Emily Ratajkowski shows off armpit hair in new photoshoot for Harper's Bazaar

Emily Ratajkowski knows how to make a feminist statement, whether it's on the red carpet, protesting (and getting arrested) in Washington D.C. and even in photoshoots.

The model has most recently taken to the pages of Harper's Bazaar to express her stance on feminism and how her first introduction to gender studies at UCLA changed how she viewed the world around her. "I was shocked by how little I understood about gender, and it made me start to examine my own identity as a woman," the 28-year-old penned in a personal essay for the publication.

An offhanded remark by a friend calling Ratajkowski "hyper femme" led the model to wonder about the stigma of women wanting to feel and look a certain way. She wrote, "As a fully grown woman, I continue to be shocked by how, in 2019, we look down so much on women who like to play with what it means to be sexy." "Why, as a culture, do we insist on separating smart and serious from sexy?" she continued later on, detailing her experience with shaming.

"A woman becomes too powerful and thus threatening when she takes strength from embracing her sex. Therefore we insist on shaming; we insist that a woman loses something when she flaunts or embraces her sexuality," the model continued.

Ratajkowski goes on to explain how it's an individual's choice to do what they want with their bodies, whether it's taking a protest braless or leaving armpits unshaven. "If decide to shave my armpits or grow them out, that’s up to me," she wrote for the September issue, which includes photos of the star showing off her unshaved armpits. "For me, body hair is another opportunity for women to exercise their ability to choose—a choice based on how they want to feel and their associations with having or not having body hair."

You can read her entire essay here.