Poolside Pubes

We have seen the last of our summer holiday season; with the last few days of the summer holidays dwindling before the back to school September sadness. But for women this season has been the hardest few months to maintain your beauty regime hair wise. Every female has no doubt suffered at the hands of a wax strip, pair of tweezers or thread, primping and prepping themselves prior to their holiday to ensure not a stray hair is in sight.

Miley Cyrus flaunted a hirsute underarm fighting for her feminist belief, she even dyed it red to attract even more attention and in an attempt to rid the taboo and stigma around body hair. Other a- listers such as Julia Roberts did the same but Miley has swiftly removed the hair.

But, my point is why are women so hair conscious, especially on holiday, and men are not? Men can lay sprawled out on a sun lounger in their budgie smugglers with pubes awry, their “snail trail” obviously protruding and even an immensely hairy back (admittedly not all men), whilst there is pressure from society and the media for women to have to endure hair removal at a cost prior to their holidays and maintain a trim body hair. But why?

Pubes by the poolside are not the done nor seen thing for women. Society and the media have pushed us to believe that god help you if you did let your bush loose and visible to all when sunbathing. So, every year and every holiday season females venture to their trusty beauticians to opt for a hair removal of their underarms, eyebrows, legs and nether regions all in preparation for their hols, to save the hassle of shaving, but also, to spare the embarrassment of others seeing you bare all with all your hairs and graces awry. This does not necessarily mean that everything goes but every female will tame their hair for their holidays in some shape or form: whether it’s your DIY hair removal wax strips, shaving, threading, laser treatment, waxing and all the playful shapes you can possibly imagine from bald eagle, to Brazilian to a simple neat tidy shape up, a landing strip – you name it there’s a term for the design you want – but there is no denying that hair removal is top of the to do list for every female prior to their holiday.

Why is there such a stigma around pubic hair? I for one am not hair’s biggest fan – hair in general – I am terrible with with the head on my hair in terms of styling it (my limits stretch to a normal classic plait and even that isn’t the nearest), my eyebrows have remained the same shape for years and require little plucking, however I am an advocate of smooth hair free legs and equally neat and tidy bikini area, but the expense, the pressure and the demand to maintain such neatness is something men will not know. I have never gone on holiday without a bikini wax, nor will I, but why I won’t dare to is something engrained in me. But why? And by who? Booking my beauty appointment is something I don’t think twice about doing before a holiday, because they (beauticians) say it lasts longer than waxing, which it does and it is better for you (arguably), but I do enjoy the carefree hair free holiday outcome. But it doesn’t actually last the entire summer, and prior to your wax works session you fear wearing shorts because of how bad “down there” could be and you don’t want to run the risk of others getting a glimpse. Yet men do not ever have this fear.

Some may deem the hair free female as abiding to misogyny and the unrealistic perspective of women projected on men of glamour models with the perfectly proportioned body, who have neat or hair-free nether regions. But the fur-free feline can also be a nod to feminism (arguably- well I’d like tho think so), women are in charge of our bodies, and despite the media’s views on how a woman should be and look like, ultimately us women make the decision, and I take pride in primping myself and I honestly do feel empowered, and more confident when hair free.

I have put it down to society and the pressures on women to have the perfect “porn star designer vagina” that has pressured women into going to the expense and pain of hair removal that now a tamed and trimmed downstairs is in fact expected.

Will this stigma ever go? If women stop maintaining their hair, pubic hair in particular, what will happen? And why can men get away with more grotesque hairy bodies?

M x

Has the catwalk had its day?

Every season fashionistas flock from city to city, where they are absorbed in collection after collection, the newest FROWers and the individuality among street styles. But why do we go to such extremes to view the upcoming seasons collection?

Catwalks are equally hated by some as much as they are admired. It has been stated that if you are not seated alongside the frow veterans such as Alexa Chung or Anna Wintour when it comes to watching the catwalk you are insignificant in the fashion world hierarchy and you should not attend the catwalk shows. Not only does your reputation diminish and you are deemed less important in the fashion world if you are not on the front row, but you have poor visibility by taking a backseat, you may have to squirm in between figity people sitting in front of you just to try to capture a full shot of the models and the collection, and even then you may have wished you had just relied on the almighty/ trusty World Wide Web to live stream the show and get a better view than you would have got actually being present at the show. So with heightened angst among some spectators with people facing an unenjoyable experience and a disrupted show, will less people start to attend the shows and rely on other modes of viewing to watch the show? Will fashion show goers start to diminish to the point where nobody attends and there may be no show? 

The fashion show experiences vary by and large for different people. At this years (New York?london) fashion week Anna Wintour sat next to Kim Kardashian with her daughter North West sitting (and crying) on her lap. This incident caused uproar and sparked the debate as to whether there should be a baby ban at the shows. Whilst Kim kardashian continued to enjoy her husbands show, the babysitter had to quieten down North.  Although Kim was relieved, how would Kanye or any other designer feel having his show disrupted by a crying child who is arguably too young to appreciate the show. Surely a child having a tantrum would annoy other spectators and take away from the entire sophisticated ambiance of the show, it could distract models, and also defer the attention away from the collection and the models and focus attention on cooing over a child. It certainly irritated Anna Wintour but how would other spectators feel knowing that a young child has a front row seat but perhaps a journalist, an upcoming designer or other spectator has a worse seat to a child and may have a second rate view of the show sitting a few rows back who may have difficulty watching the show and now hearing it too, which could ruin the whole fashion show experience. 

So, to save aggravation and considering those factors: is it worth attending fashion shows if you are not on the front row? And will there be an end to fashion shows with them being pre recorded in a private studio (bar any spectators) for us to live stream perhaps? 

We are all aware of the continuation of sexism (although it is not as bad as it once was it is still a prominent factor in society) and the urge for equal pay among both sexes, as women still receiving less pay than a man in the same profession. However, modelling is said to be the one profession where females receive higher pay than males. So, if we get rid of catwalks, we will be cutting down on empowering women and cutting away the sole strand that leads to equal pay; if we do away with catwalks shows we will be undoing a step in attaining equal pay for women. So, what do we do? Keep the catwalks that are a huge factor in fashion weeks? Or will the frightful prediction that we hope will never happen of catwalks slowly  becoming extinct, become a reality?

M x

My Oh Mi-ley

Miley Cyrus. The innocent ‘best of both worlds’ Hannah Montana actress and singer has indefinitely created an entirely new risqué world for herself- full of nudity, twerking, partying and eccentricity.  But, do the public view  Miley’s uncontrollable behaviour as a negative generalisation for the younger generation?

In parts, I feel sorry for Miley, perhaps it was too much, too young- being an idol for children at a young age and being brought up in the limelight due to her father Billy Ray Cyrus’ career. This hum drum lifestyle has clearly taken it’s toll.

Miley has grown up being idolised and with a lot of attention aimed at her and I feel that now she has matured now she is embellishing her life more and putting on a show in order to spark talk, attempt to be controversial. Although some may disagree and say that she knows no different and living in the fantasy celeb world is another world in itself. However, I believe that what is truly underlying all of her outrageous, extravagant behaviour is her thirst for more attention.

The release of Mileys nude photographs for V Magazine that is out today, which shows only a few soap spuds stand in the way of her being totally naked (although honestly- what good is a few bubbles to compose ones modesty?) scream ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION . Yes, it may well be the desire of the photographer for that shoot, but we are all aware that Miley is not shy of revealing all. It is also evident in certain outfits she definitely does not leave much to the imagination, with memes mocking her derrière. Personally, I believe this is a cry for attention from Miley. A front for her to exude confidence and live up to the stereotype of the young twenty-something girl, and exaggerating aspects of herself. Yes, she may be a party girl, which is normal, but then there is a fine line. Miley is definitely aware of her actions and plays with it all, but I simply can’t help but believe that this is all one play for Miley and she is the starring actress and director of her own crazy and fabricated world. Yes, of course she always has seemed to be a confident female, even as a young girl, which you would imagine from a child exposed to fame and fortune at a young age, braving the stage solo, and continually having interviews, undoubtedly your confidence levels would rise. However, my point is that Miley is now 22 years old and I feel she is crying out more for attention and to be noticed now by doing eccentric things that are unnecessary when she is still a current celebrity without the need to over do it.

M x

@BovingdonMaisie