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Attitudes
Attitudes toward pubic hair are similar to those regarding axillary armpit hair in that cultural and personal norms can be reflected in reactions ranging from pleasure to revulsion, both for the presence and absence of such hair. As with any sexually charged matter there are persons of both sexes who have strong points of view toward the culturally related issues associated with presence or lack of body hair. Some common slang includes bush, muff, curlies, pubes, fuzz.
Pubic hair in art
In ancient Egyptian art female Pubic hair is straightforwardly indicated in the form of painted black triangles, for example in images of the sky-goddess Nut.
In classical European art it was very rarely depicted, and male Pubic hair was often, but not always, omitted. Sometimes it was portrayed in stylised form.
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The same was true in much Indian art, and in other Eastern portrayals of the nude. In 16th century Europe Michelangelo felt able to show the male David with stylized pubic hair, but female bodies remained hairless below the head. Nevertheless, Michelangelo’s male nudes on the Sistine chapel ceiling display no pubic hair.
By the 17th century, suggestions of female pubic hair appear in pornographic engravings, such as those by Agostino Carracci. By the late 18th century female pubic hair is openly portrayed in Japanese shunga (erotica), especially in the ukiyo-e tradition. Hokusai's picture The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, depicting a woman having an erotic fantasy, is a well-known example. Despite this Fine art paintings and sculpture created before the 20th century in the Western tradition usually depicted women without pubic hair or a visible vulva.
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