If you hate doing it as much as I do, you’ve probably wondered the same thing yourself. It’s fucking stupid. I only do it when suckered into it or when feeling particularly insecure. The information below is interesting. Enjoy.
From The Straight Dope:
I knew if I procrastinated long enough on this often-asked question somebody would eventually do the legwork for me. Sure enough, Pete Cook of Chicago has sent me a 1982 article from the Journal of American Culture by Christine Hope bearing the grand title “Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture.”
The gist of the article is that U.S. women were browbeaten into shaving underarm hair by a sustained marketing assault that began in 1915. (Leg hair came later.)
The aim of what Hope calls the Great Underarm Campaign was to inform American womanhood of a problem that till then it didn’t know it had, namely unsightly underarm hair.
For the remainder of the piece, which I assure you is very interesting, click the link above.
… and here’s a fun site to browse, if the mood strikes you:
Beauty and Hygiene Advertisements from the 1920’s to the 1950’s
phonelesscord said,
June 21, 2007 @ 8:59 pm
yikes! it’s so interesting to ponder what’s behind these ideas (“fancy ladies must have bald bodies!”) that we can sometimes take for granted.
i really do find underarm hair gross – the only proposition i can think of that appeals to both my aesthetic and feminist sensibilities is that men and women should all shave their armpits but nobody should shave their legs.
when i am in charge…
gingermiss said,
June 22, 2007 @ 7:09 am
If people want to shave, or if they don’t, I feel like they should be able to without feeling bad about it.
What I truly dislike are the people who abhor women who do not shave and act as though said women shouldn’t be allowed in public without wearing a full body suit. Or men who look like mountain creatures criticizing women who don’t shave their legs. Pot. Kettle. Black.
Anonymous said,
July 31, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
I have to say: a woman who doesn’t shave her legs is like a man who showers only once a month. Go figure. There’s just something very masculine about body hair and leg hair in particular. Of course women should pretty much do what they want; but I personally would never get in bed with a woman who doesnt shave both her legs and her armpits.
Jennifer H. said,
July 31, 2007 @ 8:40 pm
I have given into societies demands that women shave there armpits, but I only do so in the summer. I miss the hair and find that I sweat more without it. I have not shaved my legs for about 5 years and the bush just gets trimmed. I feel strongly that people should have a choice. In the large spectrum of it all it is minimal compared to all of lifes issues. I pointed out to my boyfriend that this is the way I feel comfortable and I like to look at my hairy self in the mirror. He has came to an understanding and appreciates me. I except that he shaves his chest, it is an interesting compromise. I want to start a group of women who are proud not to shave and teach young women that they have an option. Hairy women can be sexy. I hope someone wakes up and opens up from my thoughts.
gingermiss said,
August 1, 2007 @ 12:50 am
A lot of us have. I have been openly criticized for having leg/underarm hair and I hate it. It’s so fucking pompous and self-obsessed to say that to someone else. Sometimes I feel resolute enough to deal with the criticism; sometimes I don’t.
harpdoobie said,
November 2, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
Ginger, Jennifer, Women of of the world….
Unite! Don’t let our shameless society beat you into submission. The act of removing hair is an act of outright submission. It’s the first step towards dehumanization…humiliation. It’s the first thing that is done in the military, prison/concentration camps in order to eliminate any true identity that a person might have. What amazes me is how women willingly accept the denigration, and even perpetuate it among themselves. The phenomenon of women shaving off their body hair has been a carefully orchestrated program of female submission carried out by capitalist misogynists (with some pederastic undertones) … a marketing plan designed to make you look more like a child than a real woman. Stand up …throw away your razors….be a natural, strong female ! You will scare the hell out of alot of men, but you will be surprised at how many men not only accept it, but PREFER you that way. Men who respect and admire your strength, men who celebrate your femininity !
lyxe said,
April 4, 2008 @ 12:05 am
I agree that we(women) should not shave at all and that it is very degrading to be told by my older brother to shave. harpdoobie, what the fuckin hell does shaving have to do with capitalism????!!!!!! dont tell me you are a socialist?? theyd surely make you shave too.
polkadotdoor9 said,
August 6, 2008 @ 2:27 am
What does shaving have to do with capitalism? That’s easy, lyxe. The more women
are dissatisfied with their bodies, the more “beauty” products they will buy. What
creates this dissatisfaction? The countless airbrushed ads and photos we are
bombarded with every day, the subliminal messages that say, “buy more, it will
make you feel happier.” We need to think critically about these urges; we have to stop comparing
our bodies to fabricated images of fake, composite people. Did you read the
first part of this page? This whole mess was started by an AD campaign!!!
I am an anarchist, and NO one will make me shave!!
carmelrose said,
December 14, 2008 @ 2:53 am
I don’t shave my armpits or legs and neither does my oldest sister. She stopped shaving around 3 years ago and I stopped shaving around 6 months ago. We’re originally from Minnesota and I just moved to Virginia a month ago, but while I was living there Rachel (my sister) and I hung around a lot of the same people. She’s 24 and I’m 19.
Mostly, I stopped shaving because of the household I was living in. I was living with around 10 people and three of them were children (aged 6, 10, and 12). It was a relatively small house, with one bathroom, but to top it off the house had no heating. No hot water, no gas, no stove.
So we rarely showered if we ever did. People in that house would go for a month without washing any parts of their bodies. We had to all sleep in the same beds and I’m surprised that we didn’t have bed bugs or fleas.
Anyway, what I’m getting at is that the women who lived in the house (there were 4 of them including me) had no time, money or hot water to shave their legs in! What a waste of valuable time and hundreds of dollars!
The great thing about it, is that the men that we spent time with didn’t care and most of them found it attractive. But I do have to say that most of the men were dirty punks who listened to metal and grindcore bands in filty basements. But the environment that I was in at that time was all for hairy legs and pits!
Besides that, no stranger has ever made a comment about my hairiness, even though I have no shyness of it and would never try to hide it.
If a man really loves a woman, then he’s going to love her despite her hairiness and may even praise her for it. If a man disapproves, he can disapprove of it. But if a man doesn’t want to be with you because of your hairy legs and pits, then he doesn’t deserve you.
I’ve just started a blog about things like this. If anyone wants to check it out, I’d like to hear what you have to say about hairy women further.
http://sinfulmile.blogspot.com/
mynahl said,
April 30, 2009 @ 6:32 pm
An opinion from Europe: I would not shave anything for any person who would see me undressed. There have been no complaints there, and if there had been, that person would have been thrown out of the premises.
On the other hand, I would not go to a restaurant or on the street in a bikini. If I were going anywhere in a sleeveless top, I would wear at least a light blouse over it, or on extremely hot days, shave my armpits.
There might be a case for dressing decently, even wearing a bra at work, suppressing odors and so on, in the name of not showing too much intimacy and keeping your self-respect.
I do not, however, spend anything near the average amount for cosmetics, pseudo-medical anti-aging products and all that gunk women are brainwashed into taking for granted.
I use sunscreen, have my hair streaked, use lipstick and kajal for show and fun. Iif you want to buy me something that smells good and rub it in, that’s fine with me!
jodilywodily said,
June 22, 2009 @ 11:12 pm
I “googled” ” why do women shave their legs” and came across this url. I’m from Santa Cruz, and I’ve always been classified as a hippie, however, my response is “i’m not a hippie, i’m just lazy”. Just recently, i just started shaving which is a very bizarre concept to me, so i was intrigued to investigate this new concept.
I’m honestly looking for a rough sociological/historical/psychological/neurological/biochemical etc, answer for “why it is desirable in (westernized/first world countries) for women to shave their legs”. I have not received a cogent answer to this question.
I shaved once in middle school after i was alienated in PE for being “gross and disgusting” for not shaving as if it were contagious, so i tried it out. Then i hit ‘teen angst’ in high school and started to not give a fuck about what other people thought about my image. (Part of this, followed by five non-consecutive years of Burning Man, was the absence of shaving.)
I am now 25 and am shaving my legs for the first time, partially out of boredom and curiosity . My boyfriend is stoked because he’s the first guy i’ve ever shaved for, but he was unable to answer why he thought smooth legs are attractive. It feels nice, but is it just the texture??
I have, (sorry about TMI), shaved ‘down south’ prier to the legs, however, the reasons behind this (besides boredom and curiosity), was visibility, accessibility and smell. I have dated a few women that like to shave as well, and not that i care or anything, but a shaved woman tends to be a bit cleaner.
According to professionally trained cosmetologists, hair follicles easily retain cent. This is why hairy armpits tend to smell more and why the cent of shampoo stands out so well in women. Last Halloween i went on a first date with a guy and decided to shave my armpits for a change. I’ve kept it up just because the smell is better during summer time.
Now, as far as legs go, i have not yet found a reason for shaving. There is no smell associated with legs unless it comes from the feet. My legs feel smooth, but i naturally have very little leg hair in general, so i don’t really see the difference. If anyone has a legit answer, please let me know.
Peace!