Introduction: Necessary suffering

The hairless Indian : savagery and civility before the Civil War

"Chemicals of the toilette" : from homemade remedies to a new industrial order

Bearded women and dog-faced men : Darwin's great denudation

"Smooth, white, velvety skin" : x-ray salons and social mobility

Glandular trouble : sex hormones and deviant hair growth

Unshaven : "arm-pit feminists" and women's liberation

"Cleaning the basement" : labor, pornography, and Brazilian waxing

Magic bullets : laser regulation and elective medicine

"The next frontier" : genetic enhancement and the end of hair

Conclusion: We are all plucked.