Those familiar with our blog (and our books) know that we are fans of graphic and explicit descriptions. Our job as authors is to create images in your mind as you read. And in the best case, those should stick around for a long time.
I’m currently reading the story “Shaved Bare” by Gale London. It’s about a hair removal party that protagonist Paula has been persuaded to attend. Four female students want to get rid of their hair at the same time. London does the obvious: she describes length, density, and color of the pubic hair:
Paula’s eyes roamed quickly from girl to girl.
Gale London: Shaved Bare
Angie had a dense mat of dark brown hair trimmed into the general shape of a triangle, not too dissimilar from Paula herself.
Lisa’s blonde bush was long and curly but not particularly dense, and she evidently hadn’t trimmed herself in a long time, leaving a nearly invisible golden treasure trail reaching up towards her belly button and spreading out horizontally.
Vivians bright red bush, however, took the cake. It was exceptionally dense, with thick curls that completely masked any sign of her skin of hint of her pussy’s shape, and spilled out in all directions including onto her thighs. It’s as if she hadn’t trimmed it once in her lifetime.
Besides, I notice that London falls into the simplest, but also the most boring, form in her descriptions. “Angie had…”, “Lisa’s bush was…”, “Vivian’s bush was…”. Sandra has pointed this out elsewhere:
Showing things in motion is almost always more useful in literature than showing static images. If you haven’t thought about this, I recommend Laocoon by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing – a whole book that tries to fathom why static descriptions just don’t work in literature – and how to do it better.
It’s striking that London plays with the most obvious differences to distinguish her protagonists from one another: Their hair is dark brown, blond and red. Exactly in this rough grid the hair length is then also described: Trimmed, medium length and lush.
It would have been nicer to see how the various pubic hairs are slowly exposed, how they come into view, how the protagonists deal with the nudity, and how their hands try to protect their pubes or present them – depending on their temperament – with spread legs. Emotions could then have come into play – an important building block of any story.
Here’s the first excerpt from “The Hot Seat” by Sandra. Again, it’s about a young woman having to present her pubic hair to a group of women of the same age:
I can no longer delay this final, most intimate moment. The fabric slips over my soft pubic hair, finally revealing my vulva.
Sandra Manther: The Hot Seat
There is a rumbling in my abdomen. I don’t want to imagine my labia puffing up and changing hue. I don’t want to, and I do anyway, because I can feel my lips throbbing.
Somewhat later, the question of the future form of pubic hair comes up here as well:
“I’m going to free your labia from the grass here first,” Nele says, looking up at me from below. “That seems most important to me. In the meantime, you can figure out how you want it to look on the hill. Bikini line? Brazilian cut? Hollywood? Or maybe freestyle – maybe a heart or lightning bolt?”
Sandra Manther: The Hot Seat
Whereas the protagonist Nina herself is hopelessly overwhelmed by the question, not knowing that “Hollywood” is used as a euphemism for total baldness. Some waxing studios remove all the hair even with the “Brazilian Cut”, while others leave a small strip of land. That’s why it’s good to agree in advance on exactly what all will be removed. Using only the buzzwords here to appear knowledgeable can backfire. Fortunately, the topic of “freestyle” clarifies Nele immediately itself, although the circle and the triangle are also quite frequently used shapes for the remaining hair on the mons veneris.
There remains the issue of “consistency” of the hair, which can feel from silky soft to wiry. Shortly after shaving regrown, they seem rather scratchy or even pointed like needles. Finding unused pictures here might be a challenge. But the attempt is worthwhile.
