Affordable Hair Removal – Electrolysis vs Laser Hair Removal

At what point in history did it become commonplace for women to shave their legs? Why do we do it at all?

Please comment on this as a fashion/grooming trend that is gender-based.
I am aware that not all cultures practice routine shaving of leg hair. I am asking for comments relating to cultures that do.
I am also aware of Hair Removal for sports purposes. This is irrelevant to my question.

I think the shaving history link is interesting, but I’m not entirely convinced about the advertising campaign. That timeline is questionable: Not only are the dates wrong, but what I have read is that Alexander the Great required shaving so that opponents couldn’t grab his soldiers’ beards.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=444

(Sorry, I can’t come up with a better source.) Although it could be that he just couldn’t grow one himself and made sure that nobody else could, either.

And women started wearing sleeveless gowns before the 1900′s. Here are two examples:

http://www.abcgallery.com/C/corot/corot11.html

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_Of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=2&viewMode=1&item=16.53

I have read that feminine leg-shaving was a consequence of the short skirts of the 1920′s and the availability of sheer, flesh-colored stockings. Early silent films show women wearing black hose.

If you were to rely on examples from Western art, you would believe that women grew no hair except on their heads. Shaving removes some signs of sexual maturity, making women somehow “purer” when depicted. On real women, it meant that they were actually showing off their bodies, proving that they had loose morals.

The 1920′s were a time of great social and sexual change–women gained the vote and more freedoms. Interestingly, the relative skimpiness of women’s dress (no sleeves, short skirts) is countered by a de-sexualized style–no breasts, no waist, and short hair–so the removal of body hair would make sense.

Here are some other explanations:

http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/cohn2f96.html

http://www.goines.net/Writing/short_skirts2.html