Did women in Jane Austen's time shave their legs and armpits?

Question

Did women in Jane Austen's time shave their legs and armpits?

Answer 1

There doesn't seem to be much evidence for women shaving between the classical period (Greek and Roman women shaved) and the 20th century.  Whether women were doing it or not seems to be something of a mystery.

In art, nude women are generally portrayed as smooth-skinned and hairless, but that could just be artistic convention, portraying the female form in an idealised way.  Whether real women were shaving or not doesn't seem to be a subject about which there is much information.

Answer 2

NO.  Even prostitutes didn't shave until the turn of the century.  Women didn't all shave their legs until the twenties when the skirts got shorter.

Answer 3

Nope. Female shaving was invented around 1930, by the razor manufacturers.

Answer 4

yes

Answer 5

Nope. But they never portray that fact in the movies!

Answer 6

Only the prostitutes...and their pubic areas too...probably cuz they had crabs or syphillis and were trying to disguise it.

Answer 7

god i sure hope so.