Merkin
Maybe it’s possible for some things to be too interesting. Take Merkins.
A merkin is a pubic wig. [Ed: There’s really no other way to say it.]
The Oxford Companion to the Body dates the origin of the merkin back to the 1450s. According to that publication, women would shave their pubic hair for personal hygiene reasons and to combat pubic lice. They would then restore said pubic hair by donning a merkin. [Ed: First impression: seems a bit pointless.] Also, sex workers would wear a merkin to cover up signs of disease, such as syphilis or gonorrhea. Eek!
But these may not have been the earliest uses. In our research we found some unsubstantiated references to the Ancient Egyptians wearing pubic wigs to convey the impression that they were rich enough to maintain their pubic hair. The same deemed-unreliable source, film and theatre wig stylist Randy Sayer, maintains that:
“Cleopatra was known for her beautiful, long, luxurious pubic hair, which she proudly wore brushed and oiled, and she was known to admire – and display – her pubic hair in the shiny marble floors and the light, diaphanous gowns of the time.”
Quite the image.
Merkins are now used as decorative items or as erotic devices by both men and women. They are also quite often used in filmmaking … sometimes worn by actresses to avoid inadvertent exposure of the genitalia during nude or semi-nude scenes.
In the Italian film La Pelle (English: “The Skin”), which takes place during the Allied occupation of Naples after World War II, blonde merkins are made for the local prostitutes so that they could pass as blondes for the US soldiers.
And in the director’s audio commentary for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher discussed how a merkin was used for actress Rooney Mara after she suggested to him that the character she portrayed in the film was a natural redhead in the book and dyed her hair black. Consequently, the merkin she wore was made in a colour described by the actor herself in an amusing 2013 interview with Conan O’Brien as “strawberry blonde”. She also referred to it as a “fur bikini” that she ended up keeping. Watch that interview below or HERE.
Merkins have also popped up here and there on fashion catwalks, in window displays and in a multitude of versions in a 2011 music video for an Amanda Palmer song called “Map of Tasmania”, an old school Australian nickname for a woman’s pubic hair.
Etsy is full of merkin-buying options, and the world is indeed full of interesting.
October 2025 Update
Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand Skims launched a range of Faux Hair Micro String Thongs. They retail for US$70 and features a trim of faux pubic hair. They sold out immediately – and so it seems that the merkin lives on!
Videos
REMORANDOM Book Chapter
I look forward with piqued interest to the companion piece on cods. You will start somewhere in the middle ages or earlier, touch briefly on a Clockwork Orange and up in the mid-eighties with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame.
Um, just wondering Sir, will we be able to buy the Make A Merkin Great Again hats any time soon, at your wonderful Remo Shoppe?