Please allow me to append that with:
Burma-Shave
ETA:
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I was thinking more the 19700’s… BC. And even in the Upper Paleolithic humans had enough tools and techniques to do “unnatural” things to the body like cut hair and apply cosmetics.
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There are also reports of gonorrhoea infections in stomas, just to add to the wonderment.
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Well yes, but to say that ungroomed/untrimmed pubic hair was only the province of Clan of the Cave Bear is also untrue. A few months ago we had that collection of every Playboy centerfold ever and you can watch the rise and fall of pubic hair (and leg hair!) over the decades.
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The rise and fall of female hair removal is actually something that’s actually pretty well researched and documented. Of course, modern hair removal trends are driven largely by conformism dictated by marketing and corporate greed.
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On a related note: What is a merkin?
“Natural” as in not requiring upkeep. And modern society requires a ridiculous amount of upkeep from women, asking us to be insecure about a lot of things and then peddling dozens of products to “solve” our insecurities. Also, pre-civilisational is a rather huge stretch. Bushes were trendy in the 70s, and likely before that in other social contexts too.
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I was just discussing on another thread the current trend of under-30’s women to shave their forearms. My daughter does, and I’ve seen a lot of women in their 20’s doing it too. I have rampantly hairy forearms, but it had never occurred to me to shave them until I realized younger women did it (still not gonna do it though, shaving is a PITA enough already).
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I’m mid 30’s and when I was younger I knew of some girls with very dark arm hair that shaved it but yeah, it was pretty rare.
I also knew a girl who accidentally shaved a patch when she reached up to scratch her arm while shaving her legs. Then she felt like she had to shave the whole thing and keep doing so to avoid looking weird. She finally grew her arm hair back out at summer camp, which is where I heard the story.
Personally I only shaved my legs for a few years before ingrown hairs convinced me otherwise. High-school boyfriend was not pleased, but it was mostly a non-issue. I was goth so I just wore knee socks all the time, still do frequently despite being in my 30’s.
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“[T]he nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to the distinction of sex, or to the beauty of manliness and strength.” (Lactatius, On the Workmanship of God, Chapter 7)
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I had my arms waxed one Halloween because I was dressing as a creepy doll, and a doll with arm hair just doesn’t look right (especially under white makeup!). So I had these weird hairless baby arms until it grew back in. I’ve got enough grooming to deal with, without throwing that in there too, so they can just stay furry, thanks.
Yeah, when my dad dropped his 'stache for a year or two, it sure looked weird. Still, while I have occasionally read arguments that those that prefer shaved genitals are kinda pedo, I haven’t heard the same about shaved chins. This being the internet, tho, I am sure I have just missed it. 
Apparently most German guys are clean shaven, or at least those who go to public saunas shave before they go. I was not aware of this convention beforehand.
Maybe it’s just me, but this is sounding perverted in a David Lynch kind of way…
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