A whole lot of history repeating itself!
The history of pubic hair removal is an interesting one for us as it’s the focal point of our business at The Waxologist. If you thought the trend for hairless Vagina’s started around 2000 you’re way off the mark. Around Christmas time someone mentioned seeing a comedy ‘Merkin’ gift. ‘Ay?’ ‘A what?’ I exclaimed, I was discombobulated and immediately got onto Google. I ended up sat agog reading not only about pubic wigs but also about Ancient Egyptian bush removal; the depiction of pubes in art; the cultural and religious reasons for pubic hair removal and a whole load of other weirdly interesting information. Now I don’t want to be here all day as I’ve got a whole load of ironing to get through but I wanted to share a little run down of what they did back then down there.Walk like an Egyptian
Beginning with ancient Egyptians seems sensible as that was ages ago! Ancient Egyptians thought pubic hair uncivilized. Not only did ancient Egyptian women remove pubic hair but ALL their hair, from head to toe! They may have used various methods such as pumice stones, tweezers fashioned from seashells (can you imagine the time that would take??) or the technique of sugaring which is still used today.Status Symbols
For Greeks a hairless crotch was a status symbol for the upper classes. The Romans had such contempt for pubes young girls would be plucked with ancient tweezers called volsella from the moment they began puberty. An early version of ‘Veet’ or ‘Immac’ was made from bat’s blood, powdered viper and goats gall and called philotrum ordropax. It sounds like something cooked up in a witches cauldron to me.
Volsella ‘tweezers’ £1.99 from B&M Bargains.
Merkins are in!
Catherine de Medici, the Italian Queen of France during the 1500’s is said to have forbade her ladies in waiting from removing their pubic hair. Never mind a uniform check or a root through your bag for any stolen silver, just imagine starting your shift with a Bush inspection! Around this time women were removing the hair down there to combat crabs and here is where the Merkin comes in. Prostitutes would shave off their pubic hair then pop on a merkin to disguise sexually transmitted diseases. More recently a merkin came in handy for Kate Winslet in ‘The Reader’ after years of waxing she was unable to produce enough Bush for the period the film was set in.
Catherine de Medici, Queen of Bush and France.
Its all for the art, darling
European artists have also favoured the smooth look, female pubic hair was considered immodest. When painting a famous prostitute, with her confrontational staring eyes fixed on the viewer, the artist Manet paints the hand of Olympia laid discreetly across her crotch. On one hand the boundaries are pushed, on the other he plays it safe. Michelangelo depicts both women and men as hairless. The males on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel have no pubic hair. However his masterpiece David looks like he’s had a ‘Boyzilian’ Wax to me. Then Francisco de Goya shook things up when he painted two versions of one woman. One clothed, one completely naked with pubic hair on show. The painting La Maja Desnuda was taken by the Spanish inquisition after being deemed obscene.
Manet’s Olympia takes a well earned break between punters.
Tokens of affection
Pubes took on a strangely titillating form during the 19th century. Upper class men would collect a souvenir or token of affection from lovers in the form of a cutting of pubic hair. They would then proudly display in their hats. Nowadays the details are posted on Facebook or shared through film taken on mobile’s.
King George IV the dirty little oink who kept a snuff box of his lovers pubes.
Thoroughly Modern Minnie
Bringing us to the last fifty years with the invention of the Bikini came the Bikini line. Over time the Line got more and more narrow. In the 1970’s the porn mags Playboy and Penthouse bared bush. As we moved through the eighties the Lawns of playmates got tidier, shorter and neater, until they did not exist. This style is known as ‘The Hollywood’. It has dominated the Wax menu along with its more demure sister ‘The Brazilian’ for the last fifteen years.
In the last couple of years plenty of articles have called for women to stop removing and start growing. It’s a very personal choice and ultimately down to the individual. It’s interesting to find that it’s all been done before but we’re still on the topic and will be forever more. Now where’s that bloody iron?
Goya’s La Maja Desnuda
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