Why is it that women are expected to shave their underarms, legs and the majority of surfaces on their bodies, while men are not? And, consequently, if they choose not to shave, they are stereotyped in the public eye as “unhygienic” or “granola.” 

The Gillette razor company is a mass contributor to this current stigmatization of female body hair in the U.S. 

This stigma was influenced by Gillette’s targeted, aggressive marketing strategies in the early 1900s toward women. Gillette first became a household staple in 1901, advertising the safety razor to military men and contracting with the U.S. Army to supply it to soldiers. Yet, in 1915, Gillette shifted its marketing to capitalize off of women’s shame with its invention of the women’s razor. 

With the 19th-century shift in women’s fashion to sleeveless dresses and shorter hemlines, Gillette began promoting the notion that women’s body hair was an “embarrassing personal problem.” 

Gillette’s first ad for the female razor “Milady Décolleté” specifically targeted underarm hair shaving: “The Milady Décolleté is a beautiful addition to Milady’s toilet table – and one that solves an embarrassing personal problem. Milady Décolleté Gillette is welcomed by women everywhere – now that a feature of good dressing and good grooming is to keep the underarm white and smooth.”

Similar ads populated rapidly across the U.S. following Gillette’s 1917 advertisement. In 1922, Harper's Bazaar ran one of the first magazine ads specifically targeting underarm hair: “Without Embarrassment, An Intimate Talk to Women – The fastidious women today must have immaculate underarms if she is to be unembarrassed.”

According to Hub Spot, by the 1960s, 98% of American women between the ages of 15 and 44 reported they removed some body hair. By 1980, Gillette produced advertisements such as “Just Whistle – Gillette” that helped women to “get someone’s (men’s) attention. Just Whistle.”

Although Gillette's marketing today primarily targets men’s facial hair, women in the U.S. are still expected to purchase razors and shave tirelessly. When Julia Roberts hit the red carpet waving enthusiastically at fans and revealing two small bushels of armpit hair, there were hundreds of articles from Vogue to The Today Show discussing it. 

Does the fashion media seriously have nothing better to do than cover a woman’s natural hair growth? If a man today stepped onto a red carpet with visible armpit hair, the American public would likely not bat an eye. 

According to product review and finance publication The Balance, personal care products targeted to women cost nearly 13% more than those targeted to men as of 2022. This includes razor cartridges, which had the greatest markups of 25% compared to men’s products, the data showed. 

Yet, women are criticized and even publicly shamed if they do not shave. If women are expected to shave until they are hairless, then why do women pay millions more nationwide for razors? 

Gillette’s newest advertisement should read: “Dear Gillette, thanks for centuries of stigma.” Sincerely, women in the U.S.