# Do French women in general shave their armpits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575 "2005-10-30T07:17:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/1 "2005-10-30T07:17:37Z")
Is it true that most French women don’t shave their armpits or is this just a dated joke that no longer applies? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/2 "2005-10-30T09:27:02Z")
Many don’t. Many do. I think younger people tend to shave nowadays, but it’s not a 100% thing. At least, that’s from personal observation on the several times I’ve been to France. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/3 "2005-10-30T11:11:33Z")
It’s dated. Probably a slightly higher percentage don’t shave than in the USA, but it’s much less than you’d think. irishgirl, who has spent time in French female communal dressing rooms. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/4 "2005-10-30T12:55:17Z")
IME there seems to be a divide at about age 35 or so, where most women younger will and most older won’t. There is another divide with married/unmarried, where it appears most married women stop shaving. I’ve always found Italian women to be less likely to shave their armpits than French women. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/5 "2005-10-30T13:30:47Z")
In the late 60s (a generation ago)I asked my German secretary/receptionist about this. She said that three kinds of women shaved, street walkers, movie stars and Americans. She was not trying to be funny. The younger women were shaving and the ads on German TV at the time for ladies razors, roll-on deodorant and lotions meant that change was coming. You got the idea that Frau Mannstein did not approve of this change. She was a sad case but typical of many: a childless, middle aged widow whose husband has disappeared on the Eastern Front and who had worked for the US Forces since the end of the war. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/6 "2005-10-30T13:37:37Z")
> [@](#): > > She said that three kinds of women shaved, street walkers, movie stars and Americans. It seems bizarre that street walkers would be in this group. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/7 "2005-10-30T13:41:48Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > irishgirl, who has spent time in French female communal dressing rooms This fascinates me for some reason. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/8 "2005-10-30T18:54:31Z")
Nasty habit. Shaved armpit skin looks oogy. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/9 "2005-10-30T19:06:26Z")
Is it true that all the girls in France do the hoochie-coochie dance? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/10 "2005-10-30T19:22:42Z")
Damn straight they do. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/11 "2005-10-30T19:56:53Z")
A month ago I saw a woman with unshaved armpits. It was so unusual that the sight clearly hit me. So I would say it’s no longer true. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/12 "2005-10-30T20:10:58Z")
This question would seem to be unrelated to the fact that french women are so skinny. An other interesting factoid I’ve gleaned from foriegn films. mangeorge, who considers the “bikini shave” to be ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/13 "2005-10-30T20:58:16Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Nasty habit. Shaved armpit skin looks oogy. Mine doesn’t! Anyway, don’t get too smug, Americans. Muslims—men and women alike—shave\* both their armpit hair and pubic hair as a religious tradition. From their point of view, pubically hirsute Americans must seem as gross as Europeans seem to Americans. \*Actually, Muslim women tend to “wax” it off with sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/14 "2005-10-30T22:21:42Z")
Where/when did this meme start? Ogling yurpean wimmin for over 30 years in at least 15 countries tells me that most of them shave. The dividing line seems to be that younger women shave more … ahem … areas, whereas women over 30 stick to armpits and legs. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/15 "2005-10-30T23:24:39Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > Where/when did this meme start? Most likely about the time when American women began to shave. When was that? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/16 "2005-10-30T23:31:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Most likely about the time when American women began to shave. When was that? Post-WWI. Depilatories and women’s razors began advertising in the late 1910s, early '20s. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/17 "2005-10-31T00:13:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Most likely about the time when American women began to shave. When was that? This may be an urban myth, but I heard once that it started as a result of men returning from WWI. They would tell the women at home that European women shaved their legs and armpits, and the American women adopted this custom. Later the women here realized that it was only the prostitutes that did this, and the men had developed this mistaken impression by… oh I don’t know… spending time in meaningful conversations with these women, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/18 "2005-10-31T01:01:20Z")
aw geez I just went to a Halloween party as a French Maid and, while I did shave my legs, I left my armpits. When people asked, I said, "Well y’know, I am a _French_ maid. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/19 "2005-10-31T01:35:25Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Mine doesn’t! > > Anyway, don’t get too smug, Americans. Muslims—men and women alike—shave\* both their armpit hair and pubic hair as a religious tradition. From their point of view, pubically hirsute Americans must seem as gross as Europeans seem to Americans. > > \*Actually, Muslim women tend to “wax” it off with sugar. Huh, this I did not know. How do you remove hair with sugar? ---
**Author:** ![zahara2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/53a042/32.png) [@zahara2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zahara2)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575/20 "2005-10-31T01:49:41Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Huh, this I did not know. > > How do you remove hair with sugar? you cook the sugar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-french-women-in-general-shave-their-armpits/328575.md?page=2)