Human Leg - Cultural Aspects

Cultural Aspects

Adolescent and adult women in many Western cultures often remove the hair from their legs. Toned, tanned, shaved legs are sometimes perceived as a sign of youthfulness and are often considered attractive in these cultures.

Men generally do not shave their legs in any culture. However, leg-shaving is a generally accepted practice in modeling. It is also fairly common in sports where the hair removal makes the athlete appreciably faster by reducing drag; the most common case of this is competitive swimming. It is also practised in many other sports, such as cycling, in which skin injuries are common: the absence of grown hair makes nicks, scratches and bruises heal faster because of the reduced microbial population on shaved skin.

Legs are often used metaphorically in many cultures to indicate either strength or mobility. The supporting columns of an object may be referred to as legs as well, as in chair legs.

Read more about this topic:  Human Leg

Famous quotes containing the words cultural and/or aspects:

    Quite apart from any conscious program, the great cultural historians have always been historical morphologists: seekers after the forms of life, thought, custom, knowledge, art.
    Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)

    An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.
    Simone Weil (1909–1943)