exploring a popular culture body modification - Athenaeum Home ...

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Hair holds an uncomfortable position in the spectrum of what is considered natural and
what is considered unnatural (Barcan, 2004). It is viewed as natural because as humans we are
born with it and associate it with particular growth periods throughout our lives, such as
reproductive maturity and aging. Paradoxically, it can also be seen as a body supplement or
garment, something used to decorate the body that can be removed or altered. These two
opposing views lay the grounds for a wide variety of cultural perspectives on hair and how it
should be understood. Different cultures throughout history have used constructed knowledge,
social standards, and aesthetic preferences to determine how to manipulate and treat each type of
hair on a person‟s body, including pubic hair. Understanding the complex reasoning for
manipulations of pubic hair can contribute to the understanding of cultural perspectives
regarding gender, media, history, sex, and dress. Researching the path of an individual‟s bodily
experience within a particular culture can shed light on the complexities in which a culture
defines ideals of what is masculine or feminine, or a fading line between the two. This
understanding of gender is closely related to the historically changing observance of women as
erotic stimuli, a topic that is built upon culture, more importantly, a culture‟s media and the
messages they send. Today, these messages impel women to gain femininity and/or erotic
appeal by accommodating the fashion of removing the pubic hair.
Depilation and/or trimming of pubic hair is a highly normative practice, which is
increasingly being used by contemporary western cultures (Toerien, Wilkinson & Choi, 2005).
With the advent of the Second Wave Feminist Movement and the growing trend of exhibitionism
that became apparent in erotic performance and motion pictures beginning in the 1960s, sex has
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