Exploring the nations paving the way for the future of AI
Herzig noted that making women think they had to be hairless to be worthy of attention was a form of "gendered social control" on women's role in society. It was an early heteronormative way of controlling their bodies through shame.
According to Herzig, Darwin’s famed theory associated body hair with primitive and less developed forms of our ancestors, and he conversely associated less body hair with evolution and sexual attractiveness.
They began linking hairiness—almost always on women’s bodies, not men’s—to disease, lunacy, sexual inversion, and other terrible connotations, adding the first huge layer of social pressure.
The modern-day notion of body hair being unattractive can reportedly be traced back to Charles Darwin's 1871 book 'Descent of a Man,' according to Rebecca Herzig's 'Plucked: A History of Hair Removal.'
By the early 1900s, hairless skin had gripped upper- and middle-class white America as a distinguishing look of femininity. Removing the perceived disgusting body hair was a way to separate yourself from the lower class.
In 1915, Harper’s Bazaar was the first women’s magazine to run a campaign on the “necessity” of underarm hair removal, and Gillette launched its first razor for women, which, their ads claimed, “solves an embarrassing personal problem.”
Newer methods of hair removal debuted around the same time, but the first laser hair removal process was soon abandoned for its damaging effects on the skin, before being reintroduced decades later.
Along with the spread of hippie culture, the second wave feminism of the ‘60s and ‘70s rejected hair removal. For many women, body hair became a symbol of the fight for equality.
Influencers and celebrities started posting more photos with body hair, and even Harper's Bazaar came full circle and published model Emily Ratajkowski with unshaven underarms.
The “sex sells” method was in full swing within pop culture, and the rising popularity of waxing methods and pornography meant people started getting quite creative and exhibitionist about their pubic hair.
In the 2010s, a deeper awareness of the restrictions surrounding women's bodies, as well as of feminism, gender, and sexuality, have fueled a younger cohort of women to push back.
In 1987, seven sisters from Brazil opened a salon in New York City offering the so-called "Brazilian" wax, which involves removing all genital hair. Celebrities like Naomi Campbell started doing it, and the masses soon followed.
In Persia, hair removal and brow-shaping signified that a woman was an adult who was about to be married.
Catholic women in the Middle Ages were expected to grow their hair as a form of femininity, but also to conceal it in public. Another fun fact: 14th-century ladies would pluck their hairlines back to give their faces a more oval shape.
European and American women were not yet pressured to remove their hair, although when the first safety razor for men was invented by Jacques Perret in 1760, some women reportedly used them.
Hair removal was present, though not prominent, through ancient Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire. They would use seashells, beeswax, and various other depilatories as a way to keep the body clean.
Hair removal started to become synonymous with being clean, and natural hair the opposite. The “gross” connotation of body hair proved so strong that people found using newer, unnatural technology like electrolysis, pulsed light, and more advanced laser technology to be a better alternative.
Ancient Romans also associated smooth, hairless skin with class and purity. And it wasn’t just restricted to women!
In many parts of Asia, removing or trimming pubic hair still isn't as common as it is in the West. In fact, in Korea, pubic hair was considered a sign of fertility and sexual health, and in the mid-2010s it was reported that some Korean women were undergoing pubic hair transplants to add extra hair.
But this time in the opposite direction! Newly launched women's shaving brands like Billie are also making a case for female fuzz, and claiming to be “grow choice.” Their campaigns depict diverse groups of women with varying levels of hairiness.
Women are realizing their power in small ways such as the rejection of hair removal, and body hair has quickly become a tool for revolution, activism, and social change.
See also: Evaluating skincare products: are they worth the money?
This idea of clean comes from the disgust, shame, and hostility women have been trained to feel when they see body hair, but, in reality, most hair removal practices tend to create opportunities for abrasion and infection.
Unibrows were actually considered alluring for both sexes, and were even accentuated with early versions of eyeliner.
In the Middle East, as well as East and South Asia, threading (in which a thin thread is doubled, then twisted and rolled over unwanted hair, plucking it at the follicle level) was used on the entire face, except for one part...
In the first decades of the 20th century, sleeveless dresses, shorter hemlines, and a shortage of nylon stockings during WWII further popularized underarm and leg hair removal in the US.
Thanks to Elizabeth I, who came to power in 1558, eyebrow removal became fashionable.
The concept of men shaving or women growing their hair, opposite of what society previously expected, soon became an implication of queerness, further bolstering the heteronormative social pressures of who should do what with their body hair.
In the 1950s, as Playboy debuted, clean-shaven, scantily clad women linked hairlessness with sexiness, and by 1964, a reported 98% of American women aged 15 to 44 were regularly shaving their legs.
Not having to shave or wax was cited by women around the world as one of the biggest perks of social isolation during the pandemic. And why would they want to? It’s usually painful, expensive, uncomfortable, and/or time-consuming. But many feel like they have to, or, even more common, many think shaving is a choice they’re actively making when, in reality, it’s decades of social pressures that have shaped these so-called choices.
Many women start hair removal at a young age, but few know how or why the craze started in the first place. Over the years, body hair has shaped gender dynamics, signified class, defined femininity, and controlled women through shame, but now all of that is changing. Click through to see, based on information from CNN, how hair removal started, how it spread, and how it’s being challenged today.
Why did we start removing our body hair?
To shave, or not to shave…
LIFESTYLE History
Not having to shave or wax was cited by women around the world as one of the biggest perks of social isolation during the pandemic. And why would they want to? It’s usually painful, expensive, uncomfortable, and/or time-consuming. But many feel like they have to, or, even more common, many think shaving is a choice they’re actively making when, in reality, it’s decades of social pressures that have shaped these so-called choices.
Many women start hair removal at a young age, but few know how or why the craze started in the first place. Over the years, body hair has shaped gender dynamics, signified class, defined femininity, and controlled women through shame, but now all of that is changing. Click through to see, based on information from CNN, how hair removal started, how it spread, and how it’s being challenged today.