Editing Leg shaving (section)

===Men===
Among Western men, the shaving of legs is common in sporting situations and in fact has been taking place for longer than women shaving their legs.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Male leg hair removal in modern times was initially related to sports{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}, though it is now more frequently done for aesthetics.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

For sports such as cycling and swimming, men started shaving their legs around the turn of the 20th century.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Most male swimmers, bicycle racers, and some male non-racers shave their legs regularly.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} The practice is most useful in long-distance swimming, where the effects of drag can cause a significant time difference in races over 400 meters. Other reasons cyclists shave include: faster healing and easier cleaning of [[road rash]], less pain during leg massage{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}.

[[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] suggested that in ancient Rome it was considered an ostentatious bit of effeminacy, contrary to [[underarm hair]] removal: "One is, I believe, as faulty as the other: the one class are unreasonably elaborate, the other are unreasonably negligent; the former depilate the leg, the latter not even the armpit" ([[s:Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter 114|letter 114]]). Summers cites [[Ovid]], A. A. i. 506 "Don't rub your legs smooth with the tight-scraping pumice stone."

Many athletes also shave their legs or bodies to facilitate therapeutic massage that is frequently a part of their training or post-race recovery programs{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}. They may also shave their legs if they tape protective gear to them to prevent the tape from pulling painfully on the hair when removed{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}. Shaving of the legs is also frequently practiced by [[male model]]s{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} and [[bodybuilder]]s, since it accentuates [[muscle]] definition.