Jomaryngs wrote:Where did this fad for hair removal come from? I can't shake the thought that this fad will pass like all the fads before it, and no one will give us a refund for our monthly waxing sessions, haha.
Welcome to the forum, Jomaryngs.
Yes, the preference for de-haired body parts is far from universal. Across cultures or over the terrain of our skin. Women in the U.S. customarily shaved their underarms and legs, but not their pubic hair until recently. Women in parts of Europe still (as far as I know) do not shave underarms. Some women like to be able to dive into a bit of brush to get to a picnic and others dislike having to pick the occasional pubic hair from between their teeth. (And the "fad" of oral sex might be part of the "fad" of hair removal.)
A practical reason for me was, before implant, I would trim my pubic hair short so that it would be shorter than my penis!
Trimming underarm hair cuts down on my underarm deodorant consumption. (And having a moustache reduces my chapstick use.)
Of course, nature provides hair for other purposes. Each area of our bodies plays host to microbiomes (different populations for different sites, by the way) and the symbiotic relationship between us and them is just now becoming a subject of scientific study.
So you see, some of the reasons are practical, some aesthetic and some sexual.
So, your point is well taken. We change our preferences according to our activities and understanding and those change over time and between cultures. But I ask if this is a fad, a cyclic progression or an evolution.