Words: Victoria Curley (she/her)
Can women advocate for doing something for yourself if the choice is one that aligns you with a history of social pressures and anxieties?
‘The ultimate bush’ fully fitted with faux hair both curly and straight in 12 colour variations can be yours for a generous £34. Now, that is one to think about. I think we can all agree that Kim Kardashian knows how to break the internet. But why has this particular statement, in the form of a commercialised bush, caused such a raucous?
The female body has always been a vessel of negotiating power. Body hair is a central crux of this. Having a bush is more often than not seen as fundamentally wrong, grotesque and simply not an option. The dreaded fear of being invited back to someone’s when you’re not “ready” is etched onto women like the first time we learn to ride a bike. Ironically, the bush itself is a symbol that you would be “ready” for these encounters. Yet, women wax, pluck, laser, epilate and shave this part of us. The hair removal industry has taken enough money from us, and Kardashian is through with the fraud. But are we thanking her? The women that bought on to her adverts for laser hair removal in the last few years won’t be thanking her now. Why the hypocritical U turn? Consumers shouldn’t be held at the whims of a fame hungry celebrity who promotes overconsumptions and unrealistic beauty standards. There is such a decay in authenticity to pioneer strongly for laser, yet now expect people to buy pubic hair on pants.
I’m not sure how to feel about this new Skims line. The bush hair is fake, which signals to women that sex appeal is manufactured. The hours of invisible needles threading polyester onto mesh seems utterly pointless. There’s also a struggle in imagining these panties on top of a natural bush. The interweaving of hairs getting caught together doesn’t conjure ideas of comfort. Should we be commodifying the natural female body? It doesn’t sit right that the male gaze still benefits from the process of men stripping the bush off.. Through the removal of the bush for sex and as a form of sexual appeal when undressing, women are removing parts of themselves for the pleasure of men. Men are given the ability to rip off and obtain ownership of an aspect of womanhood. Also, the panties make the hair a temporary reality, you can admire the visual pleasure without materially interacting with it. Men want to have their bush and not eat it.
Art gets its inspiration out in the world and mirrors society. The fact the bush is in bloom is indicative of our growing and flourishing beauty standards and inclusive values. I would also argue we’re all just becoming more outspoken and creatively unapologetic. With this in mind, maybe I’ve been too harsh on Kim. The outrageousness of her thongs does take the body hair debate straight to the eyes of the dissent, no more behind the curtains and hush hush. This parody shoves the bush down the throats of men who prefer the pedophilic baby smooth surface. I hope they cough up some faux hair balls and threads.
There’s also an artistic element to choosing a colour for your bush, almost like creating a Sim, if you want the carpet to match the drapes. Kim is including the regretful laser hair gals into the trend and utilising her influence in defining female beauty standards. But should the bush stay just a trend? And why do women feel particularly hemmed in to follow these fads. Women are targeted and indoctrinated to view life as a merging and resurfacing of trends to follow. For who? Body hair is fighting its way back as a trend, but simply needs to regain its autonomy. Body hair can be a topic of conversation, but never up for debate.
The female body centres its strength around choice; although, if your choice to remove your bush is built on the foundation and ingrained decades old beauty standard then is it admirable? Can women advocate for doing something for yourself if the choice is one that aligns you with a history of social pressures and anxieties? Our bodies are vessels that hold and replicate generational traumas and these are passed down. The subconscious in us books the waxing appointment, while the feminist women of today believe they decided. If men can have hair in practically all areas, so can women. It’s natural!
