Jameela Jamil opens up about body hair insecurities: 'A lot of ethnic girls in particular really struggle with this'

‘Hello arm hairs. You used to always be Photoshopped out. Nice to see you again’

Jameela Jamil has sparked a conversation on Twitter, after posting an un-Photoshopped image of herself in which her arm hair is visible.

The tweet has received a lot of praise, with many of her followers detailing their own past experiences of having body hair insecurities.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Jamil had become an ambassador for underwear brand Aerie alongside inspiring individuals including gymnast Aly Raisman, model Iskra Lawrence and actor Samira Wiley.

In one of the pictures taken of Jamil for the campaign, the star of The Good Place is smiling at the camera with hair on her forearm and upper arm clearly visible.

The actor and activist shared the photo on Twitter, revealing that in the past her arm hair has often been digitally removed from photos.

"Hello arm hairs. You used to always be Photoshopped out. Nice to see you again. Because you're a normal and fine thing to have," Jamil tweeted.

The tweet has received a hugely positive response, amassing more than 34,000 likes and almost 3,000 retweets.

Hundreds of people have been replying to the tweet, some revealing that they spent years being ridiculed on account of their body hair.

"I wish you'd been around doing this while I was a kid miserable about my body hair, weight and pretty much everything about the way I looked that didn't fit in with the traditional concept of 'pretty'," one person tweeted.

"One of the critical comments that has stayed with me for almost 25 years... someone asking why I don't shave my arms because they're apparently hairier than normal," another said.

"TWENTY. FIVE. YEARS. One comment. They stick."

Someone else remarked how she'd felt especially insecure about her arm hair as she'd never seen anyone with any in mainstream media.

"I love this! I remember going throuh a phase of being really self-conscious about my arm hair because I never saw anyone else with it in magazines etc so it's amazing that now some young girls will grow up seeing normal things like this on female bodyies!" she wrote.

In a tweet that's since been deleted, one person left Jamil a cynical comment questioning why the former BBC Radio 1 presenter is raising the issue of body hair insecurities on the social media platform.

Jamil answered in a further tweet, explaining that having body hair is an insecurity that "a lot of ethnic girls in particular really struggle with".

The body positivity advocate and founder of the I Weigh movement recently revealed her new method for dealing with criticism when being questioned about inclusivity.

Jamil explained to Elle that she no longer takes the criticism "personally", saying that she now prefers to "just shut up and listen".

"I realise that there are people who are going through a lot and I would like to help those people, so I just focus on the good," she said.