It's difficult to imagine a Western World in which women don’t shave their legs, armpits and pubic hair. Society informs women of their duty to remove unsightly and unsanitary hair, and our mothers teach us how. But women went without shaving their bodies for most of Western history. What changed and when?
In May of 1915, women had been introduced to dresses that exposed their armpits; this created an opportunity for marketers to introduce a new problem for women and thus a new product for women. In light of this, Gilette introduced their first razor for women, specifically advertised against having armpit hair. Its advertisement stating, “fashion says,” immediately insinuating that not having armpit hair was the fashionable and feminine thing to do. Women subscribed to this “fashion trend” quickly, truly believing that removing their armpit hair was a natural and womanly thing to do.
The removal of leg hair took longer to catch on despite shortening hemlines. However, the fashion industry eventually won out and by the 1940s, leg hair removal was considered to be the norm. Some people suggested that Betty Grable, a current Hollywood star, had a large impact on this movement. I would suggest that a woman’s want for societal acceptance had the largest impact on the leg shaving movement.
Finally, we have reached the modern day movement: pubic hair removal. It is difficult to cite its exact source. Was it popularized through porn? Was it the sexualization of a young Jodi Foster and Brooke Shields? Could it have been backlash to the full bush movement of the '70s? Unlike the first two movements, the removal of pubic hair was never as explicitly taught to us. Yet it was still silently understood.
The propaganda for women’s hair removal is a form of control. It is a way to make women feel gross and unfeminine for not removing it. It is a way to profit off of women’s insecurities. Even though I can acknowledge this, I am just as trapped as the rest of you. I lasered off all of my armpit hair, I shave my legs regularly during appropriate seasons, and I struggle deeply with pubic hair — at the minimum keeping my bikini line clear. I only ask, what hair is next? I’ve already seen friends bleach their arm hairs and remove it all together. I’ve heard about the removal of stomach hair. How much hair exactly do we need to remove to feel feminine?
