I heart Amanda Fucking Palmer. (And I am forever indebted to my friend and fellow dancer Mandy for sending this video to me.)
I am a little sad, however, that this song is super pro-pubes/anti-shaving, but then all the models who are wearing the many awesome merkins clearly had to shave their pussies in order to wear them. What what?!? And AFP herself is wearing a super high-cut 80s style cootch patch that (awesome as it is) she must have had to do some serious hair removal for.
It’s funny, the politics of pubes. As far as I know (and I’m not citing any sources here, people) merkins were originally sported most frequently by prostitutes who shaved their pubic hair to avoid unwanted critters, but added the pube wig to look attractive again. Funny how now a naked cootch is considered attractive. I don’t know if it’s our pedophilic, youth-obsessed culture, or our value in high-maitenance style, or what.
I’m reminded of a story some friends told me, about their friends in Cirque du Soliel- I forget what it’s called, the risque one. And how when the erotic Cirque du Soliel traveled to Canada, they weren’t allowed to show pubic hair. So everyone had to wax or shave it off and then wear merkins. Because fake pubic hair is okay, but real pubic hair is somehow dirty, or pornographic, or too intimate. WTF?
And I know I’m splashing this all over the internet, TMI-Turkey up in here, but I think it’s part of a healthy culture of hair resistance to talk about this shit. It makes me sad- I’ve spent years working really hard to accept and enjoy my hairy body, years of embracing my hairy legs and hairy armpits, sometimes militantly, years of making a conscientious effort to not shave, and I’m finally happy, comfortable in a place of being able to choose to shave or not to shave, but I still don’t feel comfortable sporting a swimsuit with pubes sprouting out. Gah! Fuck you, world.
That said, and speaking of awesome angry female singers that I love, Peaches has this crazy video that makes me happy. The shot in the Amanda Palmer video of the long wavy pubes made me think of this: