Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

THE BIOLOGY OF SEXlife, and the vase paintings frequently show pubic haireven for women who were hetairae, while Helen of Troy,regarded as a type of beauty, is also so represented. Thecustoms of different peoples, and of the same people atdifferent periods, with reference to the estimation of hair(which has been discussed at length by Stoll) differswidely. Sometimes it has been held in the highest honorfor men, and as a mark of supreme beauty in women, atother times so far as possible suppressed, and cut, shaved,or epilated.A main reason for thishas been the close associationof the hairy system with sex, combined with the realizationthat, unlike the pelvis and the breasts, the hair nolonger has definite biological value. It is thus a field inwhich likes and dislikes have free play to create theirfashions. The ascetic religious elements have notably beenan influence unfavorable to hair, even in ancient Egypt,for, as Remy de Gourmont has remarked, "the immoralityof the living form resides especially in the pilous system."It was thus inevitable that the influence of Christianityshould have been against hair, especially in old daysagainst beards which were denounced by monkish writers,and later against the pudendal hair which in Victoriantimes it was considered "disgusting" to represent in pictures.Thus religion fostered what were considered therefinements of civilization, and we see at present a widespreadtendencywomen toto remove the beard in men and inepilate the armpits and sometimes the pubes,as well as to minimize the hair generally.On the whole, however, there isgood reason for assuminga certain fundamental tendency whereby the mostvarious peoples of the world, at all events through theirmost intelligent members, recognize and accept a commonideal of beauty, so that to a certain extent beauty may