Come the late 19th century and early 20th women are depicted as nude and proud. Complete with full pubic and armpit hair in art emphasizing their sexuality. And Courbet maxed it out.

(NSFW y’all – unless you work at a very cool place.)

It’s the Pits!

Hmm, I’m noticing a trend…

A lot of beautiful women in intimate or alluring poses.

Pubic Hair in Art

Body hair, specifically underarm and pubic hair now was the epitome of shocking sex appeal. The nudes are almost all in poses that still emphasize their breasts.

Yet many look right at the viewer, inviting them in (still rather controversial at the time for a nude woman).

No one would see underarm hair in public, so it makes sense that it could be eroticized.

L’Origine du Monde

And of course, I have to talk about L’Origine du Monde. Gustave Courbet hid the painting under a green curtain in his bathroom and delighted in shocking his guests by letting them peep.

It still shocks. So it, uh, straddles some interesting lines. Ultimately the name, The Origin of the World, and mastery of the brushwork itself pushes the painting into the art category in my not-so-humble opinion. But you can decide for yourself.

Body Hair by the Early 20th Century

So, pubic hair is okay, but generally depicted as sexy. It’s risque, but its existence is now acknowledged. Some women can even rock armpit hair in art and be portrayed as desirable. (Yes please.) The pendulum on standards swings back and forth.

That’s it! But, I hope this Body Hair series is a taste of how body hair is still fraught with gender politics. And how art history has tangled with the female body as much as we do today. I want to see more hair in all art forms but we’ll get there.