How did female body hair become taboo?

Do you really know?

According to Healthline.com, the human body has around 5 million hair follicles. Now you might not have guessed, but that figure is around the same for both men and women. And our body hair has a lot of important functions.

It helps regulate body temperature by keeping us warm or retaining sweat to cool us down. It also protects sensitive parts of our bodies from infection, like the eyes and genitals. And yet, women often go to great lengths to have their body hair removed, and there’s a taboo around having hairy armpits or other body parts. It’s in no small part down to gendered social control.

Is body hair removal a recent development? When did that become the case? What about pubic hair? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

First broadcast: February, 18th, 2023

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