The Attack on Pubic Hair

Since the first cave dwellers painted naked ladies on their living room walls, depictions of the female form have been a source of erotic pleasure. The portrayal of women's genitals has gone through different fads. Everyone is familiar with the angelic mounds of the Renaissance, the 1970s bush, and the 1980s landing strip. And everyone from teenage girls to housewives knows what they "should" be doing with their pubic hair based on these culturally telling images about aesthetic preferences.

The advent of internet pornography meant that porn was everywhere. Pornography used to be special in that you had to ask for it at the store and fork over some cash. It was also collectible in some cases, like flip-books of pin-up girls. But the internet gave us free porn 24 hours a days, and a never-ending stream of it. And it wasn't just made by professionals working in a questionable industry. Suddenly, we could all turn on our computers and see regular folks going at it.

Porn stars were no longer mysterious, otherworldly creatures. They were the neighbor, the pretty friend, and the teenage runaway hanging out on the street corner. Even if they weren't specifically you or me, it wasn't hard to put ourselves in their places. So when amateur porn took its pubic hair cues from professional porn, the world got a lot less hairy.

Many people argue that the cultural war against pubic hair is at least partially due to the pervasiveness of pornography and how contemporary porn portrays an almost universal hairlessness.

Sex

Many folks claim that altering or eliminating their pubic hair altogether leads to increased sexual pleasure. While this may or may not be a product of culture mythology and another example of how pornography shapes the way we view our own bodies, the fact is that some people just prefer hairless genitals.

The preference for grooming may be more than just about sexual pleasure, however. It may also come from our cultural germ-phobia. We equate hair with germs, and we equate sex with the possibility of contracting a disease. Therefore, we assume a person with no pubic hair is somehow "clean." Not only that, but if we can see more of a person's genitals, we assume they aren't hiding anything, even though many STDs can be asymptomatic. This trend of equating hairlessness to cleanliness is particularly disturbing, because a woman's pubic hair has been shown to trap dirt and keep it out of the vagina.

Individuality

The attack on pubic hair rages on in what people believe to be freedom of expression. Choosing to shave, wax, dye, shape, or even run an electric current through one's pubic hair is a statement for many people.

Whether altering pubic hair is a political or sexual statement, many people see it as just one more aspect of our bodies to take care of. Between our nails, hair, moles, smells, pores, and eyebrows, it doesn't seem like we have any parts left that aren't subjected to scrutiny and shaped according to how we want to be perceived by others.

Resources:

1. Regina Lynn, Bare Down There or Square?, Wired

2. Columbia University Health Services, What to do with Pubic Hair?, Go Ask Alice

3. Liza Featherstone, Shocking Fuzz, Nerve