A woman with hairy chest has opened up about learning to love herself despite being hirsute.
27-year-old Esther Calixte-Bea, who hasn’t shaved since 22, says she feels sexier than ever.
Growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood, Calixte-Bea spent her childhood fretting over what people would think if they saw her natural hairiness, which she described as a “burden.”
In a recent interview, she told the Mirror: “I wouldn’t go swimming because I didn’t want to spend so much time removing my body hair to then seeing it grow back after two days, getting ingrown hair and scars. I remember constantly lifting up my shirt making sure it was properly covering my chest hair because I was so afraid someone would see it and that I would get bullied.”
However, now 27, Calixte-Bea, also known online as Queen Esie, decided to embrace her natural hair and refuses to be part of a system that teaches women their body is “unhygienic, ugly, or undesirable.” She says she now feels “free” and is “much happier” than before – even when it causes issues with her love life.
Speaking about her experiences, she explained: “There was one time when I was seeing this guy who did make a comment saying that he wouldn’t date a girl that’s hairier than him. And I thought how odd.
“So I ended up ending that relationship entirely because I didn’t feel like that was productive or that I wanted to be with a man like that. He was not a very kind person.”
However, since the awkward encounter, Queen Esie has found “plenty of men” who have been comfortable with her body hair.
“There was a guy who was really into me and I had never told him about the fact I had chest hair,” she added.
“I decided to tell him because I kinda knew he was in love with me, so I thought that by telling or showing him that I have chest hair, he would stop liking me because I didn’t like him. Once I showed it to him, he still liked me, he was like ‘I really don’t care’.”
Back in 2019, the social media star created the Lavender Project – where she showed off her chest hair in a V-neck purple dress. The movement inspired woman around the globe to share their stories and start celebrating their body hair.
“I wanted to share my story and start a discussion about femininity, female body hair and beauty,” she told the Mirror. “I wanted to show people that you, as a woman, can be beautiful with your body hair.”
