Reading Response – 9/12

In connection to my technology diary on shaving razors, this week I will be examining hairlessness (and beauty, in general) in “The Hunger Games”. In chapter five, we find Katniss in the Remake Center preparing for the tribute presentation. Katniss is waxed of all hair from her “legs, arms, torso, underarms, and part of the eyebrows” (Collins, 61). Capitol practices are similar to those found in the United States today, as women are often pressured to keep hairless “like a plucked bird, ready for roasting” (Collins, 61). This practice of removing hair off of a woman’s body often creates an image of pre-pubescence and hairlessness is considered to be beautiful by today’s standards. In the Capitol, looks are everything, as Katniss only looks “almost like a human being” after being scrubbed and waxed by Venia and Flavius (Collins, 62). A woman could only be a human being if she looks decent! 

This idea of hairlessness came from an aggressive advertising campaign for women by men (See: Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture). Underarm (then later leg and pubic hair) were problematic even though it was natural. This is similar to the medicalization of other natural female body changes such as menstruation/cramps. So Panem and the United States, changed the way society thought of female body hair. Currently, it is a choice whether one shaves or not; however, many people frown upon a hairy body (especially on a female) because society has normalized the hairless body.

Male bodies in the Capitol, do not escape the beautification either. Flavius has “orange corkscrew locks” and applied “a fresh coat of lipstick to his mouth” (Collins, 62). In addition, Katniss describes most of the stylists, both male and female, as being “dyed, stenciled, and surgically altered” (Collins, 63). In the U.S. today, men aren’t really pressured to wear makeup to feel like they live up to a standard beauty. Once again, it’s a choice, but society normalizes that a made-up face a beautiful face.