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Leonardo DiCaprio’s vintage family photo sparks backlash

What should have been an endearing throwback photo posted to celebrate Leo’s Oscar win, has triggered an influx of negative comments from the internet.
Leonardo DiCaptio Irmelin Indenbirken

Currently trending is this adorable 1976 shot of a baby Leonardo DiCaprio and his loving parents, that was posted to the History In Pictures Facebook page to celebrate his long-deserved Oscar win.

In the pic, the blonde haired toddler sits atop the shoulders of his two loving parents; mother Irmelin Indenbirken and father George DiCaprio.

The parents radiate happiness as they stand in the sun with beaming smiles on their faces, looking lovingly at their little bundle of joy.

But the photo hasn’t gone viral for its cute-factor, but rather because of Leo’s mums’ underarm hair.

This stunning family portrait has drawn criticism.

There’s no doubt that the photo has sparked an online debate. Since being posted, over 100,000 comments have been made.

Some responded with positivity, calling the proud mum beautiful and recognising the sentimental value in the photo, whilst others – who only appear to see Irmelin’s body hair – are going as far to call her “gross” and “disgusting.”

“WTF is that under her arms?” One user commented.

Another said: “It was the 1970s, not the 1400s. Women shaved their armpits then. It’s obvious his parents were hippies…”

And there were a few nasty remarks left by the way of: “Women with hair under their arms is f***ing disgusting”, and “Women with hairy pits are gross.”

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On the other end of the debate sat thousands of commenters, who were ready to hit back at the haters and defend Irmelin’s body hair as “natural.”

“It’s so funny I am part of a generation that wants to ‘free the nipple’, but freaks out when women have hair in their armpits. #feminism,” one user aptly put it.

Another commenter added: “Why does his mum have to shave? All women grow hair under their arms. This was a different time. This was normal. And women STILL DONT have to shave to appease you! She’s not gross, only your irrelevant opinion is.”

Underarm hair has been flaunted by many celebrities over the years, including Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore and Miley Cyrus.

Irmelin is not the first woman in the spotlight to flaunt her natural growth.

In fact, many high profile celebrities have been seen sporting the natural look in both the past and the present.

Julia Roberts famously flaunted her armpit hair in a sleeveless red dress at the 1999 premier of Notting Hill, whilst Drew Barrymore followed suit at Olympus Fashion Week in 2005.

More recently, pop star Miley Cyrus has been perhaps the biggest advocate of underarm hair, walking the red carpet and posting photos to her social media flaunting both natural and dyed fuzz in a bid to empower women.

The now 73-year-old mum recently appeared alongside her son as his date to the 2016 Oscars, where the actor finally took home his first gold statue.

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