My younger sister explained the term "brazilian" to me recently. Without going into detail, it involves removing female body hair from a very sensitive area using hot wax. Lisa wondered if there was some sort of underlying pedophilia complex going on.
My take is that women are stripping themselves (literally, ouch) of their natural beauty. Body hair is somehow seen as gross and unattractive. We've become a culture that denies our links to our mammal past. It reminds me of the time in ancient classical history when body hair was considered ugly and "unclean". Cleanliness is next to godliness, perhaps?
The brazilian practice also seems sort of counter-intuitive. As we age, we start to lose body hair and eventually revert to having little or none in old age. So, are we reversing or speeding up this process by taking things into our own hands?
Personally, I never plucked my eyebrows and only shave when I have to (TMI?). I lived on a boat in the BVI for a couple of vacations and it changed how I view my body. It was an "anything goes" sort of culture among fellow bareboaters. People showered out in the open and went skinny-dipping or nude sunbathing. Women and men didn't obsess over body or facial hair, either. It was all very natural and I found it freeing.
Cosmetic surgery is on the rise. People are going to what amounts to drive-throughs (and dying for it) in order to look younger. I've never considered cosmetic surgery. Seems like an awful lot of pain to endure to fool yourself and others, or to deny the inevitable.
I used to color my hair in my 40s but stopped at 49. People in their 50s have some gray. Who am I kidding by covering it up?
I think it's time for a revolution. Let's embrace our roots (and not just the ones on our heads) and take back our bodies. To me, there's nothing sexier than someone who is comfortable in their own skin.
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