The History of Body Hair

The warmer weather is approaching which means millions of Australian women are grabbing out their shavers, booking waxing or laser hair removal appointments and begin the tedious beauty regime of becoming hairless. The assumption that women should have smooth legs, a waxed bikini and no underarm hair is one many seem to believe. But where did this pressure come from? And why do men seem to escape this societal pressure?

Body hair is completely normal and moving through puberty results in coarser and darker hair growing all over. And when I say all over, I mean all over, even your toes and nipples grow hair (BUT don’t worry this is completely normal!). Normalising body hair on women is so important especially considering the gender pay gap and pink tax. Not only do we earn less, but we pay more for razors and are EXPECTED to shave more. Outrageous right!

With all this in mind, it is important to remember if you don’t want to remove your body hair that is okay but if you do that is also okay! Challenging stereotypes and the internalised misogyny within us is hard, so don’t feel bad if you want to shave. If shaving makes you feel good, then shave. But I urge you to do what you want to do! Never remove your underarm or pubic hair just because society tells you to. I mean really, it’s none of society’s business anyway. If body hair on women was more accepted and hair removal wasn’t considered the norm, body hair removal would become a choice and more women would love their bodies.

Remember, your body hair is completely normal, shave, don’t shave, you are all beautiful.

Information sourced:

https://www.crfashionbook.com/beauty/a32332850/hair-removal-history-waxing-brazilian/

https://www.raniandco.co.uk/blogs/feminist-blog/female-body-hair-why-is-it-a-stigma

https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/womens-health-action/12-06-2019/a-brief-history-of-women-removing-all-their-body-hair/

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/why-women-feel-pressured-to-shave/index.html

Image sourced: @Billie