h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

waxing lyrical Vesty? Yet another of your terrible puns?

all you guys are complaining about shaving your face but what about us ladies? Do you think we really enjoy shaving our legs? We do it because our boyfriend or husbands think hairy legs are gross. I personally think it is a stupid ritual and often say i will stop, but continue to do so, at least in the summer. Can anyone tell me where the idea of shaving ones legs originated?

Pubic hair grows slower and in a spiral as opposed to the rapid relatively staight growth on most people's heads, hence the curly nature of it. . .It is also generally coarser. I'm not an expert on this you understand. . .It's just something I read once.

I think it is because guys generally like the feel of silky smooth legs, if a woman was hairier than a man with respect to leg hair then he would have to deal with many thoughts that he would rather not. I personally think that facial hair is great (but that's because I'm 20 and still have very little worth shaving after three days. . .I get asked for ID everywhere and generally get insulted by balshy old ladies in shops)

When you wonder why anything is done ask, "Whose interest is it in?"
Who gains from women shaving their legs, men shaving their beards and so on?
It is said that soap manufacturers had to tell people they were dirty before they could sell them soap.
Male cosmetics now have a place in the market. This is very recent. Watch out for the marketeers - selling fridges to Innuit is child's play to them.

My husband has no trouble with people selling male cosmetics. They take one look at his bearded face and decide not to bother. Mind you, he doesn't have a full set and one woman did try to convince him that the part he shaved would benefit from a moisturiser. She didn't get anywhere!

Is anyone old enough to remember the invention of B.O.? I think it was Lifebouy soap that coined the phrase. They had people whispering "B.O." in very loud whispers to their best friend who didn't know any better.
And now we have Mach 3 razors - how have we survived without them this far?

Yes, I remember B.O. and the Lifebuoy ads. The slogan was 'Lifebuoy kicks out B.O.' I was about 6 at the time, and remember thinking that that left 'Lifeuy' and wondering how you pronounced it!

Talking of pronunciation and the transatlantic context of the site here, I was wondereing whether the American contributors pronounce Lifebouy as life boy or life boo-ee - like they do in Bay Watch?

Because they need to know the English pronunciation to get this little bit of soapy humour.
A conversation between Popeye and Olive Oyle:
"Will ya hold me Palmolive?
"Not on your Lifebouy!"

shaving your legs is a sex thing then - women shave their legs so they get laid. Thats my opinion.

I think you're probably right. Mind you, a lot of my mates shave their faces because their girlfriends tell them to. And what is the point of mach 3 razors? OK so you MAY only scrape them over your face one third of the times, (UNLIKELY), but there are three blades = the same amount of irritation or whatever they're supposed to stop!

Americans (in the Southern U.S.) pronounce it "Lauf-boy" As in "Daalin, will ya be a doll and get me some more Laufboy?"

Thank you, finally someone who undestands! I've been trying to explain this to people I know since the damn things came out but no one understood! I thought maybe I was cracking up for a while but now you have proved my sanity and it the rest of the world who is mad ....

Fate. You are saying that women shave their legs to get laid.

Does that mean women who don't want to get laid stop shaving their legs?
Do mummies stop shaving their legs? Do grannies stop shaving their legs? Are all of these women looking to get laid.

I didn't know!

Either that(who's to say women don't got it after 35?), or they're trying to not lose their youthfulness. In my opinion, it's some sort of fashion coordination thing. I mean, it's only logical that since we don't grow beards or mushtaches(with the possible exception of a few), that we ban hair from existing on any other frequently viewed parts of our bodies.

I stand by what I said - mothers who want to get laid, most likely shave their legs. If they're not looking for fresh meat (as it were) then probably not so often but even so...
It's sad but it's fact - I know of women who only 'do' thier bikini line when there's a chance of scoring on the horizon. Same goes 100 fold for legs.

Interesting (if slightly sad) debate. On the whole, I'd say that both men and women shave because:

1 - it's the social norm (in the west)
2 - generally, it feels more comfortable/nicer
3 - also usually looks better/distinguishes us from other animals
4 - partners prefer it
5 - can't think of a point 5 right now

For me, nasal hair is the most unspeakable. I met a pen pal for the first time, to discover two forests growing from his nostrils. We never met again! (Okay, there was slightly more to it, but that's not relevant to the current discussion).

But that still doesn't answer the question, where did the idea of shaving ones legs originate? i would like to know..

I think Gillette invented it.

*Gillette's head office*

"My GOD, we've made 4 million razors before we noticed somebody dropped pink colouring in the plastic moulding. Men won't buy pink razors and women don't shave!"

"Boss I've got an idea. Let's tell women that leg hair is ugly and they shouldn't have it. Then we can tell them all is not lost because we've got Ladies' Razors!"

"Yeah, and tell 'em they can shave their whole bodies including the bit around their thing."

"How do we get 'bit around your thing' into the advert?"

"Erm... Give it a new, sexy name. How about Knicker Zone!"

"Nope, I don't like it - doesn't sound healthy enough."

"I know - How about Bikini Line!"

"Now we're cookin'!"

Of course the saddest part of that is that it is probably half way to the truth....