The Last Taboo: Women and Body Hair

by Karín Lesnik-Oberstein (Editor)

This is the first academic book ever written on women and body hair, which has been seen until now as too trivial, ridiculous or revolting to write about. Even feminist writers or researchers on the body have found remarkably little to say about body hair, usually ignoring it completely. It would appear that the only texts to elaborate on body hair are guides on how to remove it, medical texts on 'hirsutism', or fetishistic pornography on 'hairy' women. The Last Taboo also questions how and why any particular issue can become defined as 'self-evidently' too silly or too mad to write about.

Genres: Feminism, Academic, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2007

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must start by saying that this collection of essays is extremely academic in nature. The reading is not easy by any means. It feels like reading a selection of professorial theses.

There are literature reviews and critiques with lengthy textual quotes. There are dense sociological style studies (despite their short length).

There seemed to be no major conclusions or emphatic opinions on female body hair one way or the other, just a lot of objective study.

Whilst I enjoyed most of the reading, it did feel a little too laborious which was slightly disappointing.