This week, the girlies are hairy on main to address the question: why are we so obsessed with being smooth? From ancient sugaring practices to TikTok lasers, they trace the cultural history of body hair and explore how whiteness, misogyny, hygiene myths, and beauty marketing all converged to make your stubble a moral failing. Digressions include Eliza's ongoing war with air travel, Lena Dunham's latest press tour, and non-qualified med spas that will definitely leave you botched. This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Eliza McLamb and edited by Allison Hagan. Research assistance from Kylie Finnigan. To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, zoom hangouts and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today. SOURCES: A full Brazilian or all natural: understanding the influences on young women's decision to remove their pubic hair ASU professor encourages students to defy body hair norms Body Hair Removal: The 'Mundane' Production of Normative Femininity. Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture Darker-skinned people urged to take extra precautions as laser hair removal industry booms From flint razors to lasers: a timeline of hair removal methods Hair or Bare?: The History of American Women and Hair Removal, 1914-1934 History of Hair Removal How the beauty industry convinced women to shave their legs How Much A Beauty Editor's Hair Removal Routine Actually Costs Male Stigmatization of Female Body Hair Mapping 'Gross' Bodies: The Regulatory Politics of Disgust Plucked: A History of Hair Removal by Rebecca Herzig 'Plucked': Race, gender, science, medicine converge in history of hair removal Pubic Hair Grooming Prevalence and Motivation Among Women in the United States Shaving and fashion: A storied history The Casualties of Women's War on Body Hair The Hair-Raising History of Women's Body Hair The History of Female Hair Removal The Naked Truth: Why Humans Have No Fur The Strange Secret History Of Hair Removal Will Blow Your Mind Trends in body hair removal as depicted through art UNSHAVED resistance & revolution in women's body hair politics Why women feel pressured to shave
