The Gnostic aesthetics of leg waxing

A couple weeks ago I had my annual leg wax. I only get my legs waxed once a year – in the spring, when baring one’s legs becomes newly possible – because the process is expensive and painful. After that I just shave them, which doesn’t leave them as smooth for as long. (I’m bemused by the association of women with weakness when beauty treatments are so metal: you rip out your hair with hot wax, or even literally get shot with lasers.) I’ve noted before how feminine beauty is deserving of attention in philosophical aesthetics. So we might well pause on how remarkable it is that so many of us do pay money to have our leg hairs ripped out with hot wax. One of the most striking things to me about leg waxing is how unnatural it is – fighting against our bodies’ natural tendencies. A French proverb says il faut souffrir pour être belle – you must suffer to be beautiful – which would scarcely be the case if it just involved leaving your body in its natural state. Without such interventions,…