Hot Fuzz: The Complex Relationship Between Women, Society and Hair

Photo credit: Rosanna Brunwin/Adios Barbie

Ever since I became a student, I have lived on a tight budget. I scrutinise each and every purchase I make, deliberating over every penny. And yet, every four weeks, like clockwork, I spend £15 on hair removal.

According to a study conducted by Indiana University (2014), which surveyed 2,451 American women, two-thirds of women aged 18-24 had totally or partially removed their pubic hair. It seems that, unless you happen to be performing a lively musical number in The Greatest Showman, us girls do not want to be seen as hairy. I myself have tried a plethora of hair removal techniques, from waxing my arm hair to threading my eyebrows and tweezing everything in between.

So why are we so disgusted by our own hair? Times columnist Suzi Godson warns that ‘if your boyfriend has been conditioned to expect a tidy Brazilian, he may genuinely find anything else very off-putting’. The fact that pubic hair removal stems from the pornography industry, (‘if you remove all the fur, you can see more when you’re doing penetrative shots’ (Moran, 2012)), doesn’t seem to bother us feminists. It seems that our fanny hairdos should be less Robert Smith and more Jason Statham.

And it’s not just our vaginas we need to worry about. I find thick black wires protruding from my chin, a definite shadow on my upper lip, and sideburns that would make Danny Zuko blush. I have no choice: if I want to be accepted, the hair has to go.

Although it’s easy enough to wax lyrical about hair removal, the process itself is the least bit glamorous. Every four weeks, I am ushered into a shed and told to lie on a table under a blinding light and try not to cry. No, it’s not the Gestapo, just my local beautician. I have become so numb to the pain that I can ignore the water streaming from my eyes as my lips, forehead, eyebrows, chin, neck, face and sideburns are waxed, and then plucked like an oven-ready chicken. I’ve even learnt to conceal the angry hives which cover my face for the following week.

Waxing might be painful and expensive, but it’s worth it. There’s nothing I dread more than my friends noticing that I have excess hair. But is hair removal a twisted, unintentional form of self-harm? Surely my hair is growing for a reason? Emily Gibson, director of the health centre at Western Washington University claims that hair removal ‘naturally irritates and inflames the hair follicles, leaving microscopic open wounds’ (2013). Seems a little extreme for the sake of appearance.

Further Reading and References:

Louisa Saunders, 2013, ‘The Politics of Pubic Hair: Why is a Generation Choosing to Go Bald Down There?’. The Independent [online]. Published 18/03/2013. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/the-politics-of-pubic-hair-why-is-a-generation-choosing-to-go-bare-down-there-8539673.htm

Rosanna Brunwin, 2015, ‘A Hairy Situation: Body Hair and Gender Construction’. AdiosBarbie [online]. Published 06/07/2015. Available at: http://www.adiosbarbie.com/2015/07/a-hairy-situation-body-hair-and-gender-construction/

Sian Boyle, 2014, ‘Cameron Diaz is wrong about pubic hair. The bush is not back.’ The Independent [online]. Published 22/01/2014. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/cameron-diaz-is-wrong-about-pubic-hair-the-bush-is-not-back-9074722.html

Felicity Morse, 2013, ‘In defence of pubic hair: the mighty bush’. The Independent [online]. Published 26/11/2013. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/in-defence-of-pubic-hair-the-mighty-bush-8964517.html

Moran, C. 2012. ‘How to Be a Woman’. Ebury Press: Penguin.