Woman’s Explanation On Why Males And Females Have Different Body Hair Standards Goes Viral
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with women who don’t shave their body hair and nobody should be made to feel guilty if they choose to opt out of modern beauty standards. That’s the message that TikTok user Solanathegreenfairy is trying to hammer home. She wants people to know that beauty standards are a social construct. Check out her full video below, dear Pandas, and be sure to let us know what you think.
Though Solana is right that women shaving their body hair became popularized in the early 20th century by Gillette (who focused on a trend that had been happening in the West since the late 1800s), there’s far more context that we need to be aware of.
Throughout human history, we as a species have been flirting with the idea of shaving vs. not shaving body hair, and it’s utterly fascinating how these trends have come and gone and shifted over the centuries in different cultures. And it’s not just about subjective beauty standards, either—there were practical considerations to shaving (for both women and men), too.
Solana shared why women are expected to shave their body hair in modern society
You can watch Solana’s full video right over here
@solanathagreenfairybeauty standards are a social construct!@heyestrid ##foryou ##bodyhairpositivity ##feminist ##beautystandard♬ original sound – solana
If we take a look at history, we’ll see that people’s views toward body hair fluctuated over time and in different regions of the world. And while we can claim that it’s all subjective, some of the reasons to shave had deep cultural significance and were actually useful in your day-to-day life.
For instance, back in the Stone Age, shaving one’s hair was a survival tactic, according to CR Fashion Book. This was very useful during battle because it meant that your opponent didn’t have any hair to grab onto. What’s more, shaving meant that you could avoid frostbite in harsh weather, as water wouldn’t become trapped in your hair and wouldn’t freeze against your skin. Sharp stones, animal teeth, and clamshells were used for body hair removal.
Meanwhile, fast-forwarding to Ancient Egypt, hair was removed using sugaring which became the foundation for the waxing techniques we use today. In Ancient Egypt, body hair was seen as uncivilized, dirty, and unhygienic. It also set apart the upper and lower classes. For instance, men would shave their beards to better distinguish themselves from the servants and slaves who would grow them or have stubble.
Similarly, body hair (or rather the lack thereof) was used to indicate whether somebody was from the upper classes in Ancient Greece and in the times of the Roman Empire. Or, as CNN’s Marianna Cerini put it, “the smoother your skin was, the purer and more superior you were.”
Here’s what some TikTok users had to say about the informative video
I get that what she means is that women feel pressured to shave by adverts and it has become the acceptable norm for women to shave all their body hair, which is of course wrong. However, saying that men have never been pressured into shaving is completely false. Until very recently the vast majority of workplaces required men to be clean shaven, most schools require boys to shave daily, men have been bombarded with ads for facial shaving for centuries and more recently for bodily shaving. Very few male celebs apear with full chest hair, mens magazines always have tips on "butt, sac and crack wax", there are special body hair trimmers marketed exclusively at men. It might pay for women and men to occasionally pick up each other's magazines to realise what pressures each face.
It's new though. As recently as the 80ies men would get chest hair transplants (yes really!) because it was considered sexy to have chest hair.
Load More Replies...So, shaved or not shaved, doesn't matter to me. But can we get people to go back to the safety razors? They are metal and you just replace the blade from time to time. Super cheap and workers better than the plastic disposable ones. I spent $40 like 5 years ago and haven't spent another dime on hair removal since. Why do people still use disposable razors? They are expensive, crap, and horrible for the environment. Shave responsibly.
I, too, despise those eco unfriendly disposable razors, and their kin, disposable flossers (which users toss in parking lots).
Load More Replies...You can shave. You can not shave. Do what you want. Same goes to men BTW!
And enbies. do whatever the f**k you want with your body as long as it doesn't hurt others.
Load More Replies...OK, I really hate to break it to this "authority" who evidently "finds" a problem and blames someone. First of all, in the twenties women began wearing short dresses. They began wearing hose and heels, they were called, flappers. Anyway, THEY began shaving their legs so that their legs would not look so "awful" with dark hair on their legs sticking "through" the silk stockings. They began shaving their legs and they were using men's razors. Gillette saw a "market" they did NOT force women to shave their legs., I am so sick of people saying women are too weak to make a decision, good or bad ALL BY THEMSELVES.
Before razors became widely available, some women would scrape the hair off their legs with a pumice stone, which had to have hurt but which wasn't as dangerous as using a straight razor. But body hair removal goes way back, in college I had to read some of the ancient Greek plays, and there's a line where a woman says that in order to look their best, the gals have "... plucked their deltas...".
Load More Replies...I personally prefer to shave my armpits and bikini zone, but not my legs. Other people might want to shave their arms and legs. Some don't want to shave at all. Everything should be the same accepted.
So did as well ancient Greeks and Persians. Shaving was also culturally the norm for women of the medieval Islamic world.
Load More Replies...This has nothing to do with"men" in general forcing their views on women. It's about a corporation trying to sell a product, that has little to no real demand. So they created that demand with advertising. Companies did the same thing with Japan. For instance, in Japan, it was never a social stigma to have dandruff, so Head & Shoulders shampoo never sold well there. But they wanted to expand their market there so they started creating commercials showing a boss looking a t disgust at his employee with dandruff, and a woman rebuffing a man over it. This created a demand since people started to believe having dandruff was something to be ashamed of. No one forced women to shave, they chose to.
The demand was already there because women were using men's razors. I mean there are a lot of problems that have been created by having a patriarchy but this isn't one of them...body hair removal goes back to ancient times for men and women.
Load More Replies...Not everything is an evil male scene to control women. I prefer shaving my underarms, legs and bikini area because hair does absorb odors, it also IMO looks better.
I must be related to Sasquatch. Thick, dark hair on my limbs and face. I shave my pits to help with odor, and my face or else I pluck and pick at it. But I haven't shaved my legs in years. I have a bad back and just can't reach. Plus it's an exercise in futility since there is stubble a few hours later. I would put on Nair or Veet, let it sit 10 or 15 minutes, and then shave off what's left. (Most of it). And since I wear glasses, I miss spots from shaving blind. So.... eff it. Hub doesn't mind, he loves me, not infantile smooth skin.
Not quite right. Historically, hair removal by shaving or plucking - sometimes gender-specific, sometimes not - has been a fairly common theme across cultures for a very, very long time, and it wasn't unusual for it to be a class marker as well. Thus, the upper-crust in Ancient Egypt shaved or plucked their bodies, upper-crust women had body hair plucked in the 16th & 17th C., upper-crust men in 18th C. Europe shaved their heads and wore wigs, and in the film industry in Europe & the US, men who bared their bodies to any extent had body hair shaved, lest it offend.
We still see very few hairy chests in entertainment
Load More Replies...I like pubic hair. Especially if it is red - a rare sight, and a shame it often is shaved off as if something were wrong with it. Nothing's wrong about them. Never was. And, also - a woman who is filthy in unshaved state also is shaved. These devices, some seem not to have gotten to know yet, are meant to remove hair, not meant to clean. Accordingly, you cannot clean yourself with them, but just get rid of hair.
"Solana shared why women are expected to shave their body hair in modern society" sounds like a proven theorie but it's just her hypothesis. And it's interesting that she talks about the pressure of society but somehow this pressure is reduced to male opression. Lots of beauty standards are anforced by women because most men simply don't care. Like you can't wear the same dress twice or two women can't wear the same dress at the same party or wearing the wrong shoes to a dress.
Once I answered the door to a deputy sheriff who had meant to speak to my neighbor next door. I was wearing shorts, it was winter, so I was a "furry" and "No-shave-vember" was well passed. Anyway, the look of utter revulsion on his face was priceless! I have not shaved anything for the past 4 years now and do not miss it one little bit!
But wait... I'm missing where this is a beauty standard made by MEN and how it controls women. Like I'm sure there is an argument to be made... but it's not presented here with any supporting evidence. It just says women shave due to fashion trends
In the 20s men controlled the fashion industry. So they created that trend.
Load More Replies...So a hairy man with a lot of hair on his back walks shirtless and women are gonna go…”oh…nice”? Gimme a break.
I've always kinda thought shaving was a bit perverted. Why are we shaving off the body and facial hair that comes with physical maturity? Are we maybe subconsciously equating attractiveness with being prepubescent? If somebody wants to shave it all off, fine. But I wish there weren't pressure to do it. I personally think it should be fine if people want to have facial and body hair.
The difference between the expectation to shave in men and women is that they are both created by men and only one of them is another way of controlling an entire part of the population's bodies.
How are they created by men? This is the one point I am missing. It seems like it is created by companies trying to sell something.
Load More Replies...Men may not be pressured to the same extent as women about body hair removal, but still, regardless of one's personal taste, it is shown as generally preferable for men to have a smooth chest and belly. Also, lots of athletes shave, but I guess that's for practical reasons. And, finally, in Japan it is over all preferred for people to have less body hair in general. Still, this is a valid insight.
How did we jump from "it's a fashion trend that started in the 1920s" to "it's a tool by men to control women"? That doesn't even make sense. How would encouraging women to shave their armpits enable men to control women? What, is it harder to control a woman with hairy armpits? Are women with hairy armpits more able to rebel against the oppression of the evil patriarchy? Umm, how, exactly? Maybe what she meant to say was that women only does this because they are controlled by men and men prefer women with shaved armpits. But that explains nothing. Why would men prefer women with shaved armpits? Did women in the 1920s resent shaving their armpits but they were forced to do so by oppressive men? Yet most women today shave without any men holding them down and forcing them. This theory doesn't match reality.
it's literally a choice and you shouldn't feel pressured to do one or the other. If you want to shave? Shave. If you don't, then don't. I will say this, as a man, i wish i didn't have underarm hair...its not exactly hygienic in summer especially if you're physically active outdoors like me and really amplifies BO when working out or hiking...just yuck. I would totally shave but...razor burn and antiperspirant is not a great combination.
This doesn’t explain why though. Just goes over the history of how it started, with no reason as to why it was popular besides “sleeveless dresses and Gillette” but doesn’t say why society was compelled.
If someone feels required or forced to shave a certain area of their body I think its that persons personal issue. If you are willing to conform to "normal" beauty standards and do things that you dont want to do such as shave your armpits I think that you worry to much about others opinions of you. My daughter goes long periods without shaving her armpits and I really had to learn to accept that she is comfortable in her own body to not shave because she doesnt want to. She does shave but she doesnt do it to please others she doesnt it when she is ready, and doesnt worry about what others think if she doesnt.
It takes a lot of courage to do what your daughter does. No one likes to be stared at and judged.
Load More Replies...Man here. I shave my face since I was 12yo. Wasn't allowed facial hair in school. At 17 I started trimming my armpits, chest and below. I discovered then that the effects of my deodorant lasted longer and never again suffer an episode of jock itch in my groin area. Less body hair, less bacteria and less bacteria means less odor.
Not to long ago, in my mid twenties (I'm 32 now), I lived in China and I had a very close English bloke who dated Chinese women. I am ashamed to say that when he told me a few never shaved their armpits I was disgusted. I've grown, though, and really, to each their own. Your body, your choice.
There can be hygine reasons for shaving underarm hair - less hair means less surface area for odor-causing bacteria to grow on. But that is equally the case for both/all genders.
You are right, but other hygenical reasons point against shaving. E.g. pubic hair makes it harder for bacteria to reach the vagina. Also both pubic hair and armpit hair reduce friction of skin to skin.
Load More Replies...I don't agree men aren't pressured to shave, at least their faces. Long hair on a face is considered unprofessional, unhygienic. There's definitely some level of pressure.
"Men have never been pressured to shave" Are you serious? You have never, ever, heard of someone saying that men should shave every day? What planet do you live on?
She is talking about body hair, stop being thick on purpose. Men might be encouraged to shave their body occasionally but they aren’t bullied like women are if they have body hair.
Load More Replies...1915?! I lived through the 90ies and early 00s, happily unaware shaving was a requirement!
I wish to know where you lived. I started being bullied as young as 12 for not shaving my legs.
Load More Replies...This is not the continuous trend you think it is though.
Load More Replies...Facial hair on men is 100% dictated by fashion. Google is your friend. Look up some portraits.
Load More Replies...I get that what she means is that women feel pressured to shave by adverts and it has become the acceptable norm for women to shave all their body hair, which is of course wrong. However, saying that men have never been pressured into shaving is completely false. Until very recently the vast majority of workplaces required men to be clean shaven, most schools require boys to shave daily, men have been bombarded with ads for facial shaving for centuries and more recently for bodily shaving. Very few male celebs apear with full chest hair, mens magazines always have tips on "butt, sac and crack wax", there are special body hair trimmers marketed exclusively at men. It might pay for women and men to occasionally pick up each other's magazines to realise what pressures each face.
It's new though. As recently as the 80ies men would get chest hair transplants (yes really!) because it was considered sexy to have chest hair.
Load More Replies...So, shaved or not shaved, doesn't matter to me. But can we get people to go back to the safety razors? They are metal and you just replace the blade from time to time. Super cheap and workers better than the plastic disposable ones. I spent $40 like 5 years ago and haven't spent another dime on hair removal since. Why do people still use disposable razors? They are expensive, crap, and horrible for the environment. Shave responsibly.
I, too, despise those eco unfriendly disposable razors, and their kin, disposable flossers (which users toss in parking lots).
Load More Replies...You can shave. You can not shave. Do what you want. Same goes to men BTW!
And enbies. do whatever the f**k you want with your body as long as it doesn't hurt others.
Load More Replies...OK, I really hate to break it to this "authority" who evidently "finds" a problem and blames someone. First of all, in the twenties women began wearing short dresses. They began wearing hose and heels, they were called, flappers. Anyway, THEY began shaving their legs so that their legs would not look so "awful" with dark hair on their legs sticking "through" the silk stockings. They began shaving their legs and they were using men's razors. Gillette saw a "market" they did NOT force women to shave their legs., I am so sick of people saying women are too weak to make a decision, good or bad ALL BY THEMSELVES.
Before razors became widely available, some women would scrape the hair off their legs with a pumice stone, which had to have hurt but which wasn't as dangerous as using a straight razor. But body hair removal goes way back, in college I had to read some of the ancient Greek plays, and there's a line where a woman says that in order to look their best, the gals have "... plucked their deltas...".
Load More Replies...I personally prefer to shave my armpits and bikini zone, but not my legs. Other people might want to shave their arms and legs. Some don't want to shave at all. Everything should be the same accepted.
So did as well ancient Greeks and Persians. Shaving was also culturally the norm for women of the medieval Islamic world.
Load More Replies...This has nothing to do with"men" in general forcing their views on women. It's about a corporation trying to sell a product, that has little to no real demand. So they created that demand with advertising. Companies did the same thing with Japan. For instance, in Japan, it was never a social stigma to have dandruff, so Head & Shoulders shampoo never sold well there. But they wanted to expand their market there so they started creating commercials showing a boss looking a t disgust at his employee with dandruff, and a woman rebuffing a man over it. This created a demand since people started to believe having dandruff was something to be ashamed of. No one forced women to shave, they chose to.
The demand was already there because women were using men's razors. I mean there are a lot of problems that have been created by having a patriarchy but this isn't one of them...body hair removal goes back to ancient times for men and women.
Load More Replies...Not everything is an evil male scene to control women. I prefer shaving my underarms, legs and bikini area because hair does absorb odors, it also IMO looks better.
I must be related to Sasquatch. Thick, dark hair on my limbs and face. I shave my pits to help with odor, and my face or else I pluck and pick at it. But I haven't shaved my legs in years. I have a bad back and just can't reach. Plus it's an exercise in futility since there is stubble a few hours later. I would put on Nair or Veet, let it sit 10 or 15 minutes, and then shave off what's left. (Most of it). And since I wear glasses, I miss spots from shaving blind. So.... eff it. Hub doesn't mind, he loves me, not infantile smooth skin.
Not quite right. Historically, hair removal by shaving or plucking - sometimes gender-specific, sometimes not - has been a fairly common theme across cultures for a very, very long time, and it wasn't unusual for it to be a class marker as well. Thus, the upper-crust in Ancient Egypt shaved or plucked their bodies, upper-crust women had body hair plucked in the 16th & 17th C., upper-crust men in 18th C. Europe shaved their heads and wore wigs, and in the film industry in Europe & the US, men who bared their bodies to any extent had body hair shaved, lest it offend.
We still see very few hairy chests in entertainment
Load More Replies...I like pubic hair. Especially if it is red - a rare sight, and a shame it often is shaved off as if something were wrong with it. Nothing's wrong about them. Never was. And, also - a woman who is filthy in unshaved state also is shaved. These devices, some seem not to have gotten to know yet, are meant to remove hair, not meant to clean. Accordingly, you cannot clean yourself with them, but just get rid of hair.
"Solana shared why women are expected to shave their body hair in modern society" sounds like a proven theorie but it's just her hypothesis. And it's interesting that she talks about the pressure of society but somehow this pressure is reduced to male opression. Lots of beauty standards are anforced by women because most men simply don't care. Like you can't wear the same dress twice or two women can't wear the same dress at the same party or wearing the wrong shoes to a dress.
Once I answered the door to a deputy sheriff who had meant to speak to my neighbor next door. I was wearing shorts, it was winter, so I was a "furry" and "No-shave-vember" was well passed. Anyway, the look of utter revulsion on his face was priceless! I have not shaved anything for the past 4 years now and do not miss it one little bit!
But wait... I'm missing where this is a beauty standard made by MEN and how it controls women. Like I'm sure there is an argument to be made... but it's not presented here with any supporting evidence. It just says women shave due to fashion trends
In the 20s men controlled the fashion industry. So they created that trend.
Load More Replies...So a hairy man with a lot of hair on his back walks shirtless and women are gonna go…”oh…nice”? Gimme a break.
I've always kinda thought shaving was a bit perverted. Why are we shaving off the body and facial hair that comes with physical maturity? Are we maybe subconsciously equating attractiveness with being prepubescent? If somebody wants to shave it all off, fine. But I wish there weren't pressure to do it. I personally think it should be fine if people want to have facial and body hair.
The difference between the expectation to shave in men and women is that they are both created by men and only one of them is another way of controlling an entire part of the population's bodies.
How are they created by men? This is the one point I am missing. It seems like it is created by companies trying to sell something.
Load More Replies...Men may not be pressured to the same extent as women about body hair removal, but still, regardless of one's personal taste, it is shown as generally preferable for men to have a smooth chest and belly. Also, lots of athletes shave, but I guess that's for practical reasons. And, finally, in Japan it is over all preferred for people to have less body hair in general. Still, this is a valid insight.
How did we jump from "it's a fashion trend that started in the 1920s" to "it's a tool by men to control women"? That doesn't even make sense. How would encouraging women to shave their armpits enable men to control women? What, is it harder to control a woman with hairy armpits? Are women with hairy armpits more able to rebel against the oppression of the evil patriarchy? Umm, how, exactly? Maybe what she meant to say was that women only does this because they are controlled by men and men prefer women with shaved armpits. But that explains nothing. Why would men prefer women with shaved armpits? Did women in the 1920s resent shaving their armpits but they were forced to do so by oppressive men? Yet most women today shave without any men holding them down and forcing them. This theory doesn't match reality.
it's literally a choice and you shouldn't feel pressured to do one or the other. If you want to shave? Shave. If you don't, then don't. I will say this, as a man, i wish i didn't have underarm hair...its not exactly hygienic in summer especially if you're physically active outdoors like me and really amplifies BO when working out or hiking...just yuck. I would totally shave but...razor burn and antiperspirant is not a great combination.
This doesn’t explain why though. Just goes over the history of how it started, with no reason as to why it was popular besides “sleeveless dresses and Gillette” but doesn’t say why society was compelled.
If someone feels required or forced to shave a certain area of their body I think its that persons personal issue. If you are willing to conform to "normal" beauty standards and do things that you dont want to do such as shave your armpits I think that you worry to much about others opinions of you. My daughter goes long periods without shaving her armpits and I really had to learn to accept that she is comfortable in her own body to not shave because she doesnt want to. She does shave but she doesnt do it to please others she doesnt it when she is ready, and doesnt worry about what others think if she doesnt.
It takes a lot of courage to do what your daughter does. No one likes to be stared at and judged.
Load More Replies...Man here. I shave my face since I was 12yo. Wasn't allowed facial hair in school. At 17 I started trimming my armpits, chest and below. I discovered then that the effects of my deodorant lasted longer and never again suffer an episode of jock itch in my groin area. Less body hair, less bacteria and less bacteria means less odor.
Not to long ago, in my mid twenties (I'm 32 now), I lived in China and I had a very close English bloke who dated Chinese women. I am ashamed to say that when he told me a few never shaved their armpits I was disgusted. I've grown, though, and really, to each their own. Your body, your choice.
There can be hygine reasons for shaving underarm hair - less hair means less surface area for odor-causing bacteria to grow on. But that is equally the case for both/all genders.
You are right, but other hygenical reasons point against shaving. E.g. pubic hair makes it harder for bacteria to reach the vagina. Also both pubic hair and armpit hair reduce friction of skin to skin.
Load More Replies...I don't agree men aren't pressured to shave, at least their faces. Long hair on a face is considered unprofessional, unhygienic. There's definitely some level of pressure.
"Men have never been pressured to shave" Are you serious? You have never, ever, heard of someone saying that men should shave every day? What planet do you live on?
She is talking about body hair, stop being thick on purpose. Men might be encouraged to shave their body occasionally but they aren’t bullied like women are if they have body hair.
Load More Replies...1915?! I lived through the 90ies and early 00s, happily unaware shaving was a requirement!
I wish to know where you lived. I started being bullied as young as 12 for not shaving my legs.
Load More Replies...This is not the continuous trend you think it is though.
Load More Replies...Facial hair on men is 100% dictated by fashion. Google is your friend. Look up some portraits.
Load More Replies...
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