The Hairy Issue of Female Body Hair

16-year-old French girl Adele Labo created the hashtag on French twitter “LesPrincessesOntDesPoils” which translates as “Princesses have Hair”. The post had over 25,000 mentions in the discussion over whether women should remove body hair or not. Labo was inspired to go online with the issue after being teased at school for not shaving her body hair.

“I think society stigmatises women, there is massive social pressure over body hair.”

Says Adele Labo. Labo says she is not about all women showing their body hair. She says that women should be allowed to choose how to treat their bodies.

French women and women from around the world posted images showing their arm pit hair and leg hair in support of this topical matter. While many people posted in support of women showing body hair there were many haters online speaking about this issue. Online haters called the images “disgusting” and the women who posted images with their body hair showing as “feminazis”.

We have been ridding our body of hair as early as 4000BC. The first waxing was in ancient Egypt where they mixed honey and oil and vigorously stripped it from the body in a practice called ‘sugaring’. The Egyptians would remove all of their hair from head to toe. The reasons were twofold. It created a sleek look, and it staved off infections from lice and vermin.

The first depilatory cream was in 3000BC made from arsenic, quicklime and starch. The first threading was used in ancient Turkey. Threading is still used today but usually on eyebrows where twisted cotton is used to pluck unwanted hair. In ancient Rome a metal strigil was scraped over oiled skin to remove hair. In ancient Greece women removed hair by singeing or using a pumice stone.

In images of Queen Elizabeth I it looks as though she has no eyebrows and a high forehead. She plucked her eyebrow hair daily and wore a wig which pulled her hairline back.

In May 1915 the cover of Harper’s Bazaar showed a woman in a sleeveless dress with her arms over head and her armpits shaved. Before this public image, women did not show their armpits in public nor did they wear sleeveless dresses. With the evolution of fashion came the dictatorship of hair removal.

In the twenties and thirties hemlines for women gradually became shorter. Women’s hair removal products such as razors and depilatories were first for sale in the Sears catalogue in 1922. During WWII, the pinup image of Betty Grable and her long legs on display became embedded in popular culture. Women were encouraged to shave their legs in order to wear the short skirts and swim wear being advertised.

Many celebrities have weighed in on the issue of whether to shave or not.

“I remember this girl in sixth grade looked at me in gym and was like, ‘Oh my God! That’s disgusting—you don’t shave your legs!”

Kristen Stewart says.

“I’m a human, I have hair … when people want me talk about whether I think the bush is back, and whether that’s great for feminism, I’m like, ‘You know what’s great for feminism? Respecting everybody’s own choice’.”

Says Actress Gaby Hoffman

“I remain the tomboy/feminist who has never in her life shaved her legs or armpits. Ever. The decision was made in early adolescence, maybe when I was 14 and all the girls in my school–none of whom had any hair on their bodies–started shaving because it was ‘grown-up.’ Whatever. Seemed like a waste of time, a conformity that disgusted me (I was a feisty feminist even at 14).”

Says Mayim Bialik, actress.

“I’m very hairy. As you get older, it drops off. As a younger woman, I was even hairier. I tried shaving one time, and it was so uncomfortable and painful. And when it grew back, it grew back even thicker! I said never again would I do that to myself.”

Says Mo’Nique, on why she doesn’t believe in shaving her legs.

Major female celebrities are backing this movement. Recently Madonna posted an image of herself with armpit hair on Instagram. On closer inspection it looked as though the hair was attached to her armpit with glue. Miley Cyrus has also been photographed recently with hairy armpits.

“Unfortunately Instagram has ruled out natural hair that appears on all bodies of women that don’t trim their bikini lines. Clearly this is absolutely sexist. Instagram believes that women should wax or get off their platform.”

says Ainsley Hutchence (director of online Magazine Sticks and Stones) “.

Instagram recently banned shots showing pubic hair. Shortly after Instagram apologized and amended this policy.
The social acceptance around pubic hair grooming is changing whereas no hair or little hair was previously the social norm. Currently many people are challenging this norm with fully grown pubic hair. Much of this debate is taking place on social media. In Sex and the City, the protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw talked about her bikini waxes and got a Brazilian in one scene. One character Samantha, shamed another, Miranda, for not shaving downstairs in the first Sex and the City movie.

A more current ‘dramedy’ about women, Girls, portrays women’s hair as both unshaven, shaped and cropped. This portrayal embraces the message that women should have the right to choose whether or not to shave without fear of being shamed.
Ashley Armitage runs the Instagram account @ladyist and many of her photos with of women with body hair spark interesting reactions.

“My favorites, though, were a few people who told me that when they first saw the photo they thought it was gross, but then after they saw it again they started to get used to it, and then became totally fine with it and saw it as natural.” She says
“It’s really a fight about allowing a girl the agency of her choice. You wanna shave? Great! You wanna grow it out? Great! Any way you like it, it’s your choice.” – Armitage says.

Molly Soda writes for Nylon magazine. She says:

“Body hair doesn’t make you any less feminine or any less attractive,” she wrote. “Choosing to shave doesn’t mean that you’re insecure. The strongest statement you can make is to take control of your body and present yourself in whatever way that makes you feel comfortable.”

Women who choose not to shave their body hair and images of this is the next step in gender equality. The main contention being it is not about all women showing their body hair, but about women having the right to show their body hair if they so choose without being shamed or ridiculed. Removing body hair has a long history for women and traces back in time to as early as 4000BC. More recently removing body hair for women was marketed with the current fashion of the times. Many celebrities, social accounts and social media campaigns such as #Princesseshavehair are a voice for women everywhere to dilute the shock, disgust and shame of women with hairy armpits.