When did women start shaving their armpits and legs, and why?

Question

I see pictures from the 60's and women didnt shave yet.
What was going on in the social or historical context of the time, when women began doing this? What was the movemnt or what happened to cause this to become the new standard?
(ie, akin to use of the pill during the womens liberation movement)
Why exactly are women looked at as nasty or unattractive if they DONT do this? .... I dont unerstand this! :)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/ralphgl/march%2023/Sophia_Loren_No.jpg

I KNOW where Sophia Loren is from!!! And I am European myself, and have been there many times-- shaving is normal there too!!

Answer 1

The recorded history of armpit shaving is a spotty one indeed. The earliest reference we have found was that the ancient Babylonians, more than one thousand years before the birth of Christ, developed depilatories to remove unwanted body hairs.

Julius Caesar reported that early Britons "had long flowing hairs and shaved every part of their bodies except the head and upper lip", but this quotation may refer only to men. We do know that barbers removed superfluous hair from the eyebrows, nostrils, arms, and legs from male customers around this time.

The first direct reference to the specific topic at hand is contained in Ovid's Art of Love, written just before the birth of Christ: "Shall I warn you to keep the rank goat out of your armpits? Warn you to keep your legs free of coarse bristling hair?"

In Chaucer's day (the fourteenth century), the mere sight of any hair was considered erotic. Women were required to wear head coverings; caps were worn indoors and out by woman of all ages.

These ancient antecedents predict our current duality about body hair on women. On the one hand, underarm hair is considered unsightly and unhygienic, and yet on the other, sexy and natural.

None of many razor companies or cosmetic historians we contacted could pinpoint when woman first started shaving their armpits. The earliest reports concerned prostitutes during the gold rush days in California. Terri Tongco, among other readers, posited the theory that prostitutes shaved their underarms to prove that they have no body lice, which were rampant in the old West.

Many older readers able to pinpoint when their mothers and grandmothers started shaving their armpits. Not-so-old historian C.F. "Charley" Eckhardt of Seguin, Texas, is the only person we have found who was actually studied this Frustable:

My paternal grandmother, born in 1873, and my maternal grandmother, born in 1882, did not shave their armpits. My wife's maternal grandmother (1898), my mother (1914), and my mother-in-law (1921) all did or do.

Eadweard Muybridge's photographic studies of the nude human figure in motion and Hillaire Belloc's photographs of New Orleans prostitutes, all taken before or immediately after the turn of the century, show hairy armpits, as do nude photos of prostitutes known to have been taken in El Paso, Texas, prior to 1915. In addition, still photographs taken from pornographic photographs of the "French postcard" variety which are documented as having been made in the United States prior to 1915.

Theatrical motion pictures released about and after 1915, including Cleopatra (starring Theda Bara), the biblical sequences from D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, and several others, shown shaven armpits. Something, then, happened about 1915 that would cause not merely stars but impressionable teenagers (as my wife's grandfather was) but not necessarily older family woman (like my grandmothers) to start shaving their armpits.


So what caused these women to start shaving their armpits around 1915? Many readers, including Charley Eckhardt, give the "credit" to Mack Sennett:

The first moviemaker to show the feminine armpit extensively in non-pornographic films was Mack Sennett, in his Bathing Beauty shorts… Sennett's Bathing Beauties had shaven armpits, and they are the first direct evidence we have of the armpit-shaving phenomemon. Whether or not Mack actually said "That look like hell - have 'em shave' is a moot point, though the statement is completely in character with what we know about Sennett.


We do know that flappers of the Roaring Twenties adopted the leeveless clothing that seemed o daring in the Sennett shorts.

We heard from several women who were more concerned about why the custom persists rather than how and when it started. Typical was this letter from Kathy Johnson of Madison, Wisconsin:

I am one of the apparently few U.S. women who has never shaved her armpits or legs. It never made logical sense to me, so why do it? I've heard the argument that shaving those regions is more sanitary. Then why, I volley back, don't men shave their armpits? Why, in fact, doesn't everyone shave their heads if lack of hair is so sanitary? Stunned silence…



Several psychologists and feminists have speculated that men like the shaven look because it makes women look prepubescent - young, innocent, and unthreatening. Diana Grunig Catalan of Rangely, Colorado, who subscribes to the prepubescent theory, speculate that "American woman, unlike their European counterparts, were not supposed to do anything with all those men they attracted with their revealing clothing. A childlike, helpless look can be a protection as well as an attraction".

In defense of men, it has been our experience that many women have visceral reactions to the presence or lack of body hair in men. Why does the same woman who like hair on the front of the torso (the chest) not like it on the back? Why is hair on the arms compulsory but excess hair on the hands considered repugnant? Are women, as well as men, afraid to face the animal part of our nature? Hairy questions, indeed.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

The Mack Sennett answer is likely--movies had (and have) a strong influence on popular culture, as when undershirt sales plummeted after Clark Gable didn't wear one in It Happened One Night. I've read that before 1915, prostitutes were the group known for shaving.

The chief reasons women shave are aesthetics, smell, and custom. Hairy armpits on an otherwise groomed woman, especially when she's wearing something like a sleeveless ballgown, look unkempt, unsophisticated, and earthy--a more hippy look than generally desired. If they're wet with sweat, even worse. Hair also traps smell, so you 're going to have more BO if you're unshaven. And third, culturally there's a EWWW factor--we're just not used to seeing it.

Shaving the legs is done strictly for aesthetic reasons--hair under nylons gets all bunched up and ruins the sleek look of the leg, and long, dark leg hair looks masculine.

The aesthetics have a lot to do with achieving an illusion of maximal youthfulness, as cited by some here. Women generally like to look fresh and girlish, and certainly don't want to invite comparisons with an old, hairy guy.

Answer 4

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RE:
When did women start shaving their armpits and legs, and why?
I see pictures from the 60's and women didnt shave yet.
What was going on in the social or historical context of the time, when women began doing this? What was the movemnt or what happened to cause this to become the new standard?
(ie, akin to use of the pill during the womens liberation...

Answer 5

History Of Shaving

Answer 6

If having body hair is considered "gross" and "unhygienic" then perhaps women should shave their eyebrows off, as well as the hair on their heads? Also, if it's unhygienic, why don't men shave their whole body, including eyebrows and hair on their heads? We have bodily hair for a reason. Shaving too much can cause infection, as well as uncomfortable breakouts. They say that shaving and wearing makeup is a sign that a woman takes care of herself, but I personally think it has nothing to do with self worth. Most women these days are just conforming to society.

Answer 7

As a child of the 50s and 60s, I can speak from personal observation. Women DID shave their underarms and legs in the US during that time. Think about bikinis coming into style in the early 60s. (the song, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" was a boon to the market and an outrage to church groups! There was also a movie with French actress, Bridgette Bardot, called, "And God Created Woman." She wore a bikini in that movie and was an instant sensation, being called a "sex kitten."

Answer 8

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In the early 1900's when sleeveless dresses became popular. Advertisers began marketing their razor blades to women to exploit this new trend. Naturally the legs followed- along with the rest of the stuff we are expected to shave these days.

Answer 9

Growing up in the 50's I shaved it was a normal habit. It's a personal thing for each women no matter where they live. I've always lived in a warm climate and shaving makes me feel much cooler and cleaner. Some women also have dark hair growth and find it unattractive and that is another reason for shaving to feel more feminine and neat. In some cases people have skin eruptions breakouts if they don't shave.

In some countries where the pay is very low they can't afford to buy razors or shavers or for religious reasons.....there must be many reasons why some do not shave and allow their hair to grow.

Answer 10

I prefer hair which is shoulder length or longer, As well as since that men who like ladies are more often then not right, they like long hair because this looks more feminine, as most guys have short hair.

Answer 11

lengthy hair is nice but requires maintenance and u have to grow that out for a long time