Bekah Martinez Wore a Short Dress Without Shaving Her Legs, and We're Here For It

Bekah Martinez is helping to fight the stigma around female body hair, one gorgeous photo at a time. The former Bachelor contestant chose not to shave her legs for a red carpet event on Thursday night, and although women should feel free to do that any time, people aren't afraid to share their negative opinions, and Martinez still receives backlash. She opened up about her decision and said, "This may sound really dumb, but it was a big deal for me. I've finally gotten to the point where I feel (almost) totally comfortable like this."

Martinez added that she stopped shaving her legs and armpits about a year ago as an exercise of self-love because she grew up hating her body hair. "I was teased for it, snuck my mom's razor at age 9, and would pray that god would remove my hair from the neck down," she said. "I would panic every time I got invited to go swimming and hadn't shaved."

"When I got pregnant, I decided to work to overcome this insecurity," said the 24-year-old, who gave birth to her first baby in February. "It's not about 'not believing in shaving,' it's about believing I AM BEAUTIFUL, ATTRACTIVE, AND 'FEMININE' NO MATTER WHERE I HAVE HAIR ON MY BODY. It's about showing girls you don't have to listen when society tells you your natural features are ugly or gross. It has taken months to get used to it. The horrible online comments don't help. But I'm getting there." We're equally here for her gorgeous green suit dress and empowering message.