Regarding hygiene/grooming, is there a distinct time when shaving of the face, legs, etc. in men and women became more common or was it a practice slowly adopted over a longer period of time? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

Regarding hygiene/grooming, is there a distinct time when shaving of the face, legs, etc. in men and women became more common or was it a practice slowly adopted over a longer period of time?

by aokmnj

Was shaving a sign of social status/or wealth? Is it known whether specific cultures adopted it more readily than others?

gynnis-scholasticus

You might be interested in some earlier answers mentioning shaving and body hair:

On hygiene and grooming in Ancient Egypt, by u/Bentresh
On facial hair in Ancient Greece and Rome, by u/toldinstone
On body hair removal in Rome, by u/Celebreth
On mediaeval women's body hair, by u/sunagainstgold
On body hair shaving in the Crusader states, by u/AboubenAdhem, the same story also mentioned by u/WelfOnTheShelf in this thread
On the modern custom of body hair shaving by chocolatepot, alias u/mimicmodes

(shoutout to u/voyeur324 and u/King_of_Men for linking to some of these answers before!)