So I was telling my girlfriend about an anecdote I'd heard in high school history. Where some people in London during the great plague believed that syphilis could cure or prevent the Black Death. I'm not sure how true this was but it ended up leading to a discussion about medieval sexual practices and hygiene etc. We came to wondering if people 'back then' were generally hairier then they are now.

I figured the best place to ask would be here. Today, western culture seems to have an aversion to body hair of all types. Especially on women. It's quite common for women to shave their legs, armpits, pubic regions etc. When did this trend start? Is it a relatively recent phenomena or is it something that people have always done?