women and shaving

[lepers]

when did women start shaving their legs? were women in the middle ages wandering around with hairy pins?

[Drusilla1S]

Rich Egyptian women from Cleopatra's time used sugaring to smooth their bodies and rich Roman men and women plucked their armpits, but shaving was mainly a male warrior occupation. Warriors shaved to stop their enemies getting a grip on their beard.

Shaving for women only became popular in the early 20th century when women began to show off more of their body.

Women were not encouraged to cut their hair until the 20th Century and many religions forbade women doing so and looking masculine. Joan of Arc was a fine example of this prejudice.

In 1915, Harpers Bazaar magazine showed a sleeveless dress worn by a model with shaved armpits and in the 1920's, the razor company, Wilkinson Sword, suggested in its advertising that hairy armpits were unhygienic and unhealthy for women and the advertising was believed. (Doh!!)

In the 1940's hemlines rose because dress and stocking material became scarce. Many women went around in knee length skirts and bare legs which needed shaving to keep the smooth look of stockings. (Most everyday stockings were not so sheer as today's fashions.)

So, to answer your question, women in the Middle Ages did have hairier legs and armpits and wouldn't have dreamt of having a Brazilian. I suspect they would have viewed that as a kind of torture.

[mike b]

There is a very old legend to the effect that King Solomon suspected that the Queen of Sheba had hairy legs, and had the floor polished so that he could sneak a crafty look up her dress. I expect it can be found by googling if anyone is really interested...

[Marsh]

Here is one version.

[smudge]

I was born in the middle ages & women were definitely shaving their legs then!