by Joie Ham Puberty has bridled us with the obligation to groom….Or has it? The advent of the metal razor dates as far back as the fourth millennium BCE. Ancient Egyptians, while considering facial hair to be divine, believed other body hair to represent animalistic tendencies in men and practiced regular cleansing rituals of full-body hair removal. Although many other cultures along the way associated beards with manhood and wisdom, Alexander the Great recognized the practicality of Macedonian lions engaging in combat sans mane. By the fourth century BCE, ancient Greeks and Romans also adopted the custom of barbering. William Henson’s pioneering invention of the first hoe razor in 1847 was hailed as a milestone in the modern history of clean and safe shaving for men. Thanks to Gillette, disposable razors became accessible for every man by 1895, hence beginning the tradition of the shaving we know. How about the ladies? Much to our surprise, women also started grooming—just like men—in the fourth millennium BCE. By painting over either carefully plucked or waxed (made with arsenic, quicklime and starch) eyebrows, they intended eyes to be the focal point of the face. Da Vinci, Leonardo. Mona Lisa. 1503-1506. Oil on poplar. The Louvre, Paris. “Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.” – Cicero Deficiency in pictorial evidence challenges our interest in discerning how much body hair women kept or removed under their garments. Goddesses and other fictional characters from Greek mythology were the first women to be painted. Nonetheless, since axillary hair and pubic hair are one of the major traits of physical maturity, hence sexuality, artists strategically placed drapery over the divine or presented her in angles which did not reveal her naughty bits—not, at least, until “The Nude Maya” by Goya. Vecelli, Tiziano. Danaë with Eros. 1544. Oil on canvas. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. Of course fully developed mammary glands are not sexual. The convention—or the pressure—of shaving for women commenced with an advertisement in a 1915 issue of a fashion magazine, Harper’s Bazaar. With the introduction of the sleeveless dresses, “the removal of objectionable hair” seemed crucial. Shorter sleeves were only the start. As skirts grew shorter, little by little, “objectionable hairs” were removed from the legs as well. By 1940s, hairy legs turned into the new minority in American society. While removal of body hair is a relatively recent custom in the West, Muslim women have been shaving their private parts for centuries. Hadith, the book on teachings, deeds, and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, preaches Fitra, an Arabic word meaning “pure human nature.” According to Islamic theology, as Allah created humans perfectly, Muslims strive for sunan al-fitra (“customs of nature”) and revert to perfection, as they were born. Both men and women are advised to remove pubic hair, trim the moustache, and pluck the underarm hairs. In recent years, though, groups of women have risen to promote growing their body hair. One member of the Hairy Legs Club perceives her decision as “submission” and “accepting of [her]self” in the most natural form. Every day, an increasing number of women post pictures of their unkempt armpits or legs on social media and encourage each other to fight against social expectations of beauty. Should you enter the nonsensical and costly cult of removing body hair for fashion or religion; or should you join the sisterhood of naturally animalistic legs? Who knows, maybe the next trend will be to remove objectionable hair on our heads. Either way, your beauty should come from within you, not from a plethora or void of body hair. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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