# Avoiding censors by shaving pubes - a UL? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496 "2002-10-30T04:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/1 "2002-10-30T04:59:39Z")
I was reading a thread regarding “International Porn Laws” and I was reminded of this anecdote. I was once told that in the seventies, in some particular place (somewhere in Europe perhaps, I can’t remember) the censorship laws deemed the dividing line between acceptable and unacceptable to be whether or not pubic hair was visible. Of course this just caused enterprising pornographers to make sure that all their models were shaved. Resulting in pornography in which the models were argually more, not less, naked. Sounds like a bit of a UL to me. Anyone know? [sub]I thought about Googling, but you know what results I would have got, don’t you?:))[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/2 "2002-10-30T06:42:24Z")
I think that may still be the case in Japan, that pubic hair and penises are verboten. Search Cecil’s columns as I think there are some relavent topics there. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/3 "2002-10-30T06:53:04Z")
It might have a limited basis in fact **Princhester**. I recall sneaking peeks at my dad’s _Playboy_ magazines when I was a kid, and have a distinct recollection of female genitalia being airbrushed out of existence - so you couldn’t see any pubic hair, but nor could you see any of the naughty bits which mere shaving or waxing would expose to view. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/4 "2002-10-30T07:02:10Z")
My mum was a commercial artist working for the Australian _Myer_, _Farmers_, and _Grace Bros_ department stores from the fifties through until the late seventies. The obliteration of navels via airbrush was commonplace early on in her career. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/5 "2002-10-30T07:06:39Z")
No, shaving pubes won’t do it in Japan, though, as was mentioned in the last thread, blank crotches are being used in anime for this reason. What is allowed or not depends entirely on the censors’ interpretation of the very vague and dated definition of “obscenity”. Pubes and even peni seem ok as long as the proprietor of said body part is not engaging in sexual activity. This means shower scenes are ok, but also Playboy-type nudes, and of course “art” photography. On video, if there is any kind of fondling, pubes will get blurred. This leads to some aberrant situations like perfectly visible genitalia suddenly getting foggy when two characters start to touch each other. Female genitalia appears to be a no-no under any circumstance, which means that Penthouse-type pictures do get censored. Obscenity, in Japan, is defined as “an intention to stimulate sexual desire in a way that goes against virtuous sexual morals and causes damage to the sense of prudeness of ordinary people.” Pubic hair was never explicitely mentioned. I’m not terribly into porn, so this observation might not mean much, but I don’t think I’ve ever even seen actresses with shaved pubes in Japanese porn. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/6 "2002-10-30T07:10:20Z")
Playboy ironically seems to have come full circle. Back in the 50’s and 60’s virtually every woman had full pubic hair but Playboy’s policy was that no hair could be shown. The result was frequent use of airbrushing to replace hair with skin. In the 70’s and 80’s, hair was in both in life and in the pages of Playboy. But starting in the 90’s, models have increasingly begun to shave off their pubic hair. Playboy however has been reluctant to show women with completely nude genitals. The result is that you can now see Playboy using airbrushing to replace skin with hair. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/7 "2002-10-30T07:22:16Z")
I’d read that when Japan’s obscenity laws were first written, they said “no pubic hair” at which point porn stars simply grabbed their razors and carried on as usual. When it was seen that the rule was being circumvented, it was amended to “no genitals”. I of course have nothing with which to back that up. As **jovan** said, as long as there’s no sexual activity (even if the sole purpose of film/photo is to arouse sexual desire in the viewer) hair is ok. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/8 "2002-10-30T07:28:19Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d read that when Japan’s obscenity laws were first written, they said “no pubic hair” at which point porn stars simply grabbed their razors and carried on as usual. When it was seen that the rule was being circumvented, it was amended to “no genitals”. So where does _bukkake_ fit into the censorship framework? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-censors-by-shaving-pubes-a-ul/134496/9 "2002-10-30T12:30:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by reprise \* > \*\* > > So where does _bukkake_ fit into the censorship framework? \*\* Well there’s no penetration, is there? 🙂