Thread: Historical Question on Female Shaving

Something popped into my demented little head recently.

Before the advent of safety razors, did women use straight razors to shave their legs, arms, etc? Or would true historical accuracy require us to imagine women of the Victorian age and before sporting a rather hairy Mediterannean look?

Anyone know?

Not demented at all... Some history of it here...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/ladie...-we-shave.html

Hello everybody!

The 3/8 blades were made for women.. (no sexism here)

As an exemple of "old" blade for woman, one (in the middle) out of my collection that I need to restore (the scales are made of silver):

Oooooooo, that is a pretty one Kara! Thanks for sharing the photos and the info.

ooooooo I want one!!!

Pearl

Originally Posted by Karakoup1

Hello everybody!

The 3/8 blades were made for women.. (no sexism here)

As an exemple of "old" blade for woman, one (in the middle) out of my collection that I need to restore (the scales are made of silver):

Removing body hair might have ancient roots for women but I do not believe it was popular until recently. First, the women in my Grandpa's home told me they did not shave until after the War. My Grandma's first razor was a Injector from the early 50s. Second, the Mennonites in Belize maintain the traditions of their forefathers, or foremothers in this case, and do not shave. They don't bathe, either. Third, women from many ethnic groups do not have the same amount of hair that European women do, nor is it as thick. Beloved Wife, for example, has very soft hair and Whiggamore does not really notice if she shaves or not unless he makes sure to look. Why make all this fuss to remove something that nobody is making a fuss over? For those three reasons, I think this is a recent phenomenon.

Originally Posted by Whiggamore

Removing body hair might have ancient roots for women but I do not believe it was popular until recently. First, the women in my Grandpa's home told me they did not shave until after the War. My Grandma's first razor was a Injector from the early 50s. Second, the Mennonites in Belize maintain the traditions of their forefathers, or foremothers in this case, and do not shave. They don't bathe, either. Third, women from many ethnic groups do not have the same amount of hair that European women do, nor is it as thick. Beloved Wife, for example, has very soft hair and Whiggamore does not really notice if she shaves or not unless he makes sure to look. Why make all this fuss to remove something that nobody is making a fuss over? For those three reasons, I think this is a recent phenomenon.

Dear Whiggamore,

I am not an historian nor an ethonolog, but.... I do know that women from the aristocracy as well as the bourgeoisie were used to shave the hair from... their face, especially the eyebrows.

This was posted by Kees in the netherland on SRP: http://www.quikshave.com/timeline.htm

Originally Posted by Karakoup1

Dear Whiggamore,

I am not an historian nor an ethonolog, but.... I do know that women from the aristocracy as well as the bourgeoisie were used to shave the hair from... their face, especially the eyebrows.

This was posted by Kees in the netherland on SRP: The Shaving Historical Timeline

I'm sure they did. I still don't think it was popular, though. In ancient times, who knows? In India, maybe. But in Christendom, I doubt it.

ooooooooo I want one too. Just to have.

Hey All--

I know this is an old thread, but I thought this might be interesting to any other late-night forum browsers out there:

http://history.barnard.edu/sites/def...nsenthesis.pdf

It's an undergraduate senior thesis from a student at Barnard, entitled Hair or Bare? The History of American Women and Hair Removal, 1914-1934. It's a bit of a read, but I thought I'd put it out there--originally I found a link to it in a forum on the Badger and the Blade.