Hair removal

Hair removal is to remove, temporarily or permanently the hair worn by a man or a woman. It can affect all parts of the body, more visible (face, legs, arms, etc..) to intimate (pubic hair). The reasons range from the standards of beauty with comfort, hygiene and decency.

History

In ancient Egypt, priests and Pharaohs removed full body hair. It was then a hallmark to signify purity. The hair was indeed perceived as unclean.

In ancient Greece, pubic hair removal was set for women in the classical period, with a view to avoid anything that might make them similar to men.

At the beginning of the Christian era, the Carthaginians were already familiar with tweezers but also used the resin. Tertullian attributes these practices to the Greek influence.

West countries

Hair removal, new body fashion

Fashion of underarms, pubic and chest hair removal recently took a large force. This is probably due to both the world of sports and sportsmen, and women from the world of cinema, in order to escape the censorship laws that forbade any body hair to show that can not show the genital area (Hays Code), the pornographic movie industry has resorted to waxing. Finally, the countries of Muslim culture has always resorted to body hair removal, the current population movements have led to a mixing of cultural influences may also play a role.

The male hair removal

The male waxing, which had fallen into disuse, is a fairly recent phenomenon since the 1990s, men simply far to adapt their facial hair fashion, cutting their beards, or by shaving more or less completely.

In recent decades, the ad uses the sensuality of male models to promote products such as perfumes, underwear, etc.. The vast majority of campaigns presents models hairless or shaven, and creating a way for full male waxing.

In sports and in particular in cycling, wrestling, tennis, football and rugby, hair removal is recommended. Indeed, in a sport whose clothing equipment are tight to the skin, the friction of the skin against certain textiles can cause irritation. On the shaved skin, the hair does take longer then in mesh fabrics. It is for this reason that some sports practices advise a hair removal of certain body parts.

Benefits and harms of waxing

To date, no scientific study could determine a specific role for axillary and pubic hairs in humans.

The variable presence of hair is natural and generally in all terrestrial mammals including humans part. Note, however, that some primates pubic hair is weaker or non-existent as in the Mandrill. Furthermore, all humans are not equipped with axillary and pubic hair such as Xingu in the Amazon. They live almost naked constantly and studies of these tribes do not state specific urogenital problems. In addition, the size of the bristles (of the order of 100 microns) is much too high to prevent bacteria (of the order of 1 micron) or virus (400 nm for larger) from passing. The protective role attributed to pubic hair removal by anti-groups would be questionable.

In his essay From hairy to smooth: history and aesthetics of the intimate hair removal, Jean Da Silva writes about male hair removal that “disturbing the distinctive gender order and the pattern in which the male is known as hairy and the feminine as smooth, hair removal, in its entirety, in particular, is seen as a violation of anthropological and cultural references, and sometimes negatively evaluated as a deviance, a sign of moral drift, sometimes positive sign of a yearning for freedom of body. “

During surgery, it is customary to shave the surgical field. Shaving creating small lesions in the skin the risk of postoperative infections was supposed increased. Shaving has sometimes given way to a depilation cream or scissors, but if these methods are recommended rather, the difference in the risk of infection is not clear.

Translated and adapted from Wikipedia under GNU Free Documentation License.