Image copyright Gender in China Image caption Women’s rights activist Li Tingting has posted a photo online showing her pride in having armpit hair 
 
 "Should I shave my armpit hair?" It is a question that often bothers Xiao Meili, a prominent women's rights activist in China. 
 
 "Girls are often anxious about their armpit hair as if it's a sign of being dirty or uncivilized," Ms Xiao said. "But we should have the freedom to choose whether to accept what grows naturally on our bodies." 
 
 Xiao Meili wanted women to take ownership of their bodies so she launched an "Armpit Hair Competition" on Weibo, China's popular micro-blog. 
 
 Having body hair is considered "manly", Ms Xiao explained, but hairless underarms are not even the traditional Chinese perception of beauty. 
 
 'Mysterious and charming' 
 
 Confucius said our bodies, hair and skin were given to us by our parents and should not be harmed. 
 
 Image copyright Gender in China Image caption Thousands of people are taking part in the online debate about underarm hair 
 
 Image copyright Gender in China Image caption While some argue that hairless underarms are not traditional in Chinese society, others say it is impolite not to shave 
 
 Chinese people used to consider a glimpse of women's armpit hair mysterious and charming. 
 
 The armpit hair competition cited one example of a film star growing back her armpit hair for a role she played in a movie set in 1930s China. 
 
 However, many people have challenged Ms Xiao's feminist approach to this topic. 
 
 "What is this competition? No-one forces me to shave my armpit hair. I do it because I think it's gross not to," one woman wrote on Weibo. 
 
 "It's not polite to leave your armpit hair unshaven, no matter if it's men or women," another wrote. 
 
 'Love armpit hair' 
 
 The insults and criticism were not unexpected. What was surprising was people's enthusiasm about the competition. Thousands have participated in the discussion. 
 
 Image copyright Gender in China Image caption 'I'm a college student. I love my armpit hair. I support natural hair, confidence and equality,' this student posted 
 
 Image copyright Gender in China Image caption Some Chinese websites are now deluged with pictures of women proudly displaying their underarms 
 
 "I'm a college student. I love my armpit hair. I support natural hair, confidence and equality," one participant wrote alongside a photo of her leaning against her dormitory bed with her arms in the air. 
 
 Li Tingting, another women's rights activist, posted a photo of her half-naked body showing her armpit hair and characters saying "punish domestic violence and love armpit hair". 
 
 She was released on parole only recently after being detained with four other activists. They were held in police custody for more than a month for organising a protest to raise awareness of sexual harassment and domestic violence. 
 
 "I think this competition is very meaningful. Consumerism is gender-based. The market is filled with all kinds of shaving products for women," Ms Li said. 
 
 "We need some space to think about why women are obliged to shave ourselves." 
 
 Still closely monitored by police as "suspect", Ms Li also wanted to make a point with her naked body. 
 
 "Men walk around half naked in China all the time, why can't women?" she asked. "For women, we need to free our minds and our bodies. 
 
 "For me, my body is my battlefield," Ms Li asserts. 

 Li Tingting, 26 
 
 李婷婷 
 
 Also called Li Maizi (李麦子), Ms. Li became more widely known in 2012 when she participated in a campaign demanding more public toilets for women. She later headed the L.G.B.T. program at the Beijing Yirenping Center. Ms. Li also participated in ‘‘Vagina Monologues’’ performances in Beijing last December. 
 
 
 
 Ms. Li’s apartment in Beijing was searched in the late evening of March 6. Police detained her following the search. Yirenping’s offices were raided on March 24. 
 
 She was released on bail in the late hours of April 13, her lawyer Yan Xin said. 

 Photo 
 
 As the summer warms up, bringing with it sleeveless tops, Xiao Meili, a women’s rights advocate, is collecting photos of women’s armpits. Her goal: to challenge a growing belief in China that a woman must have hair-free armpits to be attractive. 
 
 On May 26 she began a contest on the Sina Weibo messaging site for the best photo of a woman’s unshaven armpit, and she appealed to women to post pictures online under the Chinese hashtag “women’s underarm hair contest.” She and a few friends are judging the contest, which closes on Thursday. Winners will be based mostly on the number of reposts and “likes” an entry has attracted. 
 
 “Men have more freedom in terms of what to do with their bodies,” Ms. Xiao said in a telephone interview. “I’m not calling on everybody to grow underarm hair. I’m just saying if some people don’t want to shave, the rest of us should not think their underarm hair is disgusting, unhygienic, uncivil or not feminine enough.” 
 
 Shaving armpits is relatively new in China, dating only from the 1990s, she said. “For my mother’s generation, a woman not shaving her armpits is totally natural,” said Ms. Xiao, 25. 
 
 Although the contest site has registered more than 1.2 million views, only about 40 women had entered by Tuesday, though they included prominent feminists like Wei Tingting, Li Tingting and Zheng Churan. The three women are among five who drew worldwide attention for their detention in March ahead of a planned campaign against sexual harassment on public transportation. They were released on bail in April but remain under police supervision. 
 
 “The pictures have proved that women can celebrate their bodies, desire and love, whether homosexual or heterosexual, whether their underarm hair is long or short and in spite of raised eyebrows from passers-by,” Ms. Wei wrote on Weibo. 
 
 The Taiwan-born American movie director Ang Lee has said that he found hairy armpits on women sexy. In the interest of authenticity, he had Tang Wei, the lead actress in his 2007 film “Lust, Caution,” which is set in 1930s Shanghai, grow out her underarm hair. 
 
 As of Tuesday, the Weibo page for Ms. Xiao’s contest had drawn more than 1,150 comments. Not all were flattering toward the concept of women not shaving their underarms. 
 
 “This is not a question of pleasing anybody,” wrote a Weibo user with the online handle Arnorosayang. “According to our universal aesthetics, it’s just not elegant.” 
 
 “Shaving or not is a personal choice,” wrote a user called Amy101. “Why flash it? Armpits are quite private after all. I just hate being this high profile.” 
 
 Photo 
 
 Ms. Xiao said: “Even some of my friends don’t understand.” 
 
 There is precedent for Ms. Xiao’s campaign: Her contest is at least the second foray in China into the issue of women’s underarm hair. Last year, a similar contest called “Girls not plucking armpit hair,” initiated by a Weibo user, drew widespread attention. The contest also follows debates in developed countries beginning in the 1970s as some women stopped shaving in keeping with their feminist beliefs. It is still less common to shave in Europe than in the United States. 
 
 In Ms. Xiao’s contest, three prizes will be given out, paid for with unused donations from a walk Ms. Xiao undertook from Beijing to Guangzhou last year to raise awareness of child sex abuse in China. The awards reflect a feminist orientation: The first prize is 100 condoms, the second is a vibrator and the third is 10 female urination devices, which allow women to urinate while standing up.
– Most women's rights advocates aren't interested in turning back the clock. But China's Xiao Meili hopes to do just that with a contest on messaging site Weibo. The goal: find the best photo of a woman's untamed armpit hair—a look she says was popular in China until the 1990s. "For my mother’s generation, a woman not shaving her armpits is totally natural," the 25-year-old tells the New York Times. "I'm not calling on everybody to grow underarm hair. I'm just saying if some people don't want to shave, the rest of us should not think their underarm hair is disgusting, unhygienic, uncivil or not feminine enough." About 40 women have entered the contest, which has drawn 1.2 million views and 1,150 comments—not all of which have been positive, reports the BBC. "No one forces me to shave my armpit hair. I do it because I think it's gross not to," one visitor writes on Weibo. "It's not polite to leave your armpit hair unshaven, no matter if it's men or women," another adds. However, "the pictures have proved that women can celebrate their bodies, desire and love, whether homosexual or heterosexual, whether their underarm hair is long or short and in spite of raised eyebrows from passersby," writes Wei Tingting, who was arrested in March for planning to campaign against sexual harassment. The contest closes Thursday and the winner will be chosen partly on the number of shares and likes an entry gets. The prizes up for grabs include 100 condoms, a vibrator, and 10 devices that let women pee while standing.