The Reading / Listening - Body Hair - Level 6

A simple TV advertisement for a razor has created great debate and gone viral online. The ad simply shows women shaving real body hair from their body. This seems to be an everyday occurrence and nothing to write home about; nothing revolutionary; normal TV-ad fare. However, it is the first time that an advert has been shown on U.S. TV showing the shaving of actual body hair. For decades, razor companies have aired ads showing women shaving already totally smooth, airbrushed legs and armpits. There is never a hair in sight in these commercials. It seems as though the ad companies want to promote the falsehood that women have hairless bodies. The new ad by the razor brand Billie has rectified this.

Billie's ad is the first commercial in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair. All previous ads had shown women to be hairless. Billie showed women shaving off hair from toes, armpits, between their eyebrows, and on their stomachs. Billie co-founder Georgina Gooley told Glamour magazine that she was shocked at how razor companies had previously portrayed women to have picture-perfect bodies. She criticized the companies, saying: "When brands pretend that all women have hairless bodies, it's a version of body-shaming. It's saying you should feel ashamed of having body hair." She added: "Shaving is a personal choice, and no one should be telling women what to do with their hair."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Body Hair - Level 4  or  Body Hair - Level 5

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44669002
  • https://www.teenvogue.com/story/billies-new-razor-campaign-shows-off-body-hair
  • https://www.elitedaily.com/p/billies-new-shaving-campaign-is-the-first-to-feature-actual-body-hair-in-its-ads-9592567


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. BODY HAIR: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about body hair. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
       simple / TV / advertisement / debate / viral / body hair / revolutionary / razor / brand
       commercial / armpits / eyebrows / picture-perfect bodies / hairless / shaving / choice
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SHAVING: Students A strongly believe shaving body hair is bad; Students B strongly believe otherwise.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. FUNCTION: What is the function of body hair? What do you think of it? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Function

What do you think?

Eyebrows

 

 

Facial hair

 

 

Armpit hair

 

 

Leg hair

 

 

Arm hair

 

 

Toe hair

 

 

MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. VIRAL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "viral". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. ADS: Rank these with your partner. Put the most misleading ads at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • shaving is beautiful
  • smoking is cool
  • learn English quickly
  • lose weight fast
  • cream keeps you youthful
  • fast food is healthy
  • alcohol is good for you
  • cola fives you energy

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. viral a. An incident, happening or event.
      2. occurrence b. Changed or hid things in a photograph to make them look better or to give a false image.
      3. revolutionary c. Performance, or entertainment of a particular style.
      4. fare d. Involving or causing a complete or dramatic change.
      5. airbrushed e. An image, video, piece of information, etc., that is spread or shared very quickly and widely from one Internet user to another.
      6. falsehood f. Put something right; corrected.
      7. rectified g. The state of being untrue; a lie.

    Paragraph 2

      8. previous h. Talked or wrote about the faults of someone or something in a disapproving or unfavorable way.
      9. armpit i. Existing or happening before in time or order.
      10. co-founder j. Lacking in defects or flaws; ideal.
      11. portrayed k. The act or practice of making people feel bad about themselves because of their body shape or size.
      12. picture-perfect l. The person who started a company with another person / other people.
      13. criticized m. Describe someone or something to look in a particular way.
      14. body-shaming n. The place under your arm where your arm meets the body.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. A TV ad for a razor has gone viral online and sparked much debate.     T / F
  2. The article says the hair was on parts of the body not suitable for TV.     T / F
  3. The article says the TV ad was revolutionary.     T / F
  4. The article says companies want to show hairy bodies.     T / F
  5. The TV ad is the first in 100 years to show body hair being shaved.     T / F
  6. The ad showed a woman shaving hair from her stomach.     T / F
  7. A razor company exec said previous ads were examples of body-shaming. T / F
  8. A razor company exec said shaving was not really a personal choice.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. debate
  2. occurrence
  3. revolutionary
  4. aired
  5. rectified
  6. commercial
  7. previous
  8. portrayed
  9. version
  10. ashamed
  1. new
  2. ad
  3. broadcast
  4. embarrassed
  5. earlier
  6. discussion
  7. form
  8. corrected
  9. happening
  10. depicted

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. gone viral
  2. nothing to write
  3. companies have aired
  4. airbrushed legs
  5. promote the falsehood that women
  6. shocked at how razor companies had previously
  7. picture-
  8. She criticized the
  9. It's a version of body-
  10. Shaving is a personal
  1. shaming
  2. and armpits
  3. companies
  4. home about
  5. portrayed women
  6. choice
  7. online
  8. perfect bodies
  9. ads
  10. have hairless bodies

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
normal
totally
debate
occurrence
rectified
decades
simply
falsehood

A simple TV advertisement for a razor has created great (1) ____________ and gone viral online. The ad (2) ____________ shows women shaving real body hair from their body. This seems to be an everyday (3) ____________ and nothing to write home about; nothing revolutionary; (4) ____________ TV-ad fare. However, it is the first time that an advert has been shown on U.S. TV showing the shaving of actual body hair. For (5) ____________, razor companies have aired ads showing women shaving already (6) ____________ smooth, airbrushed legs and armpits. There is never a hair in sight in these commercials. It seems as though the ad companies want to promote the (7) ____________ that women have hairless bodies. The new ad by the razor brand Billie has (8) ____________ this.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
brands
ashamed
armpits
choice
commercial
portrayed
version
previous

Billie's ad is the first (9) ____________ in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair. All (10) ____________ ads had shown women to be hairless. Billie showed women shaving off hair from toes, (11) ____________, between their eyebrows, and on their stomachs. Billie co-founder Georgina Gooley told Glamour magazine that she was shocked at how razor companies had previously (12) ____________ women to have picture-perfect bodies. She criticized the companies, saying: "When (13) ____________ pretend that all women have hairless bodies, it's a (14) ____________ of body-shaming. It's saying you should feel (15) ____________ of having body hair." She added: "Shaving is a personal (16) ____________, and no one should be telling women what to do with their hair."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  A simple TV advertisement for a razor has created great debate and ______
     a.  going vital online
     b.  gone virally online
     c.  going vital online
     d.  gone viral online
2)  This seems to be an everyday occurrence and nothing to ______
     a.  writes home about
     b.  write home about
     c.  wrote home about
     d.  right home about
3)  companies have aired ads showing women shaving already totally smooth, ______
     a.  airbrushed legs
     b.  paint-brushed legs
     c.  hair-brushed legs
     d.  their brushed legs
4)  It seems as though the ad companies want to promote ______
     a.  the falsely hood
     b.  the falls hood
     c.  the fall should
     d.  the falsehood
5)  The new ad by the razor brand Billie ______
     a.  has rectified this
     b.  has wrecked it flied this
     c.  has wreck tiff eyed this
     d.  has electrified this

6)  Billie's ad is the first commercial in 100 years ______
     a.  of advert icing
     b.  of advertisement
     c.  of advertising
     d.  of adverse icing
7)  shaving off hair from toes, armpits, between their eyebrows, and ______
     a.  at their stomachs
     b.  in their stomachs
     c.  by their stomachs
     d.  on their stomachs
8) how razor companies had previously portrayed women to have ______ bodies
     a.  pitch-perfect
     b.  picture-perfect
     c.  picked it-perfect
     d.  pick-chair-perfect
9)  It's saying you should feel ashamed ______ body hair
     a.  off having
     b.  of have in
     c.  off have in
     d.  of having
10)  Shaving is a personal choice, and no one should be telling women ______
     a.  that to do
     b.  which to do
     c.  what to do
     d.  why to do

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A simple TV advertisement for a razor has created (1) ___________________ gone viral online. The (2) ___________________ women shaving real body hair from their body. This seems to be an everyday occurrence and nothing to (3) ___________________; nothing revolutionary; normal TV-ad fare. However, it is the first time (4) ___________________ has been shown on U.S. TV showing the shaving of actual body hair. For decades, razor companies have aired ads showing women shaving already totally smooth, airbrushed (5) ___________________. There is never a hair in sight in these commercials. It seems as though the ad companies want to promote the falsehood that women have hairless bodies. The new ad by the razor brand Billie (6) ___________________.

Billie's ad is the first commercial in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair. (7) ___________________ had shown women to be hairless. Billie showed women shaving off hair from toes, armpits, between their eyebrows, and (8) ___________________. Billie co-founder Georgina Gooley told Glamour magazine that she (9) ___________________ how razor companies had previously portrayed women to have (10) ___________________. She criticized the companies, saying: "When brands pretend that all women have hairless bodies, it's (11) ___________________ body-shaming. It's saying you should feel ashamed of having body hair." She added: "Shaving is (12) ___________________, and no one should be telling women what to do with their hair."

Comprehension questions

  1. What has the razor ad done online?
  2. What did the article say was nothing to write home about?
  3. What kind of legs did the article say were usually shown on TV?
  4. What was not in sight in all ads up until now?
  5. What "falsehood" did the article say ad companies seemed to promote?
  6. What did the new ad show women shaving between?
  7. What did a company boss say razor companies portrayed women to have?
  8. What did a razor company executive criticize?
  9. What did a razor company executive say the ads were a version of?
  10. What kind of choice did a razor company executive say shaving was?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What has the razor ad done online?
a) gone upmarket
b) advertised
c) gone viral
d) complained
2) What did the article say was nothing to write home about?
a) women shaving body hair
b) hair
c) razors
d) shaving foam
3) What kind of legs did the article say were usually shown on TV?
a) normal legs
b) straight legs
c) fake legs
d) airbrushed legs
4) What was not in sight in all ads up until now?
a) shaving foam
b) hair
c) cuts
d) blemishes
5) What "falsehood" did the article say ad companies seemed to promote?
a) that shaving foam removed hair
b) that everyone shaves
c) that women have hairless bodies
d) that razors always cut skin

6) What did the new ad show women shaving between?
a) the shower and bath
b) their eyebrows
c) two mirrors
d) their toes
7) What did a company boss say razor companies portrayed women as having?
a) grey hair
b) many razors
c) blemishes
d) picture-perfect bodies
8) What did a razor company executive criticize?
a) shaving gel
b) companies
c) razors
d) hair
9) What did a razor company executive say the ads were a version of?
a) body-shaming
b) advertising
c) the future
d) the past
10) What kind of choice did a razor company executive say shaving was?
a) an unenviable choice
b) a difficult choice
c) an obvious choice
d) a personal choice

Role play

Role  A – Beauty Products
You think ads for beauty products are the most misleading. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is most misleading about their ads. Also, tell the others which is the most honest of these (and why): English study, weight loss or fast food.

Role  B –English Study Products
You think ads for English study products are the most misleading. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is most misleading about their ads. Also, tell the others which is the most honest of these (and why): beauty products, weight loss or fast food.

Role  C – Weight Loss Products
You think ads for weight loss products are the most misleading. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is most misleading about their ads. Also, tell the others which is the most honest of these (and why): English study, beauty products or fast food.

Role  D – Fast Food
You think ads for fast food are the most misleading. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is most misleading about their ads. Also, tell the others which is the most honest of these (and why)999: English study, weight loss or beauty products.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'body'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • and 'hair'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • • Share your findings with your partners.

    • Make questions using the words you found.

    • Ask your partner / group your questions.

    2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

    •Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

    3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

    4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

    5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

    • 100
    • toes
    • magazine
    • perfect
    • feel
    • no one
    • great
    • write
    • time
    • smooth
    • sight
    • brand

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - TV razor ad shows real body hair for first time

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'body'?
    3. What do you think of body hair?
    4. What do you think of facial hair?
    5. What do you think of shaving?
    6. We have hair for a reason, so why do we shave?
    7. Why do TV ads not show hair being shaved?
    8. Should razor companies be fined for showing dishonest ads?
    9. Are razor companies the only ones to use dishonest ads?
    10. What does it matter if someone is hairy or not?

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'hair'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. Should men also shave their legs?
    5. Why do ads always show picture-perfect bodies?
    6. What do you know about body-shaming?
    7. Would life be better without any hair?
    8. Will attitudes towards body hair change in the future?
    9. Is advertising a form of mind control?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the ad company?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    A simple TV advertisement for a razor has created (1) ____ debate and gone viral online. The ad simply shows women shaving real body hair from their body. This seems to be an everyday (2) ____ and nothing to write home about; nothing revolutionary; normal TV-ad (3) ____. However, it is the first time that an advert has been shown on U.S. TV showing the shaving of actual body hair. For decades, razor companies have (4) ____ ads showing women shaving already totally smooth, airbrushed legs and armpits. There is never a hair in (5) ____ in these commercials. It seems as though the ad companies want to promote the falsehood that women have hairless bodies. The new ad by the razor brand Billie has (6) ____ this.

    Billie's ad is the first commercial in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair. All (7) ____ ads had shown women to be hairless. Billie showed women shaving off hair from toes, armpits, between their eyebrows, and on their stomachs. Billie (8) ____-founder Georgina Gooley told Glamour magazine that she was shocked at how razor companies had previously (9) ____ women to have picture-perfect bodies. She criticized the companies, saying: "When brands (10) ____ that all women have hairless bodies, it's a version of body-(11) ____. It's saying you should feel ashamed of having body hair." She added: "Shaving is a personal choice, and no one should be telling women what to (12) ____ with their hair."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     great     (b)     great     (c)     grate     (d)     grit    
    2. (a)     occurrence     (b)     occult     (c)     occasional     (d)     accident    
    3. (a)     fare     (b)     fore     (c)     fair     (d)     fear    
    4. (a)     aired     (b)     breathed     (c)     stated     (d)     skied     
    5. (a)     seeing     (b)     sight     (c)     sees     (d)     scene    
    6. (a)     receded     (b)     retracted     (c)     reacted     (d)     rectified    
    7. (a)     perilous     (b)     impervious     (c)     previous     (d)     imperial    
    8. (a)     pre     (b)     non     (c)     un     (d)     co    
    9. (a)     portrayed     (b)     portrait     (c)     portable     (d)     portended    
    10. (a)     pretend     (b)     pretense     (c)     perturb     (d)     pretext    
    11. (a)     shamming     (b)     shaming     (c)     shambling     (d)     shaman    
    12. (a)     cut     (b)     have     (c)     do     (d)     shave

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. created great bedate
    2. an everyday cerorcucne
    3. For ceadsed, razor companies have aired ads
    4. in these careiolscmm
    5. ad companies want to promote the oeaflsodh
    6. the razor brand Billie has dftreicie this

    Paragraph 2

    1. All uvroespi ads
    2. companies had previously perydotar women
    3. She iedcrcztii the companies
    4. it's a oinvsre of body-shaming
    5. It's saying you should feel semahda
    6. Shaving is a aoneslpr choice

    Put the text back together

    (...)  sight in these commercials. It seems as though the ad companies want to promote the falsehood that women
    (...)  Billie's ad is the first commercial in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair. All previous ads had shown
    (...)  women to be hairless. Billie showed women shaving off hair from toes, armpits, between their eyebrows, and on their
    (...)  stomachs. Billie co-founder Georgina Gooley told Glamour magazine that she was shocked
    (...)  home about; nothing revolutionary; normal TV-ad fare. However, it is the first time that an advert has been
    (...) A simple TV advertisement for a razor has created great debate and gone viral online. The ad simply shows women
    (...)  shaving real body hair from their body. This seems to be an everyday occurrence and nothing to write
    (...)  ads showing women shaving already totally smooth, airbrushed legs and armpits. There is never a hair in
    (...)  at how razor companies had previously portrayed women to have picture-perfect bodies. She criticized
    (...)  shown on U.S. TV showing the shaving of actual body hair. For decades, razor companies have aired
    (...)  have hairless bodies. The new ad by the razor brand Billie has rectified this.
    (...)  the companies, saying: "When brands pretend that all women have hairless bodies, it's a version
    (...)  of body-shaming. It's saying you should feel ashamed of having body hair." She added: "Shaving is
    (...)  a personal choice, and no one should be telling women what to do with their hair."

    Put the words in the right order

    1. women   simply   shows   real   shaving   hair   .   The   ad
    2. be   This   everyday   to   occurrence   .   seems   an
    3. have   shaving   .   ads   Razor   aired   companies   showing   women
    4. sight   .   in   never   hair   is   a   There
    5. companies   want   the   The   promote   to   ad   falsehood   .
    6. of   commercial   advertising   .   first   years   100   in   The
    7. had   Shocked   portrayed   women   .   razor   at   how   companies
    8. have   women   pretend   all   that   Brands   bodies   .   hairless
    9. body   feel   of   should   You   having   hair   .   ashamed
    10. do   .   women   tell   what   should   one   No   to

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    A simple / simply TV advertisement for a razor has created great debate and gone viral / virally online. The ad simply shows women shaving real body hair of / from their body. This seems to be an everyday occur / occurrence and nothing to write home about; nothing / noting revolutionary; normal TV-ad fare. However, it is the first time that an advert has been shown on U.S. TV showing the shaving of actual / actually body hair. For decades, razor companies have aired ads showing women shaving already totally / total smooth, airbrushed legs and armpits. There is never a hairy / hair in sight in these commercials. It seems as though the ad companies want to promote the falsehood / falsely that women have hairless bodies. The new ad by the razor brand Billie has directed / rectified this.

    Billie's ad is the first commerce / commercial in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair. All impervious / previous ads had shown women to be hairless. Billie showed women shaving off hair from toes / toe, armpits, between their eyebrows, and on their stomachs. Billie co-founder Georgina Gooley told Glamour magazine that she was shocking / shocked at how razor companies had previously portrait / portrayed women to have picture-perfect bodies. She criticized / criticism the companies, saying: "When brands pretend / pretense that all women have hairless bodies, it's a version / vision of body-shaming. It's saying you should feel ashamed / shamed of having body hair." She added: "Shaving is a personal choice, and no one should be telling women what to do with that / their hair."

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    A s_m p l_ T V _d v_r t_s_m_n t f_r _ r_z_r h_s c r__ t_d g r__ t d_b_t_ _n d g_n_ v_r_l _n l_n_. T h_ _d s_m p l y s h_w s w_m_n s h_v_n g r__ l b_d y h__ r f r_m t h__ r b_d y . T h_s s__ m s t_ b_ _n _v_r y d_y _c c_r r_n c_ _n d n_t h_n g t_ w r_t_ h_m_ _b__ t ; n_t h_n g r_v_l_t__ n_r y ; n_r m_l T V -_d f_r_. H_w_v_r , _t _s t h_ f_r s t t_m_ t h_t _n _d v_r t h_s b__ n s h_w n _n U . S . T V s h_w_n g t h_ s h_v_n g _f _c t__ l b_d y h__ r . F_r d_c_d_s , r_z_r c_m p_n__ s h_v_ __ r_d _d s s h_w_n g w_m_n s h_v_n g _l r__ d y t_t_l l y s m__ t h , __ r b r_s h_d l_g s _n d _r m p_t s . T h_r_ _s n_v_r _ h__ r _n s_g h t _n t h_s_ c_m m_r c__ l s . I t s__ m s _s t h__ g h t h_ _d c_m p_n__ s w_n t t_ p r_m_t_ t h_ f_l s_h__ d t h_t w_m_n h_v_ h__ r l_s s b_d__ s . T h_ n_w _d b y t h_ r_z_r b r_n d B_l l__ h_s r_c t_f__ d t h_s .

    B_l l__ ' s _d _s t h_ f_r s t c_m m_r c__ l _n 1 0 0 y__ r s _f _d v_r t_s_n g t h_t h_s s h_w n w_m_n t_ h_v_ b_d y h__ r . A l l p r_v___s _d s h_d s h_w n w_m_n t_ b_ h__ r l_s s . B_l l__ s h_w_d w_m_n s h_v_n g _f f h__ r f r_m t__ s , _r m p_t s , b_t w__ n t h__ r _y_b r_w s , _n d _n t h__ r s t_m_c h s . B_l l__ c_- f__ n d_r G__ r g_n_ G__ l_y t_l d G l_m__ r m_g_z_n_ t h_t s h_ w_s s h_c k_d _t h_w r_z_r c_m p_n__ s h_d p r_v___s l y p_r t r_y_d w_m_n t_ h_v_ p_c t_r_- p_r f_c t b_d__ s . S h_ c r_t_c_z_d t h_ c_m p_n__ s , s_y_n g : " W h_n b r_n d s p r_t_n d t h_t _l l w_m_n h_v_ h__ r l_s s b_d__ s , _t ' s _ v_r s__ n _f b_d y - s h_m_n g . I t ' s s_y_n g y__ s h__ l d f__ l _s h_m_d _f h_v_n g b_d y h__ r . " S h_ _d d_d : " S h_v_n g _s _ p_r s_n_l c h__ c_, _n d n_ _n_ s h__ l d b_ t_l l_n g w_m_n w h_t t_ d_ w_t h t h__ r h__ r . "

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    a simple tv advertisement for a razor has created great debate and gone viral online the ad simply shows women shaving real body hair from their body this seems to be an everyday occurrence and nothing to write home about nothing revolutionary normal tv ad fare however it is the first time that an advert has been shown on us tv showing the shaving of actual body hair for decades razor companies have aired ads showing women shaving already totally smooth airbrushed legs and armpits there is never a hair in sight in these commercials it seems as though the ad companies want to promote the falsehood that women have hairless bodies the new ad by the razor brand billie has rectified this

    billies ad is the first commercial in 100 years of advertising that has shown women to have body hair all previous ads had shown women to be hairless billie showed women shaving off hair from toes armpits between their eyebrows and on their stomachs billie cofounder georgina gooley told glamour magazine that she was shocked at how razor companies had previously portrayed women to have picture perfect bodies she criticized the companies saying when brands pretend that all women have hairless bodies its a version of body shaming its saying you should feel ashamed of having body hair she added shaving is a personal choice and no one should be telling women what to do with their hair

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    AsimpleTVadvertisementforarazorhascreatedgreatdebateandgone
    viralonline.Theadsimplyshowswomenshavingrealbodyhairfromthei
    rbody.Thisseemstobeaneverydayoccurrenceandnothingtowritehom
    eabout;nothingrevolutionary;normalTV-adfare.However,itisthef
    irsttimethatanadverthasbeenshownonU.S.TVshowingtheshavingof
    actualbodyhair.Fordecades,razorcompanieshaveairedadsshowingw
    omenshavingalreadytotallysmooth,airbrushedlegsandarmpits.Ther
    eisneverahairinsightinthesecommercials.Itseemsasthoughtheadco
    mpanieswanttopromotethefalsehoodthatwomenhavehairlessbodie
    s.ThenewadbytherazorbrandBilliehasrectifiedthis.Billie'sadisthefirs
    tcommercialin100yearsofadvertisingthathasshownwomentohaveb
    odyhair.Allpreviousadshadshownwomentobehairless.Billieshowed
    womenshavingoffhairfromtoes,armpits,betweentheireyebrows,and
    ontheirstomachs.Billieco-founderGeorginaGooleytoldGlamourmag
    azinethatshewasshockedathowrazorcompanieshadpreviouslyportr
    ayedwomentohavepicture-perfectbodies.Shecriticizedthecompa
    nies,saying:"Whenbrandspretendthatallwomenhavehairlessbodies,
    it'saversionofbody-shaming.It'ssayingyoushouldfeelashamedofhav
    ingbodyhair."Sheadded:"Shavingisapersonalchoice,andnooneshou
    ldbetellingwomenwhattodowiththeirhair."

    Free writing

    Write about body hair for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Body hair is a good and necessary thing. Discuss.

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    Homework

    1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
    2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. BODY HAIR: Make a poster about body hair. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. SHAVING: Write a magazine article about the end of shaving. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
    5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on body hair. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your opinions on body hair. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

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    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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