Thursday, July 27th, 2006

Shaving

A continuation of this discussion, question 2:

1) When can I start shaving my armpits and my legs?

Like bras, shaving is a sign of "growing up". And like bras, all forms of depilation–shaving, waxing, creams, lotions, pumice stones, sandpaper (yes, sandpaper!), electrified needles, coils that rip out by the roots, or lasers–are universally loathed by women. And yet, and yet…why?

One feminist blogs I read had a discussion about "modest" swimwear that hides the curves of a woman’s body. Several commenters mentioned that they wouldn’t mind "full coverage" bathing suits because then they wouldn’t have to shave or wax their bikini line. No one asked what to me as the obvious question: who says women have to shave?

I’ve been Googling this for several hours, and here’s what I’ve learned:
– ancient Greek women may or may not have shaved; Greek men certainly did.
– ancient Roman women may have use pumice to remove hair; Ovid mentions removing body hair in his Art of Love.
– there were reports of prostitutes shaving during the California Gold Rush; some have posited the theory that prostitutes shaved their underarms to prove that they have no body lice. Or maybe to rid themselves of body lice–that would explain the removal of body hair being considered "good grooming"
– the first women’s razor was marketed in 1915
– apparently Mack Sennet’s "bathing beauty" movies made armpit shaving very popular
– In the 20s, the sleeveless flapper dresses basically made armpit shaving "required"

No real information about leg shaving was available, but given the Hollywood movie and fashion influence on armpits, I suspect the 60s Beach Blanket Bingo craze and the mini skirt had a lot to do with it.

But it was interesting that even on a web log run by hard core feminist law professors that no one stopped to say, "Hey, why should I have to shave or wax? Who decided that body hair is gross or unfeminine or whatever?"

Various theories abound:
– Women shave to look prepubescent: young, innocent, and unthreatening. (Some theorists suggest pre-pubescent boys, even). Ew. I don’t really like the implication that all men are naturally threatened by sexually mature women or that all men secretly wish their partners were prepubescent. (And yes, the current fashion trend of skinny, hipless, "boys with breasts" really, really creeps me out.)
– Women shave to emphasize their secondary sex characteristics, essentially to advertise their difference from men. This makes a lot of sense to me. When I was a teenager, I was not very feminine: tall, deep voiced, broad shouldered, tiny breasts, and hair on my neck, my chest, and face. I shaved and plucked and Naired and whatever just to remind myself that I was female, dammit, no matter how many times people on the street called me "sir".
– Women (and men) shave because we want to "rise above" our animal natures and be less like the mammals we are. I don’t know; this sounds lovely in a philosophy class, I guess, but I can’t relate it to any of my experiences.
– Women shave because hair is "natural" and women can’t be "naturally" beautiful. This may be more true today than in the past. With cosmetics and airbrushing and plastic surgery ruling the media, the modern American ideal of feminine beauty is virtually unattainable by any normal, natural woman.

I guess I’m going to have go with my husband on this one, too: shave because you want to, because you like the way it looks and feels, or your significant other likes how it looks and feels and you are willing to change yourself that much to please them.

One Response to “Shaving”

1. Daniel Says:
   January 5th, 2008 at 2:02 am

   I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Shaving, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

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