At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at

Please comment on this as a fashion/grooming trend that is gender-based.

I am aware that not all cultures practice routine shaving of leg hair. I am asking for comments relating to cultures that do.

I am also aware of hair removal for sports purposes. This is irrelevant to my question.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

I think the shaving history link is interesting, but I'm not entirely convinced about the advertising campaign. That timeline is questionable: Not only are the dates wrong, but what I have read is that Alexander the Great required shaving so that opponents couldn't grab his soldiers' beards.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=444

(Sorry, I can't come up with a better source.) Although it could be that he just couldn't grow one himself and made sure that nobody else could, either.

And women started wearing sleeveless gowns before the 1900's. Here are two examples:

http://www.abcgallery.com/C/corot/corot1...

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_Of_Art/vi...

I have read that feminine leg-shaving was a consequence of the short skirts of the 1920's and the availability of sheer, flesh-colored stockings. Early silent films show women wearing black hose.

If you were to rely on examples from Western art, you would believe that women grew no hair except on their heads. Shaving removes some signs of sexual maturity, making women somehow "purer" when depicted. On real women, it meant that they were actually showing off their bodies, proving that they had loose morals.

The 1920's were a time of great social and sexual change--women gained the vote and more freedoms. Interestingly, the relative skimpiness of women's dress (no sleeves, short skirts) is countered by a de-sexualized style--no breasts, no waist, and short hair--so the removal of body hair would make sense.

Here are some other explanations:

http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/cohn2f96.html

http://www.goines.net/Writing/short_skir...

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

I guess to feel sexy, for the guys? Good question. Im going to stop shving jk.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

we do it to look cleaner... smother and to show off our legs... mostly its the guys

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Good question!! Where did this start?? I have often wondered this. I do not shave my legs and proud of it. A man surely invented it for more work for a woman to do.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

women shave their legs because that is what the advertizing media tells them to do. Probably started around the early twenith century as stocking became available and men get aroused by the smooth feel of a silk stocking leg thrown over them.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

May be when they started showing off their legs!!! ...by the same logic.. i would want to know if Alexender and his army did it too :) none of their paintings show hairy legs

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

I am pretty sure i heard somewhere that it started with prostitutes (at least shaving the armpits did) back in the day, it was healthier to have less hair for those who were sexually permiscuous (contracted less nasty things, easier to clean up) and then somwhere along the line this translated to the everyday woman (since hookers were the desirable women) much the same way women nowdays try to emulate porn stars, pop stars etc.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

to some of us guys it makes no difference. It's all good

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Well, going way, way back, women and men shaved their bodies to rid infestations of body lice, but I'm guessing that really isn't what you're asking.

I think we can mostly attribute the practice to changing society and the Hollywood machine. When it became fashionable for women to start baring more than her ankles and hemlines kept getting shorter, hairy legs started disappearing. No one wanted to see a pin-up looking less than perfect and hairy legs (or armpits, or mustaches, for that matter) just don't make pretty pictures.

Ultimately, women started shaing frequently for the same reason they snap up every trend that comes along today - furry moon-boots, anyone? micro-minis? - they want to be just like the trailblazers (think Betty Grable and her forever-long legs). Questioning the underlying issue of "following the herd" might be more relevant than just leg-shaving.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Have you tried pulling hose up hairy legs?

I prefer the feel of my legs to be smooth. My guy does too.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Why Women Shave Their Legs and Underarms -

The power of advertising. A marketing campaign around the turn of the century convinced the women of North America to shave their body hair.

It all began with the May, 1915 edition of Harper's Bazaar magazine that featured a model sporting the latest fashion. She wore a sleeveless evening gown that exposed, for the first time in fashion, her bare shoulders, and her armpits.

A young marketing executive with the Wilkinson Sword Company, who also made razor blades for men, designed a campaign to convince the women of North America that:

(a) Underarm hair was unhygienic (b) It was unfeminine.

In two years, the sales of razor blades doubled as our grandmothers and great grandmothers made themselves conform to this socially constructed gender stereotype. This norm for North American women has been reinforced by several generations of daughters who role-modeled their mothers.

The link has some very interesting facts on the subject.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

hair grows on legs/under arms etc. because of testosterone. women have small amounts of it, so we aren't as hairy as men.

so basically, shaving makes us look less masculine, therefore more feminine and attractive

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

I think it must have became a common practice when skirts got shorter. So, the early 1920's, the "flapper era".

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Some other posters have provided links to discussions of the historicity of this practice. I'm not an expert, but having viewed a large selection of still and 16mm "stag films" (the precursers of pornography) from the 1920s and 30s as part of a class, I am confident that shaving, at least of the armpits, was not a requisite aspect of female gender at this time. Most of the women had obvious armpit hair and pubic hair. It was difficult to tell whether the legs were shaved on many of the actresses (due to the washed out nature of the films/the fact that they kept hose on/or some combination of the two) but some had obvious hair. Most of the later films we watched were European, so they do not neccessarily reflect contemporaneous American gender constructs.

I think that shaving infantilizes women (especially the current trend of total hair removal in the pubic area) - it is one of the many culture markers of gender that speak to women's diminished status - we are supposed to appear weak (this is where chivalry comes from), we are supposed to be emotional and itellectual children.

I don't shave my legs or my armpits. I refuse to suffer (ingrown hairs, waste of time, etc) so that I can prove I am a woman and so that men can enjoy my legs. I actually love armpit hair on a woman - I mean, it actually turns me on. I think I've come to associate the armpit hair with personality traits I admire. Armpit hair is usually an indication of either ardent feminism, lesbianism, or both.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

My husband likes nice, smooth legs on me. So why not give it to him?

After all, he shaved his mustache off for me! LOL

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Personally in Europe I found women very sexy for not shaving their legs or arms. Understand a beard, but there is never a reason for a woman shaving her legs arms, or arm pits. and some in sense it just stupidity. Woman have the natural advantage of not shaving and they blow it, just like they had the chance to control men. And if Hilary is elected, they will blow it again.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

hairy women are just plain nasty.

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

If you're going to stop shaving your legs just because you think it's something men created to give you more work then you might as well stop bathing, stop getting hair cuts, stop wearing anything but basic cheap clothing that has no design, it's just brown or grey.

Some women like to look good. Not just in the eyes of men but for themselves.

No different for guys. It's the same reason I stay fit. I like to be fit. Not just to attract women but I feel much better. Same reason I trim my facial hair. It feels and looks better, even to just myself. I bathe because I like to be clean, not just for the sake of others.