What's in a mane? The Brazilian Wax and the female identity

And so we stumble on a tireless argument embroiled in the world of sex. That dirty feeling. Having hair down there is now associated with being dirty, thus reinforcing the notion that the body in its natural state requires some form of alteration. Yet women are trimming back what signifies a transition into "adulthood" in order to present their nether regions as smooth as a baby's bot.

Shaving, waxing and depilating are not new phenomena. However, the fashion industry wants women to look like prepubescent girls. The waistline of pants in general is slipping lower and soon a Brazilian will be as common as shaving your legs or armpits (ponder how these common rituals started). Due to the nature of current waistlines the Brazilian has becomes this century's corset. It constricts and restricts and is another form of body augmentation. Eileen Fairhurst asserts:

We do not need to look very far to recognise that a woman's physical appearance may be used to sell newspapers or almost any commodity one cares to name. Nor can we quibble with the notion that society tends to define women in terms of their physical appearance. From this it is a short step to assert that a women's physical appearance is the pivot of her identity qua female.

I believe this is something all women should ponder in regards to Brazilian waxing. As I for one do not want to be defined by my pubic line.