten teacher.

When you start dating the love of your life, you want to share it with the people closest to you. Sadly, 18-year-old Leah Menzies couldn't do that. Her mother died when she was 7, so she would never have the chance to meet the young woman's boyfriend, Thomas McLeodd. But by a twist of fate, it turns out Thomas had already met Leah's mom when he was just 3 years old. Leah's mom was Thomas' kindergarten teacher.

The couple, who have been dating for seven months, made this realization during a visit to McCleodd's house. When Menzies went to meet his family for the first time, his mom (in true mom fashion) insisted on showing her a picture of him making a goofy face. When they brought out the picture, McLeodd recognized the face of his teacher as that of his girlfriend's mother.

Menzies posted about the realization moment on TikTok. "Me thinking my mum (who died when I was 7) will never meet my future boyfriend," she wrote on the video. The video shows her and McLeodd together, then flashes to the kindergarten class picture.

“He opens this album and then suddenly, he’s like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God — over and over again,” Menzies told TODAY. “I couldn’t figure out why he was being so dramatic.”

Obviously, Menzies is taking great comfort in knowing that even though her mother is no longer here, they can still maintain a connection. I know how important it was for me to have my mom accept my partner, and there would definitely be something missing if she wasn't here to share in my joy. It's also really incredible to know that Menzies' mother had a hand in making McLeodd the person he is today, even if it was only a small part.

@speccylee

Found out through this photo in his photo album. A moment straight out of a movie 🥲

♬ iris - 🫶

“It’s incredible that that she knew him," Menzies said. "What gets me is that she was standing with my future boyfriend and she had no idea.”

Since he was only 3, McLeodd has no actual memory of Menzies' mother. But his own mother remembers her as “kind and really gentle.”

The TikTok has understandably gone viral and the comments are so sweet and positive.

"No the chills I got omggg."

"This is the cutest thing I have watched."

"It’s as if she remembered some significance about him and sent him to you. Love fate 😍✨"

In the caption of the video, she said that discovering the connection between her boyfriend and her mom was "straight out of a movie." And if you're into romantic comedies, you're definitely nodding along right now.

Menzies and McLeodd made a follow-up TikTok to address everyone's positive response to their initial video and it's just as sweet. The young couple sits together and addresses some of the questions they noticed pop up. People were confused that they kept saying McLeodd was in kindergarten but only 3 years old when he was in Menzies' mother's class. The couple is Australian and Menzies explained that it's the equivalent of American preschool.

They also clarified that although they went to high school together and kind of knew of the other's existence, they didn't really get to know each other until they started dating seven months ago. So no, they truly had no idea that her mother was his teacher. Menzies revealed that she "didn't actually know that my mum taught at kindergarten."

"I just knew she was a teacher," she explained.

She made him act out his reaction to seeing the photo, saying he was "speechless," and when she looked at the photo she started crying. McLeodd recognized her mother because of the pictures Menzies keeps in her room. Cue the "awws," because this is so cute, I'm kvelling.

From Your Site Articles
Education

Comedian perfectly nails how little 'thoughts and prayers' mean after a mass shooting

Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash

Actions speak far louder than words.

It never fails. After a tragic mass shooting, social media is filled with posts offering thoughts and prayers. Politicians give long-winded speeches on the chamber floor or at press conferences asking Americans to do the thing they’ve been repeatedly trained to do after tragedy: offer heartfelt thoughts and prayers. When no real solution or plan of action is put forth to stop these senseless incidents from occurring so frequently in a country that considers itself a world leader, one has to wonder when we will be honest with ourselves about that very intangible automatic phrase.

Comedian Anthony Jeselnik brilliantly summed up what "thoughts and prayers" truly mean. In a 1.5-minute clip, Jeselnik talks about victims' priorities being that of survival and not wondering if they’re trending at that moment. The crowd laughs as he mimics the actions of well-meaning social media users offering thoughts and prayers after another mass shooting. He goes on to explain how the act of performatively offering thoughts and prayers to victims and their families really pulls the focus onto the author of the social media post and away from the event. In the short clip he expertly expresses how being performative on social media doesn’t typically equate to action that will help victims or enact long-term change.

Of course, this isn’t to say that thoughts and prayers aren’t welcomed or shouldn’t be shared. According to Rabbi Jack Moline "prayer without action is just noise." In a world where mass shootings are so common that a video clip from 2015 is still relevant, it's clear that more than thoughts and prayers are needed. It's important to examine what you’re doing outside of offering thoughts and prayers on social media. In another several years, hopefully this video clip won’t be as relevant, but at this rate it’s hard to see it any differently.

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mass shootings
Identity

Florida student uses a clever metaphor in graduation speech to advocate for LGBTQ rights

It's okay to have "curly hair."

YouTube/Twitter

Moricz was banned from speaking up about LGBTQ topics. He found a brilliant workaround.

Senior class president Zander Moricz was given a fair warning: If he used his graduation speech to criticize the “Don’t Say Gay” law, then his microphone would be shut off immediately.

Moricz had been receiving a lot of attention for his LGBTQ activism prior to the ceremony. Moricz, an openly gay student at Pine View School for the Gifted in Florida, also organized student walkouts in protest and is the youngest public plaintiff in the state suing over the law formally known as the Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3.

Though well beyond third grade, Moricz nevertheless was also banned from speaking up about the law, gender or sexuality. The 18-year-old tweeted, “I am the first openly-gay Class President in my school’s history–this censorship seems to show that they want me to be the last.”

However, during his speech, Moricz still delivered a powerful message about identity. Even if he did have to use a clever metaphor to do it.

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