Okay, it’s time for me to get up on my soapbox. Today it’s about women’s body hair. The beauty industry has been pushing a narrative that women’s body hair is unnatural and masculine. But is that actually true? Well…no. And it’s time to normalize women’s body hair again.
Why did women start shaving their body hair?
In a nutshell, women began shaving their armpits and legs because a man created a clever marketing campaign to sell more razors. In 1915, the Gillette company (you’ve heard of them, right?) noticed that they weren’t selling as many men’s razors as expected. When they realized that they could increase their sales and revenue by convincing women that leg and armpit hair was embarrassing and unhygienic, sales did increase. This marketing campaign was so effective that many people still believe the claims made over a century ago today. And this is why Gillette is still around and selling razors.
Is women’s body hair really unhygienic?
The trend of shaving legs, armpits, and even pubic hair has become a cultural norm for many women. And if you ask a lot of people today, they still believe that this hair is dirty and unhygienic. But is that true? Absolutely not! If it wasn’t natural and normal for us to have body hair, then most likely the process of evolution would’ve eliminated it. But it didn’t.
In fact, body hair serves a purpose. It helps to protect the body against UV rays and helps to regulate body temperature. It also helps to reduce friction during physical activities. And it can help keep out bacteria and germs. Shaving reduces these protections.
Shaving body hair and social conditioning
Ultimately, when a woman shaves her body hair, it is more than just a preference. There is societal pressure to keep our bodies shaved. In an interview with CNN, Breanne Fahs, a professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University, gave female students an assignment to grow their body hair and write a paper about what they experienced. She still gives this assignment and, over time, noticed a pattern. Fahs said…
“Over the years, those who have taken part in it have shared quite consistent issues: a deep sense of shame, struggle with self-confidence, even social ostracism.”
Let’s be clear. A woman shaving her body hair has been firmly conditioned into her. So while she may believe she is making a choice, the shame and social ostracism connected to choosing a natural body may push her to comply,,,without her ever even realizing that she’s been conditioned to do so.
It’s time to push back against the status quo
A woman’s body is beautiful whether it is covered in hair or not. Shaving serves no purpose other than a cosmetic one. But it’s time to break down the narrative that a woman’s body hair is disgusting, unnatural, and unhygienic. And it’s time to stop shaming the women who choose not to shave.
