Ben Hopper
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New 'Natural Beauty' images + words (3 images)
🕑 Added 2018-06-01 13:29:44 +0000 UTCHappy Friday and welcome new patrons! :D Figured I'll do a quick one to celebrate.
These are 3 brand new Natural Beauty images with words for two (I'm waiting for the words on the 3rd one but wanted to share with y'all as is).
Laura aka MushKa Mizu. April 2018.
“I remember my first big European festival, years ago; it was 8/9 days long, a total new experience to me. I was having an incredible time, everyone was so accepting and raw, so much beauty and love everywhere. Then, one day I'm down on a beach of this festival, and I realise I've got hair growing under my armpits, my leg hair has always grown really slow, but even that was noticeable to me and I panicked. I went to my tent and put on a T-shirt. How messed up is that? I stopped the amazing time I was having, to trek to my tent in the heat, and change into clothes that would hide my body more. I even changed my bikini bottoms to some shorts for fear that my pubic hair was becoming visible! The fact that this was actually effecting the time I was having is just crazy, but what’s crazier was that in this moment it was normal, and nothing but embarrassing to me.
In the after party to the same festival my hair had grown even more. Me and my boyfriend at the time met this girl, she walked over to us and, just like that, told me I was beautiful. I remember blushing, smiling and kind of shrugging it off. I did not feel beautiful, I felt really self-conscious. I sat there with her for a few minutes, curiously asking each other about the countries we had come from, before I look down and notice her leg hair. It was not something I was used to in the UK. I had not long left school, and it makes me cringe to think what fresh hell I would have been put through if I had had body hair while I was there. She must have noticed me look at her legs because a moment later she just turned around and asked me, ‘Why don't you let your hair grow? It’s already started’. I honestly didn't know what to say, I felt all the reasons why I couldn't do that. I felt the embarrassment, I felt the awareness of stares, but when I tried to form sentences, excuses to back these feelings up they all sounded so ridiculous. So I replied ‘I just like it’.
In the years after this, I guess my confidence grew a little. I had such solid wonderful friends around me all the time. I was on the move so often, living quite a nomadic life a lot of the year, and I just stopped shaving as much. The difference I started to feel in my skin was incredible, I hadn't wanted to realise all these years that my skin is too sensitive to run razors over it every few days!
People have responded in different ways to my body hair, I would be lying if I didn't say that a LOT of these reactions have been negative. But the most important thing that I realised, was fuck these people. It's not their fault if, like I did, they experience initial shock at a woman having body hair. This is one of the trends, imperfections and ideals drilled into our fresh lil baby brains through the media, by people who want to sell other people stuff that they previously had no need for. If people loved their natural self, what products would they need to buy to feel valid or beautiful. So, it's not anyone’s fault for reacting badly AT FIRST. But after that, get a grip or get out! Fuck anyone who continues to judge you.
Obviously, as most people do, I struggle daily with my self confidence, and peoples reactions have effected that a lot, but I'm happy to say that it effects me less, and less. And it will for you too.
I feel like we've always adorned and modified ourselves, in beautiful, bizarre, repressing, stupid or exquisite ways.
But the difference now is things like the Internet, it's such an easy place to make or break someone. Desensitised through a screen, through a keyboard, it's too easy to tear someone down for their body choices, or the way they happen to look. So I'd like to thank Ben for being among some of the people actively trying to change this. And thanks to everyone out there for being themselves, and loving others for it.”
Kyotocat. Photographed June 2017, written March 2018.
"I stopped shaving completely when I was a teenager because of two instances. The first? I got tired of all the time wasted on maintenance and the discomfort that came with it. The second was when I went on a few multiple week-long backpacking trips; it would have been extremely inconvenient to spend hours ripping my hair out, so I let things grow. Being so close to nature let me dive deeper into and re-examine the relationship with myself and the world, acting as a mirror. In nature, there is wild; it is as beautiful as it is untamed. How could it be anything other than that?
I felt so relieved and free when I let it grow out. It felt like being able to breathe. It was incredibly comfortable too. I felt a confidence and boldness returning, like I was replenishing some kind of primal power.
People respond to it differently all the time. There are very encouraging/positive reactions—women who have messaged me to thank me for changing their mind and pushing them to challenge their motives/experiment with growing their body hair. Then there are people that start to fetishize it, which can be strange.
People revere my decision as a feminist and bold political statement, which is ironic, considering how almost everybody has some kind of body hair.
It is also funny because I am lazy and keeping it is the path of least resistance.
There are people who are exceptionally rude and who speak from fear. People who say it’s dirty and that I must be a man. The more important questions to ponder are rather why and how do we live in a culture/society that has deemed it acceptable for certain people to have body hair, and unacceptable for others? Isn’t it absurd that it is socially acceptable for humans to have lots of hair on their head, but not on other parts of their same body? Isn’t it ridiculous and ironic that what grows naturally on its own is seen as unnatural? How did we get here?
I will say that a very pleasant side effect of having armpit hair is its ability to ward off rude people whom I wouldn’t care to interact or associate with anyway. Because the people that care about that sort of thing and make it a point to say how disgusted they are, are precisely the kind of people that I don’t want in my life.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference. If somebody wants to dye their hair, let them. If somebody wants to get a face tattoo, who cares? Whether a person decides to shave or not is completely up to them. It has nothing to do with you and your feelings of discomfort or your sexual desires. Everybody should have the ability to make personal choices about their bodies and not be criticized for them."
Darian Koszinski, circus artist. Photographed & written May, 2018.
“Shaving, epilating or waxing hurts. I was tired of suffering, trying to adapt to the image of a ‘beautiful young woman’ society is selling us. Everybody told me to shave. As a teenager, it’s a huge subject among girls; where do you shave? What method are you using? It takes so much time and costs so much money (the majority of hair removal products are also not recyclable). All of these reasons coming one after another motivated me to stop shaving. I would often have irritated skin after shaving and being a very sporty person, the sweat and the friction of my clothes would cause pain.
The worst thing was having sex on the second day after shaving my vulva. I didn't understand why women would suffer and waste so much time on hiding who they really are.
It was hard to accept my new image. I am an ash blond, but have BLACK hairs on my legs, armpits and vulva. My legs were the worst; in addition to the long black hair, they’re quite muscly. It made it harder to accept my masculine look but I had a feeling that I needed to stop shaving so I could feel more like myself - accept myself as I really am.
Nowadays I love my hair. It definitely makes me feel stronger and in balance with myself. I like touching it and showing it. I sometimes even like to use it to provoke. I kind of enjoy the moments in the Metro; when people seem disturbed looking at my legs. I always hope other women and men can find us, naturally hairy women, as an inspiration.
There are all kind of reactions - people talking behind my back, curious friends asking for the reason, others who tell me that they love it and others making fun of it, or being disapproving. When I was 17 I had the idea that if I stopped shaving I’d only meet people who really like me and don’t care about these superficial norms of society. It worked out!
As a performer, having armpit hair is a huge subject! Once, a manager told me to shave and I did it. It was for a commercial performance (Le Tour de France à Voile). It felt so strange and I was sad to lose my armpit hair - it was like losing a part of my personality. I realised I didn’t like what my shaved armpits looked like anymore. It felt empty. Sometimes artistic directors recommend shaving for the stage; I pass, even if they don't approve of my choice. I don't shave for the stage anymore. I’m not on stage to fit into a particular image; I’m there because of my abilities.
As an artist, I have responsibility to show what’s possible and to set an example for others. By showing my body hair on stage, I would like to stimulate and change people’s point of view. I’d like to motivate women to make their own choices.
I feel sorry about one thing - when I still shaved, it was actually me who told my mother that she should shave too, as she didn’t before.
Today, ironically, she continues to shave and is surprised that I do not.
I am really glad and thankful to be a part of this wonderful project! I’d like to send everyone a lot of warm strong hugs full of love!”
What do you think? :)
Also, quick Friday MUSIC recommendations, check out Aloe Blacc's 'Brooklyn In The Summer' - I've had it on repeat all morn - he's the dude who wrote 'Need A Dollar' (so good!) ...then mega genius Anderson Paak with his recent Bubblin - oh lawd, pay attention to the lyrics, he improvised them in one take(!!!)
Finally, my good super talented friend Moshe Zehavi aka Shishko Disco just released his debut album, if you're into groove Arabic mediterranean jazz (you are) check it out here!
Love y'all!!!
Ben <3
