“Stop telling me to pluck my unibrow and moustache,” woman says

Society has created an expectation of what beauty looks like and anyone who conforms to a different view is often branded ugly or dirty. One Danish woman, who has embraced her unibrow and moustache, has called out social media users for their hateful comments and adds that she believes her facial hair is a “blessing”.

Eldina Jaganjac from Copenhagen, Denmark, has revealed that she is met with a slew of hate from both social media users and people on the street for her decision to not pluck her unibrow and moustache. However, despite the abuse, Eldina has no plans to change her look.

Eldina says that she is on a  journey of self-love after she started growing frustrated by the fact that, globally, women are expected to spend more time and money on their looks than men are – and she is sick of the double standard.

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So, in March last year, the 31-year-old decided that she would stop plucking her eyebrows and upper lip completely – and the response was exactly what she expected it would be. Eldina says that men have shouted 'pluck that' at her in the street and often gets stares when talking to people.

However, as she makes an important statement, Eldina adds that she believes her facial hair is a blessing – especially when it comes to dating because she believes that those who only see her for her facial hair don’t deserve to have her in their lives.

"Before I let my unibrow grow out, I did feel like there were extremely limited options to how women were supposed to look," Eldina says. "Compared to men, we are expected to spend much more time and money on our looks just to be deemed visually acceptable in society, especially when you are in public spaces."

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She adds that "If a man doesn't shave and doesn't pluck his eyebrows, no one notices or comments and it's nothing out of the ordinary. Just like many other women, I have learned to police myself. For instance, I used not to feel comfortable going outside unless my eyebrows were the accepted small size, and I wouldn't go to the gym unless my legs were clean-shaven. Now, I've chosen to focus on the tasks and goals that I need to have done and less on how I appear while doing them and whether people like me or not, because I probably won't ever see them again, and if I do, I still don't care.”

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Despite the hate, Eldina is committed to living her life her way and doesn’t let the negativity get to her. "I don't care what people think. I don't want it to become this big thing - no pun intended - but it's a personal choice for everyone to make themselves, and I wish that people wouldn't care no matter how a woman chooses to look,” she explains. "Some of my friends said it was cool after I grew out my brows; some didn't notice, and most didn't care. I've had people come up to me on the street telling me it was cool and a few yelling at me. That was uncomfortable at first, but if some people have nothing to do other than yell at strangers, then so be it. I don't want to waste my energy on someone who clearly has too much time on their hands.”

What are your thoughts on beauty standards across genders? Let Vic know in the comments section below.