Letters to the Editor
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Hair today... gone tomorrow
Men have always had hair on their faces. Women have not.
Men have always had hair on their chests. Women have not.
In other words, it is a universal gender signifier: hairiness is associated with masculinity, smooth skin is associated with femininity.
Over the years, women have emerged from under corsets, coats and long skirts to become near/naked in virtually every part the mass media.
Thus, so ubiquitously commoditised, the western woman is subjected to ever increasing sociological pressure to render herself truly nude.
I don’t excuse or endorse this process, but fear it is as irreversible as the march of technology.