Why do women shave their legs and underarms? When did this custom begin? If it’s for hygienic reasons, why don’t men do it too? Is it all a big conspiracy by the razor companies? I’ve heard some European women don’t shave. Please clarify this mystery. –A., Chicago
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The aim of what Hope calls the Great Underarm Campaign was to inform American womanhood of a problem that till then it didn’t know it had: unsightly underarm hair. To be sure, women had been concerned about the appearance of their hair since time immemorial, but (sensibly) only the stuff you could see. Prior to World War I this meant scalp and, for an unlucky few, facial hair. Around 1915, however, sleeveless dresses became popular, opening up a whole new field for marketers to exploit.
Within three months, Cook tells us, the once-shocking term “underarm” was being used. A few ads mentioned hygiene as a motive for getting rid of hair, but most appealed strictly to the ancient yearning to be hip. “The Woman of Fashion says the underarm must be as smooth as the face,” read a typical pitch.
