 |  | | | The Politics of Body Hair Removal | 11 July 2006 | | |
Feminists down the ages have argued that the oppression of women is played out on their bodies. In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft told us bitterly that women, "confined in cages like the feathered race...have nothing to do but to plume themselves, and stalk with mock majesty from perch to perch".
In the '60s and '70s some feminists encouraged women to keep their body hair and to feel comfortable with their bodies as they were. Now women resort to countless methods to get rid of unwanted hair - cream, shaving, waxing, electrolysis and laser treatments. Last year women are said to have spent £280 million on such products.
Increasingly, too, hair removal is becoming popular among men. One survey suggests that 20% of British men remove body hair. Why are more and more men turning to waxing? And what does this say about modern masculinity?
Jenni Murray will be discussing the politics of hair removal with author Yvonne Roberts and public relations consultant Jaye Thompson.
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