A Whole New Bald Game

I've noticed some things vanishing from the North American landscape; namely, phone booths, drinking fountains, and pubic hair on women. Phone booths I understand, drinking fountains I chalk up to cost of upkeep, but why the hair down there?

--Bemused

Trends in hair removal seem to follow trends in fashion. Starting around 2000, ultra low-rise jeans were in, but looking like you had a furry little pet peeking out from them was not. With the growth of Internet porn, and porn culture merging into mainstream culture, women started wearing underwear the size of a postage stamp. (If a woman doesn't at least prune the edges of the hedges she'll look like she's wearing a doily over a bearskin rug.) Many people favor going mowed or bare because it seems "more hygienic," and because you don't have to make your way through the bramble to get to the good parts. There are men who are creeped out by a woman in her 30s who looks like she has yet to hit puberty. But, according to my research, most women under 30 at least trim, and a good many opt for totally barenaked ladyparts. Many men, especially younger men, trim, and a few go for the full-bare "boyzilian." Eek. Some women and men are even making the hairless downstairs a permanent thing with laser hair removal. They seem to be forgetting that fashions change. Just as all those ugly '70s styles came back, the 'fro down below could eventually be in again...good news, I suppose, for people who sell press-on goatees and dermatologists in the business of installing hair plugs.