Pubic hair pie - a girl's guide to pubic hair cuts, shaved pubic hair, brazilian pubes, the bikini wax look, pubic hair art, pubic shave styles, removing pubic hair, and more ... Pubic Hair Christine Zaratak Brazilian bikini waxes lyrical This Healthzest article first published November 2004 For an updated version of this article, click here What could possibly be more alluring than that triangular dusting of hair between the legs? Pubic hair I like. I get pubes in a big way. As you can probably tell. But, as a girl who questions everything, I have questions. Here's a sampling:
Well, with significantly more research than 'pubic sporran' under my belt, I'm pleased, for anyone who's interested, to answer these and other questions in this overview of pubic hair and the wonderful new world of pubic fashion. What exactly is pubic hair? And why? Pubic hair is most likely nothing more than a hangover from our much hairier (and presumably less fashion-conscious) ancestors. Hair, like the fur and feathers on our cousins in the animal kingdom, kept homo habilis and his predecessors warm, in those oh-so dark days before synthetic fur coats and Gucci underpants. Warmth clearly has very little to do with it nowadays, unless of course you're unlucky enough to be caught in the altogether on a windswept stretch of Alaskan tundra, when you can relax with the knowledge that your privates are warmly insulated. Or not. Pubic hair plays a largely sexual role for us today. We're born pube-free as an indication of infancy and sexual immaturity. Ascension into puberty is clearly delineated by the arrival of pubic hair - pubic maturity indicates we're ready for the fun stuff (well, if the procreation and upbringing of children can truly be called fun). Pubic hair acts as nature's signpost when two naked people get together, telegraphing the way to the closest adult entertainment centers. And, so they tell me, pubic hair also acts to gather your erogenous scent, referred to as pheremones. Well, every little helps. Euphemisms Pubic hair, particularly when attached to a female, has collected more synonyms than most any other part of our anatomy, with the notable exception of the feminine genitalia. Ignoring for now the inevitable sleaze, some of the more attractive euphemisms I have uncovered in my travels include 'nature's veil', 'parsley patch', 'rosebush', and the descriptive 'kitten's ear'. If you're an Ozzie, you might have heard of a 'map of Tasmania', required for navigation of the bush. If not, how about a 'mossy doughnut' for breakfast?
So why do my pubes look like they need ironing? Your pubic hair was unkempt well before you got addicted to corn curly snacks. The untamed look is driven by our hair follicles. Each follicle provides an individual launching pad under your skin for each individual hair to push through your epidermis to the outside world. At the outset of puberty, our bodies release androgens, sex hormones which, among other things, let the follicles in your pubic area know that it's time to grow a nice neat triangle of pubic hair. Or, in my case, perhaps not so neat. Your pubic hair follicles are very, very sensitive to androgens, and because they are specially kinky (I mean that in the curly sense, of course), they tend to push out pubic hair that's typically kinkier and coarser than the material that covers your head. OK, so what on earth has brought pubic hair (or the lack of it) and pubic fashion so much into the public eye, so to speak? A quick gallop through the recent mainstream history of all things pubic begins on the shoreline of the French Riviera. Unlike less trendy 'naturist' beaches in many parts of the world, the seafronts of Cannes and St Tropez have been consistently patronized by the young and the rakish, who are now well accustomed to at least partial exposure of their erogenous zones to the casual inspection of all and sundry. How did it all start? Well, the French Riviera claims the first appearances of bikinis on an actual beach rather than a photo studio, and Brigitte Bardot's subsequent topless appearance (the first of many, so I am assured) with some of her more adventurous friends on a St Tropez beach in 1967. Only a few years later, in 1970, the role of exposing pubic hair "albeit modest to the point of invisibility" fell, for the first time in a pornographic magazine, to Britain's Penthouse. Back on the beaches of the Mediterranean, public displays of pubic hair became commonplace on the long, happening reaches of the Plage de Pampelonne, a stone's throw from St Tropez. Today, of course, there are 'clothes optional' beaches throughout Europe, dotting the Caribbean, and elsewhere.
For the slightly more bush-blush-prone, the beaches of Rio de Janeiro gave birth in the mid 70's to the tanga - otherwise known as the string bikini or 'dental floss' - which provides suitable coverup for the pubic area, but none at all for the exalted Brazilian derriere. However, pubic fashion really came into its own, of course, with the invention of the diminutive Brazilian bikini, so small that pubic hair is typically removed altogether - or trimmed to leave only a small 'landing strip' which nestles behind these impossibly small garments. And so the celebrated Brazilian bikini wax was born, a process I am given to understand involves hot wax, ice, latex gloves and a large bottle of good Scotch. You may gather from this that I haven't yet subjected my own delicate pubes to such ministrations. Which of course leads us more or less neatly on to the broader topic of ... Pubic Hair Styles Pubic grooming, as you have gathered, is all the rage nowadays. Particularly, of course, among the ranks of the chic and the well-heeled. And you don't have even to have a hankering to reveal your carefully-landscaped privates on the beaches of southern Europe. Nope, just to be remotely in-vogue nowadays, you need to invest in your bush as a fashion accessory no less important than your next Prada handbag. You may remember how Sex In The City's Carrie Bradshaw took her pubes in for a service and a trim during a visit to Los Angeles, and inadvertently left with a full on bikini wax - without, we are given to understand, the merest hint of a 'landing strip'. A burgeoning collection of posh beauty salons in LA, Manhattan, London and elsewhere will willingly relieve you of a princely sum in exchange for removing most, if not all, of what you have 'down there'. To top it off, some will then make use of the pubic hair-free area as a blank canvas for the crafting of a tastefully sexy tattoo, stylishly airbrushed perilously close to your most precious assets. So where do we go from here? Whither the next pubic frontier? Is the infinite delectible variety of the world's pubic hair finally ready for primetime? Is pubic fashion ready to come out into the open? Somehow, I think not, by a very long chalk. But stay watch this space for more on this delicious topic, as I continue my quest for the best dressed (or rather, undressed), best decorated mossy doughnut on the planet. ©2004 Healthzest All Rights Reserved |
