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  'Back, Crack and Sack': Pubic Shaving Trend Baffles Experts

'Back, Crack and Sack' Pubic Shaving Trend Baffles Experts

By Manfred Dworschak

Part 2: The History of Hirsuteness

The increasingly vocal nature of the debate over hair removal cannot be attributed solely to the number of people who have succumbed to the fashion. The issue is much more about man's image of himself. It's not just about a fad. It also has a bit to do with the eternally touchy topic of man's relationship to his inner mammal.

For thousands of years, body hair has been viewed as a legacy from prehistoric times and as the expression of the wildly libidinous and animal tendencies of Homo sapiens. And, for just as long, man has felt compelled to carefully prune any rampantly spreading undergrowth. For many cultures, trimming, plucking and twirling out pubic hairs is just part of life.

But we still haven't been able to completely eradicate body hair. In fact, having hair in the areas of the body where it remains has actually had an evolutionary reason behind it. For example, having hair in the crotch and in the armpits keeps one's skin from chaffing. At the same time, it also cools the body by helping sweat to evaporate and, if biologists are correct, it serves as a means of attracting genetically suitable romantic partners by producing particular scents.

The new aspect of the current hair removal movement is that it is spreading at about the same rate as clothing is becoming more scant. Hair removal on the legs and in the armpits began decades ago, and now the genital region is next.

Some psychoanalysts suspect that, behind the desire to shave one's public hairs, there is a secret desire to appear harmless, immature and infantile, so as not to scare away potential mates. That might have something to do with the trend of female pop stars cultivating the young girl look. But the turned-in knee looks and the innocent Bambi face they use in photo shoots doesn't only make them look childish. They also look a bit uptight -- and a bit slutty.

Does this mean that half a generation is backing away from an adult sex life? Precisely the opposite could be true, says Brähler: "Perhaps today's woman is so self-confident that she can afford to expose her charms without covering them up."

The thing working most strongly against the trend's appeal is all the work that goes into it. Even the biggest slaves to fashion can get tired of having to pull out the razor blade every couple of day or having to rip out their hair every few weeks with wax or depilatory devices. With names like "Cleanskin" or "Hairfree," whole new chains of stores promising long-lasting smoothness have appeared to help service this clientele. Hairfree, for example, is the market leader in Germany with 90 branches spread across the country. Some of these stores uses short bursts of light to cauterise hair roots. And there are plenty of dermatologists out there who are happy about all the extra cash being brought in by their expensive laser devices.

Of course, at least eight treatments, applied several weeks apart, are needed for each skin region. For those blessed with a bear chest à la Sean Connory, the process can last almost two years. This is because each hair passes through several phases of growth, and in each case the treatment must be applied during the right phase. This drives up prices. At Cleanskin, for example, a single back treatment costs €200-300 ($280-420), depending on the density of one's hair.

But the cost hasn't deterred customers, and the number of people seeking permanent hair removal is growing rapidly. "Sometimes parents show up with their children," says Ossi Casmir, the manager of a Cleanskin franchise in the southwestern German city of Wiesbaden. "They ask for their first hair removal as a present for their 18th birthday -- like it used to be with a driver's license."

But even with high-tech solutions, customers can't avoid the pain. During laser hair removal, you feel a pinch for each hair removed -- the thicker and darker the hair, the more uncomfortable its removal. "Facial hair is often the most difficult," says Anita Ruppenthal of Laderma, a laser hair removal clinic in Frankfurt. "Sometimes people even jump up out of the chair."

The idea of having one's facial hair removed might strike some as odd. But the fact is that more and more men are now having this done. "It's mainly bankers and other people who wear suits to work," says Ruppenthal. In their case, at least, the motivation is relatively straightforward. "They don't want to spend so much time shaving in the morning."

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan.