Model Annahstasia Enuke’s Armpits Spark Controversy

Graphic by Angela Cheng. Image via NikeWomen/Instagram

As fashion consumers, we often find ourselves having to hold brands accountable. As of late, there’s been a plethora of instances of brands making racist or otherwise disrespectful choices in the supposed name of fashion – such as the Gucci sweater that resembled a portrayal of blackface or the Burberry hoodie that featured a noose for drawcords. Brands have also made many blunders in terms of representing various races, body shapes, and gender identities with the models that they choose to showcase their products. Often, it falls on the consumer to call out brands for failing to make proper steps in the direction of more diverse representation in the industry. However, Nike was recently called out by their audience for showcasing diversity, not the lack thereof.

On April 24th, Nike posted a photo to the account NikeWomen of model Annahstasia Enuke wearing one of their sports bras. Enuke is posed with one arm over her head with her underarm hair on display. While there were comments praising the photo, the overwhelming response was negative – with many of Nike’s followers expressing disgust over Enuke’s small patch of underarm hair.

In an interview with Dazed Digital, Enuke responded to the backlash regarding her body hair saying “I don’t see why it’s anyone’s opinion what I do with my body and I definitely wasn’t expecting people to be so ruffled by it.” Enuke not only makes the important point that the decision to shave is a woman’s choice, but that it also affects no one but herself. Yet, countless people chose to voice their opinion on Enuke’s body hair – body hair that impacts their lives in no way. Furthermore, Enuke expressed shock that her body hair caused such a backlash to begin with, a sentiment that seems to be shared by Nike. Their Instagram caption for the photo read “Big mood”. Nike clearly expected their audience to resonate with Enuke’s choice not to shave, which is a fair expectation to have in a society continually moving towards more diversity in the modeling industry.

This is not the first time Nike has received backlash for featuring diverse individuals in their campaigns. They recently faced criticism and boycotting for the release of their sports hijab and after featuring Colin Kaepernick, well known for protesting racially motivated police brutality, in their “Dream Crazy” campaign. It’s important to note here that while society is making progress in our desire for diverse representations of all types in media and some brands – such as Nike – seem to be following the forward trajectory, the taboo of female body hair is still very present in our society. Female razor brand Billie recently released Project Body Hair, which was the first female razor advertisement to feature actual body hair. The campaign received strong negative reactions.

Image via Ashley Armitage

The mere presence of ads like Nike’s and Billie’s signify progress. However, it is clear that the subject of female body hair and women’s autonomy over it is still a matter that requires destigmatization in our society. Brands continuing to include female body hair in their campaigns is precisely what needs to be occurring for us to see the normalization of all features of women’s bodies in the future.

Image via NikeWomen