Airbrushing Pubic Hair Poem by gershon hepner

They used to airbrush pubic hair
from photographs in 1930,
believing it was rude to stare
at it, regarding it as dirty.
Now that it’s 2009
the bush is de rigueur in nudes,
which I consider to be fine,
since I do not agree with prudes
like those in 1930, though
the nudes that mostly make me rave
are those who don’t have hair to show
below the belt because they shave.

Since it is chacun à son gout,
we should rely upon the pipik;
if it is partial to the view
of hair in regions that are pubic
we should encourage it to grow,
not treat it like a noxious weed,
but if it weakens Cupid’s bow
it should make way for lovers’ seed.
That’s how I think we ought to treat
the problem. Let the bush remain
an option, and by shaving meet
the needs of aesthetes who complain.


Inspired by an exhibition of photographs by Paul Outerbridge at the Getty Museum. He moved from Monsey, NY to California and pioneered photography of nudes while devising new technique to reproduce lifelike skin colors. Very few of his photos in the 1930’s showed pubic hair since such photos were considered to be pornographic. He therefore airbrushed away the pubic hair of those of his models who had not shaved.

Linda’s response to the exhibition was this poem which she inscribed in a catalog of the Outerbridge exhibition that I bought:

He loves his name, decided,
: I will not be derided! ”
What can I do to show
I do what they don’t know? ”
He took his trusty cam
era, and made nude women,
and made art between wars
both in an out of doors;
Laguna, Monsey, Vogue—
Too focused for a rogue—
And using carbro, art
Met technique while his heart
Bridged ancient and the new—
Admired by me and you.
So when you take a look,
Enjoy this sumptuous book.

5/10/09