Back in the early 90s, Sharon Stone had men drooling and going nuts over a major much ado about nothing. In the movie Basic Instinct there was an interrogation scene where she uncrosses her legs to reveal that she just may be a natural blonde... if you get my drift. This scene, to mainly under-sexed or immature males, has become a classic in cinema, spawning a host of imitators. Nevertheless, the image of a present day "bombshell" exposing her crotch, whether it is deliberate or inadvertent, is nowhere near an original thought and actually was inspired from a 1960s press conference where it happened, deliberately or inadvertently, to one Marilyn Monroe.
Why has this small triangle of hair caused so much controversy throughout the ages?
When Michelangelo Antonioni's movie Blow-Up had a couple of naked teen-agers romping through a scene, the Catholic Office of Movie Ratings, which is where and why the U.S. has it's Motion Picture Association Ratings System, gave it a "Condemned" rating... meaning you would suffer the fires of Hell if you did not repent after seeing this film. Also, in 1960, the Supreme Court had overturned a case held against a nudist magazine, Sunshine & Health. The charge was obscenity, they sent the magazine through the mail and it had a couple of photos of people with... their pubes showing! It was illegal at the time to send pornographic material, or at least what most considered pornographic, through the U.S. Postal System. The Supreme Court ruled against Postmaster General Summerfield, saying that it was a way of life for nudists therefore it was considered an "idea" and protected by the 1st Amendment.
It wasn't even until 1965 in England and 1969 in the U.S. when Bob Guccione released Penthouse magazine, that pubic hair first appeared, intentionally, on a centerfold model in an openly sexual manner. The floodgates where open and soon after; pubic hair aplenty. Except in Japan, where still today, even extremely graphic porno has the pubic hair shaved or digitally removed from the video tape from porn stars and performers.
Still, I fail to see the hoopla. I myself don't find and attraction nor repulsion from or to pubic hair. I see it simply as science and nature. The areas where pubic hair appears, under the arms and over the genitals are simply locations for scent glands. The hair provides a holding surface where the odor remains until oxidation, which releases, at least for primal man until deodorants and perfumes were invented, as a recognition signal and stimulant to sexual excitement. That is why we are born with hair on our heads and other parts of the body, but the pubic hair does not begin to appear until we reach puberty, a signal of the onset of sexual maturity and adult sexuality.
Science aside, pubic hair has been seen as a sign of rampant nymphomania, a link to the animal world, ungodly and so much more. Noted German neurologist Dr. Krafft-Ebing wrote several essays, some of which appeared in the book Aberrations of Sexual Life, based on certain cases involving fetishism and pubic hair. Heir doctor included one such fetishist who found it erotic to pluck out hairs using his own teeth from the vaginal area. The subject kept a collection of these and would bite them again, later, to obtain a renewal of the sexual satisfaction he had received earlier. The same subject would also pay hotel workers and staff to collect pubic hair found in the beds of rooms in which women had stayed.
One of the more infamous cases was of Peter Christie, a British serial killer. In 1953 Christie had admitted to killing 11 women and was found to keep four sets of pubic hair, each separated and arranged in a tin can.
These are more or less modern associations of pubic obsession, whereas the obsession with the hair grown in our private parts extends far into ancient times. In ancient Egypt neither men or women had any hair what so ever. It was clearly thought to be both ugly and unhygienic. Even King Solomon in The Book of Epoch demanded that the Queen of Sheeba remove "nature's veil" before they would "lay together". In ancient Greece complete removal of all hair, except for that of the head, was the rule of thumb for women. The ways of the Greeks were soon adopted by their predecessors, the Romans. One Roman emperor, Domitian, who ruled in the 1st century A.D. was reputed to spend long hours depilating each of his concubines' pubic regions by hand. Ouch!
Women of Turkish harems would remove all traces of pubic hair or otherwise "disguise" their privates. Basno de Zarin, an Italian traveler, wrote in the 1600s, "Some dye, with henna, the skin of the pubic region and four fingers above it. And for this reason they remove the hairs, considering it a sin to have any in the private parts."
Pubic hair was removed time to time due to cultural attitudes which saw hairiness as making an individual 'animalistic'. This is still the practice of some tribes of South American Indians.
In the middle ages, artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli eliminated all pubic hair from their paintings. At the time the Catholic Church were quite opposed to anything remotely sexual, and in knowing this the artist would remove the hair so that it would not attract attention to that area and the onlooker would take on the beauty of the entire body, rather than certain regions. Regardless of artistic trends, European women in those times would often raise their skirts and expose the pubic area as a mark to great men. Pardon me while I get a little nostalgic right now.
Okay, back to the article.
In the 19th century, euphemisms for pubic hair, such as 'Cupid's arbor' and 'grove of Eglantine,' are enough to suggest that this area of the body was no longer frowned upon. In Venus and Adonis, William Shakespeare uses a "grass" metaphor in describing body hair. But the most prolific and clearest indication that pubic hair was actually desirable and even fashionable, was the existence of pubic hair wigs. I repeat, PUBIC HAIR WIGS! These little cuties were popular in England and were called "merkins", and later called a "bowser". Oh, I almost forgot... they weren't worn on the head, but over existing pubic hair. So as to give that "I'm a real blonde" look. These became quite popular again in the 20th century, during World War II. Italian prostitutes who did not like to bleach the pubic hair, due to fear or pain associated with dyes in that area, but still wanting to please those good ol' G.I.s, wore merkins, or bowsers, whatever. Reminding me of what Marilyn Monroe once said, "I like to feel like a blonde... all over."
Going back a bit again, England's King Charles II was known for having a wig, this time it's the type you put on your head, made entirely from his mistresses. Either it was a small wig, or the man was a mack daddy, ladies and gentlemen. It later became the proud possession of one Wig Club of Edinburgh, an erotic men's society of the 18th century.
In those days, exchange of pubic hair was a token of ones want for their partner. Caroline Lamb, the wife of British prime minister Lord Melbourne, was said to have given a gift of her "locks of downstairs" to her lover Byron during their brief affair.
In the world of the occult, pubic hair is almost always used in potions of love or lust. One recommendation was to pluck three hairs of the genital region and three from the left arm pit and grind them up and served in food to the person in which you lust after and soon they will be yours. I, of course, in no way take responsibility for the results of the ass kicking anyone receives when said person finds out they've been munching on your pubes. Besides, if you have them there long enough to eat your food, flash them where the hair was going to come from and trust me you won't have to go through the trouble.
Now, pubic hair in most of us is normally short, curly, etc., but has been known to reach extraordinary lengths. In some cases, documented by one F.L. John in 1835, pubic hairs in some people would grow longer and thicker than most people could grow on their heads. The correct medical term for this is called Pubic Hypertricosis. (WARNING: Please make sure you are not about to eat shortly after or have eaten prior to reading beyond this point.) In these cases, the disorder which is only found in women, was most often found to go beyond the general diamond shape of the genital pubic area, usually extending up to the navel. Frequently spreading down the inner thighs, as well and later around to the anal cleft of the buttocks.
Now, assessing contemporary attitudes towards pubic hair in a real sexual context is really not that easy. As a survey from Harvard - which almost only showed how bored Harvard scientists were - threw little light on the matter. Out of 450 students questioned about sex, 50% did not comment on the section concerning pubic hair, even when pried. Out of those that did answer 25% said they get excited by the sight of excessive pubic hair. Nearly 70% of the men questioned preferred that their women not remove pubic hair, and about 16% of the men came down on the opposite side of the fence, claiming total removal of all pubic hair. 65% of the men questioned became aroused, some even to the point of erection, at the mere sight of a woman pubic hair. Which surly states that college boys are just that, boys. Ooooh, I saw some patch, and I got a stiffy. Whatever.
Well, out of those 450 males and females questioned who did answer the section on pubic hair, only 4... (not 4%, but 4) people exclaimed that they would not have sex with a partner that was not fully removed of any and all pubic hair on the grounds of hygiene. Hopefully, these kids will never run into Kellie Everts! Who's that? Everts back in the late 80s became a superstar as a topless dancer in the U.S. She is known as 'The Preaching Stripper' and 'The Stripper for God'. She make videos of herself, topless and unshaven, pumping iron and preaching the good book. Everts claims that an untrimmed pussy is the will of God... so I guess you can consider me a Satanist!

From Issue 7, and also appears on the Binge and Mascara website.