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As someone who went from having one bushy joined eyebrow as a child to a tweezer-happy teen sporting anorexic arches – and has since been lured into the big business of brow styling and maintenance – it’s fair to say I have an unhealthy interest in what scientists call our supercilia.
Eyebrows are facial punctuation marks that have been a core feature of beauty and fashion since the earliest days of recorded civilisation. However, what they have represented has shifted over time.
Before and after: model Bella Hadid.Credit: Getty Images
Despite being willing to try just about anything to forget my childhood nicknames, Agro and Hairy McLairy, I’m drawing the line at the latest trends of eyebrow shaving (and not of the pencilled variety). Currently, videos on TikTok relating to eyebrow shaving have more than 288 million views.
Those taking part in the shaved-brow trend are doing anything from chopping off the ends of the brows to entirely razoring them away.
The videos suggest it’s popular among young women (and some men). But why is taking off your eyebrows taking off?
Some have attributed it to emulating supermodel Amelia Hamlin, who shaved hers off on TikTok ahead of a fashion shoot, and American rapper Doja Cat, who took a razor to her brows in an Instagram live video.
However, makeup historian Sara Long believes it’s only sometimes about following celebs who are bold and bald. In a recent interview, the adjunct professor of history said while she was at first “perplexed” by shaved eyebrows’ popularity, she now believes it signals female autonomy and empowerment.
Before and after: Doja CatCredit: Getty Images
“I see it with a lot of younger women who maybe don’t want to rush into getting married or having children,” Long says. She also says it sends a message to would-be suitors. “It’s actually saying that that person may not be a good mate or a good person to reproduce with because an absence of eyebrows suggests someone is not sexually mature.”
For those not shaving off all of their eyebrows, but just the tails, blame model Bella Hadid. The “Bella Hadid lift” includes a super straight brow with the ends shaved off, seeking to “straighten” your brows and supposedly lift your face, emulating anti-wrinkle injectors or a facelift.
At first, I thought shaving eyebrows had to be the oddest moment in eyebrow history. But I soon learnt that entirely removing eyebrows isn’t new – although the reasons across the ages are pretty entertaining. Throughout the centuries, eyebrows have gone on quite a journey as people sought to remove, minimise or embellish them.
Records suggest that, when a cat died, all members of its ancient Egyptian household would shave off their eyebrows as a sign of respect and grief. They continued to mourn until their eyebrows grew back – typically as long as six weeks. Ancient Egyptians of all genders were also known to remove their natural brows and paint in more dramatic, sweeping arches.
Before and after: Kanye WestCredit: Getty Images, Sunday Service
Under the Tang Dynasty in China, women shaved their brows to redraw them with makeup in dark shades, including blue and green. Queen Elizabeth I was known to remove her eyebrows entirely and shave the hair atop her forehead. This was to draw attention to other features, namely her breasts.
It’s easy to forget that eyebrows serve functional purposes, not merely fashionable, so I won’t be reaching for a razor despite considering it as a school kid when I loathed my monobrow. Brows protect our eyes from moisture, light and debris from ending up in the eye socket.
Research shows that we unconsciously (and briefly) raise our fluffy tufts of hair when we see someone at a distance, which is a way to signal that we are not a threat.
One American study, at MIT, found eyebrows are a crucial part of facial identification. The behavioral neuroscientists found that an eyebrowless face resembles land without landmarks. It’s almost impossible to recognise them, let alone tell them apart. Research participants were asked to identify photos of celebrities sans eyebrows. It revealed less than half of the faces were identified correctly.
Brows are also barometers for emotions. Charles Darwin documented that humans lift their eyebrows to show sympathy for others.
According to 2011 research, published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, it is easier to detect whether someone is lying by monitoring small eyebrow movements.
As tempting as it is to improve my poker face and the chances of getting away with lying, I still have no desire to shave my eyebrows. Instead, I will stick to my far more expensive and time-consuming eyebrow regime that includes plucking, threading, tinting, feathering and microblading. At least I’ll still have the ability to raise my eyebrows at the next viral trend.
Antoinette Lattouf is a broadcaster, columnist and author. She is co-host of The Briefing podcast and co-founder of Media Diversity Australia.
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