Read My Lips (27 page)

OUR HERSTORY IN HAIR

Pubic hair doesn’t have as much of a recorded herstory as, say, how women’s bodies or hairstyles (on their head) have evolved over time. After all, bodies and hairstyles are publicly viewable. For centuries, when women were drawn, painted, turned into sculptures or—in more recent times—photographed or filmed, they were mostly done so wearing clothes. Consequently, while their bodies and hairstyles were evident, their pubic hair was typically not visible. As such, it’s not entirely clear how women’s pubic hairstyles have changed over time. We only have a handful of sources, such as literature and paintings, that give us any hint at all about what our female ancestors did to their pubic hair.

WHAT’S HAIR FOR, ANYWAY?

As humans didn’t invent pubic hair—it’s been there all along as far as we can tell—it’s a little unclear to scientists why exactly we have pubic hair. Some think that it may help to trap pheromones, which may help us to unconsciously connect with people we’re attracted to. Others suggest that pubic hair helps to create a sort of “padding” during intercourse to reduce friction between two people’s bodies. It may also help to keep our reproductive parts somewhat warmer.

Women were shown with triangular areas of pubic hair in ancient Egyptian art, and Greek literature suggests that women engaged in at least some form of pubic hair grooming, such as plucking hairs or singeing them with a lamp.
¹
Also, there is some suggestion that the presence of pubic hair on women’s bodies was considered sexually attractive. The reasons why the women depicted in Italian Renaissance art appear with no pubic hair and the women depicted in art from Northern Italy, and in Gothic art, appear to have some pubic hair is not clear.
²
Were there differences in women’s pubic hairstyles in these places and times? Or did the (often male) artists paint women’s genitals as they
imagined
them—regardless of what women often looked like nude? We don’t know. The German Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder often depicted women’s genitals in rather vague ways. Sometimes they were covered with leaves and/or branches, as in
Adam and Eve
(1528) and
The Close of the Silver Age
(approximately 1527–1535). In other paintings, such as
Venus Standing in a Landscape
(1529) and
Venus and Amor
(1534), the mons is visible but lacks detail—there are no pubic hairs to speak of, but then again, there is also no hint of labia (e.g., a “slit” or “camel toe”).

It’s not always clear to what extent the artists had experience with women as nude models or if they simply imagined what women looked like naked. Also, artists who did have nude female models available to them may have been more likely to have prostitutes or courtesans model for them, and these women’s pubic hairstyles may have differed from other women in their towns. Women with many sex partners, such as prostitutes and courtesans, would have been at greater risk for pubic lice (as they are even today), and removing one’s pubic hair is one way to protect oneself from pubic-lice transmission, a tactic that some suggest was widely practiced by sex workers of the time for this reason.
^{3, 4}
After all, if a person (male or female) doesn’t have pubic hair, then even if they’re exposed to pubic lice (crabs), there are no hairs for the lice to cling to.

In the late nineteenth century, Goya’s painting
The Naked Maja
featured a nude woman with sparse pubic hair reclining on a lounge chair. But it was Gustave Courbet’s
L’Origine du Monde
(1866; translated as
The Origin of the World
) that eventually—at least when it was publicly exhibited—caused a bit of a stir by prominently featuring a woman’s genitals in detail, with a full mound of pubic hair and the outer labia (labia majora). (Note: this painting was originally created for a benefactor’s private collection and passed through several private collections before becoming a part of various museum collections and being seen by the masses.) This painting didn’t just depict the origin of babies’ worlds, as per conception and vaginal birth; it also—at least in hindsight—hinted at a world in which women’s genitals would (eventually) begin to be more openly displayed. Or, at least, we like to think of it this way. The image has been reprinted in several books and has continued to be a source of controversy, at times challenging community standards of decency.

THE NOT-SO-PERFECT PUBIC STORM

As fascinating as the herstory of pubic hair from days gone by can be, many people are interested in the state of pubic hair in more contemporary times—and for good reason, as it’s an interesting story! Though the media often focus on the dawn of the Brazilian in the 1990s in New York City, or on the frequent images of young, often panty-less female celebrities being photographed up their skirts as they exit cars, there is much more to the story of vulvas and pubic hair than these elements. Join us as we take a brief tour through the past few decades of pubes.

V-CRAFT: MAKE YOUR OWN MERKIN

If it’s not already abundantly clear, we are big fans of the vulva and of women’s rights to make choices about their own bodies and sexualities. In short, we think you should style, keep, or remove your pubic hair in whatever way makes you happy. If you want to grow a long, thick, natural mane (the better to run your fingers sensually through), we’ve got your back. We’ll also high-five you if you prefer to keep your pubic hair trimmed or shaved into shapes, or if you remove every last hair on your mons, labia, inner thighs, and around your anal area. If you’re down with your down there, we think that’s great.

Whether you have hair and think it would be fun to have even more or you’re bare and would occasionally like to masquerade around with some, here’s how you can make your own merkin (a.k.a. a pubic wig). Many people think that prostitutes who would go bare to treat or prevent pubic lice created merkins. However, now they are used mainly for fun, or in Hollywood movies to mask actresses’ genitals or for period pieces in which the female characters would have had full, natural pubic hair rather than neat landing strips or some other design.

Before proceeding with this craft, you may want to watch Amanda Palmer’s music video “Map of Tasmania” for inspiration (it’s available on YouTube the last time we checked; “map of Tasmania” is apparently Australian slang for a woman’s pubic area).

What You’ll Need

• A cotton thong or G-string, the thinner and stringier the sides, the better. Your merkin will look more natural if the thong or G-string matches the color of the skin on your hips/stomach.
  
• A wig—often available at arts-and-crafts shops or costume shops. Choose whatever color (Brown? Black? Red? Purple?) or texture (Short and curly? Straight and smooth?) you prefer. Wigs can work better than free-standing hair or weaves because the hair is already sewn into some type of fabric or cap.
  
• glue
  
• scissors
  
• marker
  

What to Do

1. Hold the triangular pubic area of your thong/G-string up to the back fabric-side of your wig.
   
2. Trace the triangular part of the underwear onto the fabric side of the wig.
   
3. Cut the wig along the lines you’ve traced.
   
4. Place glue on the fabric side of the wig, then press it onto the triangular part of your thong or G-string underwear on the part facing out.
   

If you’re good at sewing, you might find that sewing the triangular piece of the wig to your G-string provides a more secure fit than gluing it.

You can wear your merkin at home alone for fun. Alternatively, you can wear it for a partner and encourage him or her to rub their fingers through your new set of hair. A homemade merkin also serves as quite the conversation piece when worn as part of a costume (wear tights underneath your merkin if you’d like to cover more skin or are worried it might slip to the side, thus revealing your genitals).

Note, too, that you can switch the wig out for any kind of materials that you prefer: cotton balls, Legos, yarn, hair curlers, or fake flowers or leaves (frequently sold at craft stores) are all options. Use your imagination!

NOTABLE MOMENTS IN PUBIC HAIR

1972:
Dr. Benjamin Nair invents a depilatory cream, now known as “Nair,” that is marketed for hair removal.

1979:
Artist Judy Chicago first exhibits her installation
The Dinner Party
, featuring thirty-nine place settings and china plates (many of the latter featuring vulvas) for historical and mythical women. Being somewhat abstract, it’s unclear whether most of the vulvas have pubic hair.
⁵

1982:
Full, natural pubic hair is on display in the naked college-coed shower scene made famous in
Porky’s.

1985:
Designer Rudi Gernreich—already known for inventing the monokini—unveiled the pubikini, a bathing suit for women that featured a small V-shaped strip to show off women’s pubic hair.

1989: The Cunt Coloring Book
is published, giving artistic license for women (and men) to create their Dream Vulvas—hair-styles included.

1992:
In her role in
Basic Instinct
, Sharon Stone reveals her vulva in a famous (but brief) leg-crossing scene, leading to a great deal of curiosity about her hairstyle. Reports circulated suggesting that she did not realize her vulva would be shown in the movie, making this an early instance of non-consensual female upskirt shots in Hollywood.

1996: The Vagina Monologues
, written by and starring Eve Ensler, debuts at HERE Arts Center in New York. One monologue is titled “Hair.”
⁶

1998:
Betty Dodson releases
Viva La Vulva
, a video that highlights interviews with women about their genitals and, as part of the genital portraits, features pubic hair grooming and styling.
⁷

The Vagina Monologues
author Eve Ensler launches V-Day, a campaign to end violence against women and girls that involves women on college campuses and cities around the world mounting performances of
The Vagina Monologues
as fundraising events. Consequently, thousands of women begin talking more openly about vaginas and selling products, such as T-shirts with the word “vagina” on them and chocolate-vulva lolli-pops. There is some controversy over how many of the “vaginas” mentioned in the play are actually vulvas, and there is much continued dialogue about hair.

2000:
The Brazilian wax—already somewhat trendy thanks to quotes surfacing from actress Gwyneth Paltrow about how waxing changed her life—is featured on
Sex and the City
.

2003:
Photographer Mario Testino shoots model Carmen Kass, mostly naked and with her underwear pulled down to reveal her pubic hair shaved into the letter G (for Gucci). Some called for the ad image—dubbed “Pubic Enemy”—to be banned.

2004: The V Book: A Doctor’s Guide to Complete Vulvovaginal Health
⁸
is published along with information about pubic hair removal methods.

2006:
Brandon Davis uses the word “firecrotch” to describe Lindsay Lohan in an online video. The video gets picked up and the term is, sadly, used persistently by gossip blogger Perez Hilton in posts about Lohan.

2005:
In a
New York Times
article titled “The Revised Birthday Suit,” writer Natasha Singer speaks to women opting for a more permanent “baldness” down there, via laser hair-reduction treatments. There are also mentions of men going bare, women dyeing their pubic hair pink, and a woman with a lightning bolt pattern to her pubes.

2006:
In separate incidents, the bare vulvas of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears are photographed and appear on Hollywood gossip blogs.

Just speaking the words vagina, pussy, genitals, clitoris without hesitation is a huge leap! I think we as women give permission to other women to feel comfortable, maybe that seems obvious but I rarely spoke the words even to my girls. I care if a man might feel turned off and not want to have oral sex because he thinks I’m not like some picture at times, but deep down I think most men are not that picky. I think fear can crush some sweet girls out there. I guess that we as women need to shift from thinking about our bodies only for sex and remember health and happiness comes first . . . sex follows.

—
E
LLEN,
53, New Jersey

In
The Break Up
, Brooke (played by Jennifer Aniston) gets a Brazilian wax and then—to induce jealousy or to get revenge— walks around naked in the apartment she’s sharing with the boyfriend she’s recently split from, played by Vince Vaughn.

Two physicians in the UK, Dr. Armstrong and Dr. Wilson, publish a letter in the journal
Sexually Transmitted Infections
titled “Did the Brazilian Kill the Pubic Louse?” The doctors note that although rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea increased in their practice from 1997 to 2003, the rates of pubic lice (crabs) decreased, particularly around 2000 (for women) and 2003 (for men), coinciding with the popularity of Brazilian waxing.
⁹