An online competition inviting women in China to post photos of their armpit hair has ignited a debate over the public perception of female beauty.

The contest, started on the country’s popular microblogging site Weibo on May 26, ends on Thursday. While low on entries – just over 40 at last count – it has received close to 1.3 million hits as netizens weigh in with their views on the topic.

Xiao Meili, the women’s rights activist who launched the contest, stressed in a telephone interview with the New York Times that she was not encouraging women to grow the hair on their underarms.

Instead, she wants society to avoid judging those who prefer not to shave.

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A Chinese online competition calling for girls to upload selfies exposing their armpit hair attracted 28.5 million views and thousands of armpit hair selfie uploads in five days.

The competition’s page was set up on Chinese microblog Weibo (微博) on July 17. The organizer of the event wrote on the page that the contest aimed to infuse positive energy and a healthy attitude in women in regard to their perception of beauty, adding that, “girls, you should have confidence that you are beautiful just the way you are, shaven or not.”

The competition ended on July 22, with prizes given to a dozen girls who uploaded their bushy armpit selfies. Even though the official competition has ended, Chinese netizens continue to upload armpit hair selfies with the hashtag “Hashtag The Grand Girls-don’t-pluck-their-armpit-hair Competition (#女生腋毛不拔大赛#)”.