To Shave or Not to Shave, That Is the Question!
Marissa Chirillo
Pr. Kristin Haase
Human Sexuality
21 April 2008
To Shave or Not to Shave, That is the Question!
The topic of genital hair removal has become quite popular over the last decade, not only for women but also for men. In addition to hair removal starting to be accepted by both sexes, it’s starting to become very popular for all ranges of ages. There are many different ways to remove your pubic hair from simple and cheap shaving with a razor all the way to complex and expensive laser treatments. Generally, in our society, the typical expectations of hair removal are that women shave their legs and underarms. Expectations for men are most commonly only removal of hair on their face if they prefer. There are always exceptions to every rule and there are women who remove all body hair or choose not to shave their legs as an act of defiance. If a man decides not to shave their face and grows his beard out almost as long as a woman’s hair would be deemed by society an outcast. The acceptance of pubic hair removal has become a more widely socially acceptable attitude in our culture. In the times of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, both women and men are depicted in artwork with zero pubic and body hair. (Trager 117-23) Today, in Islamic countries, it is a religious practice to remove pubic hair. Artwork before the 20th century all depicted women without pubic hair. La Maja Desnuda, painted by Francisco Goya is one of the earliest documented paintings of a woman with pubic hair. Wikipedia states, “In art paintings or carvings from ancient times, one can often see women portrayed with no pubic hair: pubic hair was linked to sexual acts and desires in the general mindset, and thus it was deemed improper and impure in a public painting. This may have influenced aesthetic views regarding the matter as well.” (“Hair Removal”) Since around the 1960s, shaving and trimming pubic hair has become a norm because of swimsuit styles. Since the 1960s,
Pr. Kristin Haase
Human Sexuality
21 April 2008
To Shave or Not to Shave, That is the Question!
The topic of genital hair removal has become quite popular over the last decade, not only for women but also for men. In addition to hair removal starting to be accepted by both sexes, it’s starting to become very popular for all ranges of ages. There are many different ways to remove your pubic hair from simple and cheap shaving with a razor all the way to complex and expensive laser treatments. Generally, in our society, the typical expectations of hair removal are that women shave their legs and underarms. Expectations for men are most commonly only removal of hair on their face if they prefer. There are always exceptions to every rule and there are women who remove all body hair or choose not to shave their legs as an act of defiance. If a man decides not to shave their face and grows his beard out almost as long as a woman’s hair would be deemed by society an outcast. The acceptance of pubic hair removal has become a more widely socially acceptable attitude in our culture. In the times of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, both women and men are depicted in artwork with zero pubic and body hair. (Trager 117-23) Today, in Islamic countries, it is a religious practice to remove pubic hair. Artwork before the 20th century all depicted women without pubic hair. La Maja Desnuda, painted by Francisco Goya is one of the earliest documented paintings of a woman with pubic hair. Wikipedia states, “In art paintings or carvings from ancient times, one can often see women portrayed with no pubic hair: pubic hair was linked to sexual acts and desires in the general mindset, and thus it was deemed improper and impure in a public painting. This may have influenced aesthetic views regarding the matter as well.” (“Hair Removal”) Since around the 1960s, shaving and trimming pubic hair has become a norm because of swimsuit styles. Since the 1960s,
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