Model and photographer Arvida Byström advocates body positivity, including having body hair.
The Swedish 26-year-old posed for Adidas Originals in a pink dress and gray sneakers—and unshaved legs.
Comments on social media, mostly from men, expressed disgust at her hairy legs.
.@XiuhtezcatlM, @MadameGandhi, @arvidabystrom, always original. Forever an icon. #SUPERSTAR pic.twitter.com/DqlsUBZdgd
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) September 20, 2017
The model took to Instagram to share her experience since the ad was posted.
“I’ve been getting rape threats in my inbox,” she revealed.
Byström noted that her only non-stereotypical feature was showing body hair; otherwise she fits society’s Western standards of beauty with “an abled, white, cis body.”
She also channeled the discussion toward privilege. “I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to not possess all these privileges and try to exist in the world… Try to remember that not everybody has the same experiences being a person.”
A post shared by arvida byström (@arvidabystrom) on
On her Instagram feed, Byström also shares pictures showing untrimmed underarms and cellulite, and photographs of models with different body types. /ra
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