Hair or Pus?

Now that I am home again and will sleep in my own bed for the next 17 nights (until I depart for Chicago for my granny's 85th birthday bash and the BlogHer conference), I can get back to concentrating on important topics, like disgusting bloody vaginal infections caused by improperly administered Brazilian waxes. While I was in Memphis, alert CUSSie Addy N. tipped me off to a science blog post by Tara C. Smith about an article in an infectious disease journal about a cooter infection resulting from a Brazilian that required 10 days in the hospital to treat. (Speaking of BlogHer, Leslie Madsen Brooks also covered this at BlogHer, with a link to the article.) Even after all that, the patient tried to shave her snatch six months later, and the infection came back.

My original plan was to excerpt the nastiest details, but the journal article had a much more interesting write up on the history of female pubic hair removal, and used it to examine the reason why someone whose cooter practically fell off as a result of this practice would be inclined to try it again instead of leave it alone.

The desire to be beautiful is as old as civilization itself, and beauticians are an integral part of many communities, often playing the role of a trusted therapist. However, as demonstrated by this case, certain beauty treatments may pose infectious risks in susceptible hosts. This case is notable, because it is the first case, to our knowledge, of group A streptococcal infection with toxic shock and reactivation of herpes following a bikini wax that recurred upon further depilation.

I thought this was a more interesting analysis than merely grossing people out with descriptions of vaginal pus and swelling that prevented the patient from peeing.

Sure, many women personally prefer to be bare or spare down there, and I don't begrudge any intelligent woman her right to decide how she likes her body best, assuming that they respect my decisions about mine. Ultimately, though, all those guys who say shit about furry beavers and say that women who sport bush are foul (and women's magazines that promote their spew) need to understand the risks that their absurd beauty standards can impose. And who would rather deal with pussy pus than a few pieces of pubic floss?