ALL THE PRETTY HORSES

DEAR MERCURY—Comparing Jennifer Aniston to a Kentucky Derby thoroughbred is predictable and just plain wrong, Ann Romano [One Day at a Time, Aug 26]. Julia Roberts? Maybe. Sarah Jessica Parker? Definitely. But J. An doesn’t have the equine jaw line or buckteeth necessary to brand her a “horse face.”

-JG

THE SWEDISH PUNISHMENT

When I was 19, I studied in Scotland. Then afterward I went to Sweden to party for the summer. I stayed longer than the 90 days that the tourist visa allowed. I got on a train and didn’t pay because I didn’t think there would be a conductor. When there was one and the conductor radioed back my passport number, he found I was technically in the country illegally. I was taken first to the police station, then to the airport and told to buy a ticket out of the country at my own expense. Plus I was banned from Sweden for two years. Now, was I a victim of something [“MAX-imum Punishment,” News, Aug 26]?

-posted by speedster1

PUBIC DISTURBANCE

Regarding the issue of female pubic hair and its decreasing appearance, I’ve never quite understood the appeal of making a woman appear to be prepubescent down there [“Pube Pride,” Letters, Aug 26]. I prefer the variety of quantity, color, and pattern that comes with the display of bush. Another aspect to consider is whether the trend toward the shaved look over the years is in any way connected with the rise in child pornography, as the absence of pubic hair could be interpreted as the infantilization of a grown woman. I find this disturbing.

-posted by Iceman9

SHUT UP AND DRIVE

Don’t you know those Prius drivers have energy-efficient fairies fly their produce/commodities in from Never-Neverland, where no one is impacted by anything [“Farm Harm,” I, Anonymous, Aug 26]? How dare you use transportation that actually transports things and not just people?! Those Prius owners paid good money to buy that added feature (self-righteous indignation). Can’t we all just get along? Or at least just STFU and drive?

-posted by Commonsense

A REASONABLE GUN NUT

As a gun-owning, gun-carrying, gun-loving, gun-obsessing kind of guy, I see the proposed gun rules as reasonable [“A Two-Front War?” Hall Monitor, Aug 26]. I really don’t give a monkey’s nuts about what happens to criminals with gun convictions. Gun criminals = fucking assholes who have used their weapons illegally. Fuck ’em. I love my gun, we go way back, and if I’m gonna break the law I leave my gun in the car. Just like your girlfriend, don’t bring your gun to a bar fight, you may never see her again. As for my right-y pals who complain about this one: You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Don’t break the fucking law, and it won’t be your ass on the line. Don’t walk around downtown with a beer in your hand and your gun in your pants. How hard is that? As for [the Oregon Firearms Federation] (I’m a member), they get pretty worked up for good reasons in general, but this one is a no-win situation. Sam Adams is a bit of a fuck up when it comes to dating, but he has this one nailed. Don’t be a bunch of typical assholes and pretend like you give a fuck about lunatic gun criminals. By the way, old-school Glock 19 since ’94. No fancy grips or cute finger holds. You know you wanted to ask.

-posted by Dudeman

THANKS FOR SHARING your perspective, Dudeman. Good to know you won’t be bringing your girl or your gun to the next bar fight. You might at least consider bringing the girl to share your winnings of two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish! though, where you really probably won’t be needing the gun.

19 replies on “Letters to the Editor”

  1. The whole “prepubescent” thing gets thrown around way too much in response to the preference (male and female) for going hairless down there. It seem people throwing the accusation of being attracted to prepubescents (or at least the appearance of that age) around aren’t taking seriously the gravity of that charge.
    Furthermore, anyone who thinks this comes from child porn (or even adult porn) should take a look at some art from centuries past. Consider the beauty ideal represented therein. It seems to be a fairly ancient thing in many cultures. Fashions of this or that decade or generation notwithstanding, it’s probably not going anywhere.

  2. Um, geyser, it wasn’t because of beauty ideals represented therein, it was because they were filthy and bug-infested and it was a necessity that they shave their junk (and heads).

  4. lisalisa, the one I adore, that is not accurate.
    Ovidus, you’re right, but the hairless beauty ideal evidently applied to men as well as women, so I don’t think it’s a matter of hating women.

  6. I’ll make this even simpler: some people like the way that vaginas and penises look, and prefer their appearance to be less obscured by a bunch of hair when they put their faces on/near them.

  8. Also, that whole “prepubescent” criticism seems to get thrown around a lot, I’ve noticed. It’s as if the people using it to justify their not shaving (as if they actually need to justify a personal preference like that, anyhow) acquired that position from someone else, instead of rationally examining the reasons for and against shaving, and coming to their own conclusion.

    I’m always suspicious of people who seem to be repeating things that others say when stating a belief. If you listen closely enough to what people say, they often do this. Various phrases and buzzwords seem to take on a life of their own, as if they’re an organism of some sort that spreads and infects people. Look at the various videos on Youtube of people interviewing Tea Partiers at Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin rallies and you’ll see exactly what I mean. It’s as if people are utterly content to allow their beliefs to spread and be acquired contagiously, rather than rationally and analytically arrived at.

    And this seems to me to be the case with the “prepubescent” criticism of shaving pubic hair. I’ve seen and heard the practice of shaving pubic hair denounced so loudly and so frequently (and always by women of a decidedly “progressive” political persuasion), and always couched in the exact same terms. And, without fail, every single time I have engaged in this sort of discussion with them, and explain my rationale for preferring to look at shaven vaginas (or at the very least, trimmed ones), the “prepubescent” argument collapses, and a concession is given that, indeed, my preference makes a certain kind of sense.

    This does not, however, mean that I’m somehow right, or that shaving is somehow intrinsically “better” than not shaving. Shaving or not is purely a matter of personal taste, and no one is either “right” or “wrong” about choosing one option over the other. You can, however, be right or wrong about the means in which you draw conclusions, wholesale, about the beliefs of others (and yes, that includes me, and my drawing of conclusions about the way in which people seem to acquire their beliefs. I think, however, that unlike the “prepubescent” argument, I have a logically valid reason for thinking that people acquire their beliefs without thoroughly vetting them, and I can even supply evidence for this position, if necessary).

    Anyhow, not that any of this really matters, but here’s a fun little syllogism articulating my position regarding women’s pubic hair (or lack thereof), complete with crude, “adult” terminology. And, as if this actually needed clarification, I am indeed talking about the vaginas on ADULT WOMEN and NOT CHILDREN. Thank you.

    1. I love pussies. I love the way they look, and I derive considerable satisfaction from looking at them.
    2. Shaven pussies allow me to see more of them, and are not obscured by hair that interferes with my admiring them.
    : Therefore, I prefer shaven pussies.

    There. Is that not simple enough? When you like the way something looks, you’d prefer that it not be OBSCURED by something else. Sheesh.

  9. Hey geyser, can you explain why this isn’t accurate? I’m genuinely curious. And I was referring to both men and women above. I have no problem with shaved body parts on anyone. To each his own.

  11. “I’ll make this simple: the hair gets in your mouth and some people don’t like that.”

    Also, if you have piercings it’s a good idea to keep it shaven. Plus, it’s soo much more sanitary anyways.

  12. lisalisa, I believe your claim is not accurate because I was referring to a common aesthetic choice to not depict pubic hair on the human form. One can’t say that the absence of pubic hair on nudes in classical art was the result of people at the time shaving their “junk and heads” for hygienic reasons because there is no causal connection between the two things. Many cultures that generally did not generally remove pubic hair more often than not did depict the nude form in art without public hair. And even if something was done pragmatically to control parasites, it could (and probably would) become a beauty ideal as well. But if you’re going to say “they” shaved their genitals and heads strictly for hygienic reasons, it’s impossible to assess the accuracy of that statement per se without saying who’s included in the “they.”

  14. “And even if something was done pragmatically to control parasites, it could (and probably would) become a beauty ideal as well.”

    This is actually what I was thinking but, unfortunately, I’m not the wordsmith that you are and have a hard time getting my thoughts down in writing. Oh, and I was just being goofy by using the words “junk and head.” I’m truly embarrassed and feel like an idiot. I think I’ll go back to lurking now.

    I do appreciate that you took the time to respond to my question.

  16. lisalisa, nothing to be embarrassed about at all. I don’t think I expressed myself as clearly as I could have, either. Probably a little tough in general to discuss complex cultural issues from a historical standpoint in the format of a comments section (where “junk” and the like are totally appropriate, IMO) at least not without outdoing Snagglepuss for length (no offense).
    So, yeah … hair in the mouth, there’s nothing nice about that.

  17. How come the “prepubescent/child porn” argument gets thrown around for shaven pubic hair, but not shaven legs, armpits, and faces? Is it really about your concerns about idolizing prepubescent hairlessness, or are you just trying to push your views on everyone else?

  18. HULK WONDER WHY PORTLANDERS SO OBSESSED WITH PUBIC HAIR, OR LACK THEREOF? PERSONALLY, HULK MANSCAPE FOR THE LADIES! FOR SOME REASON LADIES PREFER HULK JUNK TO HAVE NEAT AND TIDY APPEARANCE! HULK FIND NEATLY TRIMMED OR WAXED BUSH ON LADIES AESTHETICALLY PLEASING AS WELL, BUT WHY LADIES GO ALL KOJAK MYSTIFIES HULK! HULK THINK PERHAPS THIS PHENOMENON HAVE ORIGINS IN JAPAN. HULK RECOMMENDED READING: Anne Allison, 1998, Cutting the Fringes: Pubic Hair at the Margins of Japanese Censorship Laws, in Hiltebeitel and Miller, eds., “Hair: Its Power and Meaning in Asian Cultures,” pp. 195-217. @LONELY_HULK

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