Razors have been around since the dawn of time, keeping body hair tidy and trim depending on what the style and practicalities were, throughout different periods of history. Dating back to the Bronze Age, razors were made from flint, clams and shark teeth, while the modern razor as we know it was first introduced in the 18th century. So we've always been interested in grooming our body hair, but how have the norms changed in the modern era?

In the UK, in the run-up to the First World War, women's fashion was quickly speeding away from Victorian ideals, floor-length dresses and primarily long sleeves, towards more open and shorter designs. With more of the body now seen, ideas about what these parts of the bared body should look like began to develop. And some people decided to take advantage of this.

Razors began to be advertised to women by companies like Gillette and others. Body hair removal for women up until then was done mainly with creams, waxing or tweezing, but in 1915 Gillete first marketed its female razor - the Milady Décolleté.

During World War II this need for razors by women only increased. It was essential for women to remove hair from their legs as the only stockings available were liquid stockings, which were essentially foundation for your legs. Similarly to bottled fake tan, it only worked on legs with little to no hair.

But it was when the advertisement industry really took off in the 1960s that women really started paying attention to hair removal. Razors were marketed equally now to both men and women: men to look sharp and professional by having a daily shave, and women to look clean and ladylike with no stray hairs growing in any way that was considered “masculine”.

Gender role branding is often accompanied by resistance, however, and body hair is no exception.

In the 1970s members of the feminist movement let their hair on their bodies grow naturally without maintenance or shaving, in an act of opposition to gender norms, and attempt to take complete control of their bodies. This trend is still widely topical among the feminist community.

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