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06th Oct 2017

Swedish model receives rape threats after showing her hairy legs in an Adidas advert

"I've been getting rape threats in my DM inbox"

Denise Curtin

Arvida Byström has spoken out about the numerous rape threats she received for her Adidas campaign.

The 26-year-old model posed in Adidas’ iconic superstars for their latest editorial. Wearing pink socks, grey trainers and a delicate pink corset dress, the model looks beautiful.

Yet, she was the subject of another vicious internet attack when people began to notice her hairy legs and abusive messages began to flood in.

Speaking out on her Instagram, Byström was horrified by the response and it made her think of the high standards we have to conform to, to be “accepted” by society.

Receiving rape threats she said: “Me being such an abled, white, cis body with its only nonconforming feature being a lil leg hair. Literally I’ve been getting rape threats in my DM inbox.”

It also made the Swedish photographer upset thinking about the people who can’t live up to these “standards” and that we need to think about these things before we type.

She said: “I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to not posses all these privileges and try to exist in the world. Sending love and try to remember that not everybody has the same experiences being a person.”

She finally thanked everyone for their love, highlighting that she received a lot of that too… and rightly so!

You can check out her campaign below.