Hirsute and Horny!

In Episode 2 Charlotte takes a look at what it means to be hairy when it comes time to get your kit off in front of someone else. Questions around sex and intimacy - and whether to maintain some fur - or be bold and beautiful with your hair down there, at front and centre in Hirsute and Horny.

By Charlotte Cook

Just like hair that you shave, it comes back. And so do I, with a second episode of Hair and Loathing.

Yes, it's still about body hair, but more specifically about how it gets in your head, rather than on it when it comes to sex and body image.

This episode features women of all ages and their thoughts on trends, how body hair has impacted intimacy and why everyone is hell bent on the idea that hairlessness improves hygiene. That's if history has anything to say about it.

(News flash - while having no hair in your private bits might feel breezy and cleaner, it doesn't actually change the situation down there)

Hirsute and Horny is the most personal part of the series. Instead of masking my emotions with some terrible humour, I actually had to talk about how I felt.

A 7-year-old me would have loved if someone could have torn down the walls of the patriarchy, so that I could embrace my wee hairy toes.

Scientists say there was once a thick layer of hair across all bodies. But natural selection got rid of the furriest ones because they were more likely to catch lice and other parasite nasties.

The Encyclopedia of Hair said people began to perceive nearly-hairless bodies as more sexually attractive, and as a good potential mate because they had healthy-parasite free-skin... go figure.

Today, there are fewer parasites to catch, but it seems the obsession with 'hairlessness = sexy,' remains.

However, this came as a surprise to the couple of 80-odd year-old women I spoke to who were shocked to learn about the rather violent waxing procedure women go through to keep themselves 'fur free' downstairs.

One even said perhaps they do it "so men didn't get hair caught between their teeth".

And while I don't have any examples of an involuntary floss, I do have plenty of memories that involve crippling anxiety and self-doubt that race through my inner monologue when my clothes finally come off.

I also bravely asked my mum about her own sex life, and whether she considered the way she felt about her body would impact on my own self esteem.

"No, I don't think I thought about it, which is kind of a shame really. I didn't consider what I would say to you would have an impact on how you felt about yourself. "…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details