The smooth skin every woman wants!: A historical look at changing trends in advertisements for U.S. women's shaving and body hair removal products (1920s–2020s)

Abstract

In this study, I performed a qualitative longitudinal thematic analysis of 264 advertisements for women's body hair removal products (e.g., razors, depilation creams) spanning the last 100 years from the 1920s to the 2020s. Patterns of continuity and the changes in the imagery, symbolism, and written texts in these advertisements were examined. Results suggest shifting historical patterns that coalesce around: 1) the body parts focused on in the advertisements, with shifts from the underarms to the legs to pubic hair over time; 2) the messages to women about cleanliness, hygiene, and attractiveness, with a move from more overt descriptions of abjection to more subtle messages about sexuality and empowerment; 3) remarkable consistency of the virtues of whiteness, with notable lack of diversity about race, size, age, disability, and skin color; 4) changing norms of sexism, from treating women's body hair as a tainting (1920s–1950s) to seeing women as frivolous (1960s and 1970s) to overtly sexualizing women (1980s and 1990s) to selling neoliberal empowerment (2000s and beyond); and 5) limited forms of progress, particularly around expanding women's roles (e.g., athletes, working mothers). Implications for the tension between overt and more subtle forms of patriarchal control of women's bodies, the creation and maintenance of a ubiquitous body norm, and critiques of sexual objectification and neoliberal framing of power and empowerment are included.