Do you really know? How did female body hair become taboo?
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Dec 6, 2025 Explore the fascinating roles of body hair in temperature regulation and protection. Discover how ancient civilizations viewed hair removal and the societal shifts that took place over time. Uncover the Victorian and Darwinian influences that tied attractiveness to hairlessness. Delve into the marketing strategies of the 20th century that painted underarm hair as embarrassing. Finally, examine the feminist and body-positive movements challenging these taboos and reclaiming the narrative around female body hair.
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Body Hair Has Practical Purposes
- Body hair serves important biological functions like temperature regulation and protection from infection.
- Despite this, cultural forces have reframed female body hair as taboo and unsightly.
Historical Roots And Gendering
- Historical hair removal often reflected purification or class signals across civilizations like Mesopotamia and Rome.
- The modern shift made hair removal gendered, targeting women specifically from the late 19th century onward.
Science, Medicine And Advertising Shaped Norms
- 19th-century ideas and medical claims tied hairlessness to attractiveness and health, reshaping norms.
- Advertisers later amplified myths to sell beauty products and normalize female hair removal.
