Women's Hairy Legs
About 2 months ago – when the weather got colder, I stopped shaving my legs.
Why, I at last wondered, would I shave my legs when no one would see them (except me), and especially when leggings and tights are worn during the winter months – when just my own hairiness (hairyness?) would serve to keep me warm?
Anyway, this got me to wondering why in the world would women shave their bodies, when we spend so much time trying to tame and beautify the hair on top of the head?
How did all this get started, anyway?!
Well, depends on who you talk to, of course. But apparently, at least in North America – and according to womenyoushouldknow.net:
Underarms
American women had no need to shave their underarms before about 1915 – after all, who ever saw them? Even the word “underarm” was considered scandalous, what with it being so near certain other interesting body parts. Then came the sleeveless dress. An ad in the fashion mag Harper’s Bazaar decreed that to wear it (and certainly to wear it while participating in “Modern Dancing”), women would need to first see to “the removal of objectionable hair.” They didn’t need much convincing, and by the early ’20s, hairy underarms were so last decade, at least in America.
Legs
The ’20s fashion was risqué on the bottom half, too, but most women of the era didn’t seem to feel the need to shave their legs, and when hemlines dropped again in the ’30s, the point became moot. The ’40s, however, brought even shorter skirts, sheerer stockings, and the rise of leggy pin-ups such as Betty Grable. “The removal of objectionable hair” suddenly applied to a lot more surface area.
So there you go. In case you ever wondered.
And from educateinspirechange.org we have another story...
At the turn of the 20th century, women didn’t wax or shave, but with a little marketing and a dash of body shaming, that changed fast. Media and marketing created ads that made women feel embarrassed about having body hair.
“The fastidious woman today must have immaculate armpits if she is to be unembarrassed.”
- An early anti-armpit hair ad.
Hmm…that’s not the first time that media and marketing has made women feel bad about their bodies…
It is as natural for women to grow hair under their arms (or anywhere else) as it is for men, yet women are shamed if they choose to allow their body to remain in a natural state.
Women grow hair for a reason. Why are we constantly trying to get rid of something Mother Nature clearly intended us to have?
None of us women actually enjoy the process of waxing or shaving. Am I lying, ladies? How many of us have rocked jeans for an entire month just to avoid shaving? (Yes! Me! Two months!) We do it because its expected. We may feel “sexy” after the process is over, but the question is why? Who made us believe we have to be hairless in order to be sexy?
People are used to seeing women with hairless bodies and are horrified to see anything different, but people are used to a lot of things, and too many of those things aren’t the truth. The truth is, women grow hair everywhere and if it wasn’t for marketing and media, they wouldn’t have to be ashamed of it. There are so many things women worry about when it comes to beauty standards, body hair is just one.
There is a really interesting video on this site! Please visit!
How about NOT shaving your pits or your legs today? This week? Even for a whole MONTH?!! YAY!