If the title didn’t already reveal it, today we’re going to talk about body hair. Why body hair is still a hot topic in 2021, is something that I still don’t understand. Anyway let’s have a journey back in time to see if we can figure this out.
To begin with, hair removal has a history of thousands of years as it was first established in Ancient Egypt. Many Egyptian women opted for hair removal because body hair, especially pubic hair, was a symbol of the uncivilized, depicted as dirty and unhygienic. The Ancient Egyptians were not the only ones following this trend. Pubic hair was also considered low class in Ancient Greece, which explains why Ancient Greek statues of women were completely hairless.
Let’s leave though ancient times behind, and focus on how this trend was established in more recent years. Of course the fashion industry would be involved in this. In 1915 Harper's Bazaar published the first article mentioning that shaved armpits are now a “necessity”, which exclusively targeted women.
In the cover of the magazine they promoted the new trend, advertising how elegant and modern dresses look on women with shaved armpits.

Furthermore, the first fashion photo shootings demanded their models to look perfect and it went without saying that in order to achieve this they should be 100% shaved.
Apparently perfection has always been “hairless’’. Even Hollywood stars that decided to attend an event with unshaved legs or armpits were characterized as “rebels” or “feminists”.

Why should body hair that we are born with, be characterized as “rebellious” or “feministic” acts? I would just call them natural and normal. I personally remove my body hair whenever I feel like it (the whole procedure is so boring…) because that’s my choice. And this is how it should be: a choice, not a rule. As you decide whether to put on makeup or not, this is how you should be able to decide whether to have your hair removed or not. I have spent many years feeling insecure about my hair growth, trying every possible way that exists to get rid of it. Until I reached the point that I didn’t care anymore.
We should all stop caring how each woman handles her hair growth. It should not be a hot topic for magazines or blogs. Let’s hope that we will soon be able to have the "freedom" to be ourselves: hairy or hairless, with extra pounds, cellulite or stretch marks without having to be labeled as "brave", "feminists" or "unconventional".

For you #NOTHINKER,
Eli