Rejecting traditional beauty standards, Aria Loca is a social media influencer who creates body-positive content where she’s embracing her natural shag.

“I saw other women showing off their body hair and it seemed so rebellious and badass. A lot of us don’t realise we’ve been brainwashed since birth to fit societal norms,” says Loca, 34. “Women with smooth, hairless skin are plastered everywhere and that’s what we think women should look like.”

Showing off her furry armpits and legs, Loca ditched her shaving tools when she was 21, after finding inspiration in Patti Smith’s “Easter” album cover, which shows the singer with hairy armpits.

Let it grow

The Mexican woman says her friends frequently say they admire her confidence and wish they too could embrace their natural hair growth.

She said: “I have received some comments from friends saying they wish they could stop shaving like me, but they’re too scared of what others will say.”

And she’s no stranger to attacks from people who wish to chop her confidence.

Mixed reactions

Sharing images on her social media, Loca’s journey to flipping the switch on how natural women are perceived hasn’t been easy.

“Hey girl, your legs have so much hair, look how much hair she has, I hate hair, please cut your hair,” writes one user.

Offering his input, a second shares: “Good for her, as long she doesn’t start to go online crying discrimination or why straight men are not attracted to her, but if make her feel good ok, she may be getting extra attention but is that really the kind of attention u want?”