“Hairy”: the first white pubic hair

A middle-aged man recently wanted to be charming on the subway. So he told Melanie, a friend, that she looked good for her age. Her dry reply: “You haven’t seen my gray pubic hair.” Whether it was the thought of the color or the hair that made his grin disappear, I don’t know. However, the loss of pleasure often conceals social norms of eternal youth and attractiveness. Some people find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that they no longer correspond with them.

Hair reflects changes in life. When the first pubic hairs sprout during puberty, young people often feel pressure to remove them in order to feel “clean”. Some adults, on the other hand, would like to have the gray hair back, often faster than they can see, that they plucked out a few years earlier. It doesn’t matter whether it’s fluff on the upper lip, a bald head, excessive hair on the back or the discovery of the first white pubic hair: not everyone is comfortable with their physical signs of aging.

Research shows that obsession with hair changes and hair removal reflects a general dissatisfaction with appearance. Behind this are all too often problematic body images that lead to people not feeling comfortable in their bodies anymore. Age-related compliments are therefore a tricky business – even (and especially) when people have never gone through a recognizable maturation process.

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