In Western countries, many women engage in leg shaving[citation needed], doing so largely for aesthetic reasons. This practice has developed especially since the early 20th century,[2][3] around the time of the First World War, as hemlines on women's dresses have become shorter and women's swimsuits have become more revealing, displaying all of a woman's legs.[4][5]
Some women may only shave the hair below the knee – depending on the length of dress styles in fashion – while others shave the entire leg.[6] The frequency of shaving also varies, with some women shaving their legs every day, and others shaving only at the start of summer, in anticipation of the wearing of a swimsuit[citation needed].
Special razors, different in shape from those used by men for face-shaving, are often used by women[citation needed].
Men
Among Western men, the shaving of legs is common in sporting situations and in fact has been taking place for longer than women shaving their legs.[citation needed] Male leg hair removal in modern times was initially related to sports[citation needed], though it is now more frequently done for aesthetics.[citation needed]
For sports such as cycling and swimming, men started shaving their legs around the turn of the 20th century.[citation needed] Most male swimmers, bicycle racers, and some male non-racers shave their legs regularly.[citation needed] The practice is most useful in long-distance swimming, where the effects of drag can cause a significant time difference in races over 400 meters. Other reasons cyclists shave include: faster healing and easier cleaning of road rash, less pain during leg massage[citation needed].
Seneca suggested that in ancient Rome it was considered an ostentatious bit of effeminacy, contrary to underarm hair removal: "One is, I believe, as faulty as the other: the one class are unreasonably elaborate, the other are unreasonably negligent; the former depilate the leg, the latter not even the armpit" (letter 114). Summers cites Ovid, A. A. i. 506 "Don't rub your legs smooth with the tight-scraping pumice stone."
Many athletes also shave their legs or bodies to facilitate therapeutic massage that is frequently a part of their training or post-race recovery programs[citation needed]. They may also shave their legs if they tape protective gear to them to prevent the tape from pulling painfully on the hair when removed[citation needed]. Shaving of the legs is also frequently practiced by male models[citation needed] and bodybuilders, since it accentuates muscle definition.
^Hope, Christine (1982). "Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture". Journal of American Culture. 5 (1): 93–99. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.1982.0501_93.x.
