Kate Lister at Whores Of Yore describes the furor every time she posts a vintage photograph of furry bush:

It is inevitable: whenever I post an image of a woman with a full bush an argument ensues. Interestingly, no one has ever commented on the state of a gentleman’s manscape as long as I have been tweeting them; but, a woman’s knicker whiskers will upset someone every time.

[W]hen did we get to the point when our own body hair is alien to us? When did we get to the point when pubic hair is called ‘disgusting’ or ‘gross’? Because this is always the cause of the arguments; someone recoils in horror at the sight of a woman with pubic hair you could wipe your feet on, and voices this online. Having a ‘type’ is one thing, but this voicing usually goes well beyond expressing a personal preference, and marches straight into outright revulsion at the prospect of a lady garden gone to seed.

When did this happen? When did our body hair, hair we have all got, hair that is supposed to be there, elicit the same levels of disgust as a matted hairball bunging up the plughole?

It gets even stranger when you consider that a mere two-foot north of the offending silent beard is another crop of hair that we collectively devote billions of pounds every year to styling. A cursory glance at any hair style magazine reveals adjectives such as ‘glamorous’, ‘sultry’, ‘flowing’ and ‘luxurious’ being used to describe a mop that top and tails another barnet capable of making adults wince. Again, I am not trying to convince you to allow your squirrel to go feral, but I do want to pause on this issue and ask why have we become so anti-fuzz? To the point its regarded as un natural or ‘gross’? Because, that’s where we currently are; our own bodies revolt us, and we shame people for having hair that we have too! So where did all this start?

Fortunately, Kate’s article offers even more answers than questions.

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