Editing Leg shaving

{{Short description|Cultural grooming practice}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2011}}

[[File:Mujer afeitando sus piernas.jpg|thumb|250px|Woman shaving her legs]]

'''Leg shaving''' is the practice of removing [[leg hair]] by [[shaving]] the hair off using a [[razor]] or [[electric shaver]].  In addition, some people remove leg hair using [[waxing]], [[sugaring (epilation)|sugaring]], [[depilation|depilatories]], [[epilator]]s or other depilation [[Tool|device]]s, or [[laser hair removal|lasers]], but shaving remains the least expensive and one of the least painful methods.

It is a very common practice among women in the [[western world]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/why-women-feel-pressured-to-shave/index.html|title=Why women feel pressured to shave|author=Marianna Cerini|website=CNN|date=3 March 2020 }}</ref> and is also done by some men, especially [[bodybuilder]]s, [[cycle sport|cyclists]], [[swimming (sport)|swimmers]], and some [[runner]]s.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

==By gender==
===Women===
{{Globalize|section|date=October 2016}}
In Western countries, many women engage in leg shaving{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}, doing so largely for [[aesthetic]] reasons. This practice has developed especially since the early 20th century,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/5/22/8640457/leg-shaving-history|title=How the beauty industry convinced women to shave their legs|first=Phil|last=Edwards|date=May 22, 2015|website=Vox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-24368,00.html|title=When did women start shaving their legs? Was there some other method of leg hair removal before disposable blades? &#124; Notes and Queries &#124; guardian.co.uk|website=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> around the time of the [[First World War]], as [[hemline]]s on women's dresses have become shorter and women's [[swimsuit]]s have become more revealing, displaying all of a woman's legs.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hope|first=Christine|year=1982|title=Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture|journal=Journal of American Culture|volume=5|issue=1|pages=93–99|doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.1982.0501_93.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/625/who-decided-women-should-shave-their-legs-and-underarms |title=Who decided women should shave their legs and underarms? |last1=Adams |first1=Cecil |date=1991-02-06 |website=The Straight Dope |access-date=2015-01-22}}</ref>

Some women may only shave the hair below the knee &ndash; depending on the length of dress styles in fashion &ndash; while others shave the entire leg.<ref name=depilatory>{{cite web|title=History of Hair Removal — In the 20th Century|url=http://www.depilatory.com/core/twentieth.html|website=Marzena Waxing site|access-date=August 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028055037/http://www.depilatory.com/core/twentieth.html|archive-date=2010-10-28|url-status=usurped}}</ref>  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|date=July 2021}}.
Special razors, different in shape from those used by men for face-shaving, are often used by women{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}.

===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|date=July 2021}} Male leg hair removal in modern times was initially related to sports{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}, though it is now more frequently done for aesthetics.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

For sports such as cycling and swimming, men started shaving their legs around the turn of the 20th century.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Most male swimmers, bicycle racers, and some male non-racers shave their legs regularly.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} 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|date=July 2021}}.

[[Seneca the Younger|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" ([[s:Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter 114|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|date=July 2021}}. 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|date=July 2021}}. Shaving of the legs is also frequently practiced by [[male model]]s{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} and [[bodybuilder]]s, since it accentuates [[muscle]] definition.

==See also==
* [[Hair removal]]
* [[Hirsutism]]
* [[Underarm hair]]
* [[Waxing]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Human hair}}

[[Category:Shaving]]