Women's pubic grooming has evolved from ancient methods, including using sharp objects, to modern practices like the Brazilian wax. Historical records show cultural and religious norms have influenced these practices. "One must suffer to be beautiful," according to the old saying.
For some, pubic grooming is part of those necessary, painful rituals. It was already fashionable in ancient times, whether in Egypt or ancient Rome. Women used polished shells or stones, bat blood, calf urine or donkey fat to get rid of unruly pubic hair.
Others preferred bronze knives, pumice or beeswax. Another technique was to twirl pubic hair off with thin threads. Some even applied orpiment, a highly toxic mineral containing arsenic, to dissolve the unwanted hair.
It took some time before the modern razor or epilator were invented. Yet, there must be a biological purpose to body hair to start out with: "It doesn't just grow there because it was forgotten in the course of evolution; hair has a protective function," says cultural scientist and journalist Mithu Sanyal. Pubic hair serves as a natural barrier for pathogens and it can prevent injuries.
Sanyal believes that those who justify trimming pubic hair for hygiene reasons, especially in desert regions with a shortage of water, are only using those arguments as a pretext. What needs to be kept in mind, points out Sanyal, is that "pubes give off scents, so-called pheromones, that make you irresistible." As the author of a book titled "Vulva: Th.