Interesting article someone sent me a link to this morning. New Jersey is considering a ban on Brazilian waxing. I think it’s interesting because I don’t know how much of it is “really” about consumer safety and how much of it is about trying to repress and restrict sexuality.
Our country was founded by Puritans and that has leeched into every part of our cultural identity regarding sex. Every culture has not been like ours. And while we may consider our culture over-sexed with porn and sex toys everywhere, having a lot of sexually explicit material in a culture isn’t the same thing as embracing it.
Sex is something we don’t really talk about. It’s “private” but sometimes I think “privacy” is what we say when what we really mean is “shameful.”
There are still some states which ban sex toys, which is why on the box it will always say: “personal massager” and “This product is a novelty item only.” We sell sex as a gag, not as a real experience.
And this potential ban on brazilian waxing doesn’t really read for me as an attempt at consumer safety. Consumer safety can be handled in other ways, such as making those who intend to give these kinds of waxing services undergo a certification and training program so they perform the service safely. And also having a warning posted at salons so that consumers know the potential risks and whether or not they want to accept them.
Everything in life involves risk. Risk cannot be eliminated, only managed. I note that no one has banned flying because some airplanes crash, or driving in cars because some cars crash, so why would they ban brazilian waxing if not for the fact that it’s a “naughty” area and we all know that that kind of waxing is done to enhance sexual aesthetics or feeling.
And we can’t have that can we? Nope.
Hmmm.
I also note that cigarettes which pose no benefit and nothing BUT risk, haven’t been banned. I’ll take this seriously as a “public safety” issue, when cigarettes are banned. I guess lung cancer isn’t as dire to people in power, as the hazards of genital waxing.
I hate our culture.
March 20, 2009 at 8:48 am
Personally, I’ve never understood why anyone would want the procedure done. Hot wax…ripping…yikes!!!!
However, I agree with you that it probably has more to do with Puritanical issues than health issues. Two women getting injured says carelessless to me, or some sort of reaction to the wax (yikes! ouch!) Get to the bottom of it (pun intended), sure, but there’s no reason to be so overreactionary.
Besides, women will just go to Philly or NYC to get it done. Or they’ll do it at home. (Ouch! Damn! Yikes!)
March 20, 2009 at 9:46 am
hehe Kel, I think it’s a little eeek myself, but just because I don’t want hot wax there doesn’t mean I or anyone else has a right to dictate what other people do.
And yep, all good points. And likely it’s an issue of carelessness or a reaction to the wax, which isn’t common but happens.
But some people are allergic to tattoo ink, yet tattooing hasn’t been banned.
Considering the popularity of brazilian waxing, in many places, not just the USA, if it was really “that” dangerous of a procedure, we’d hear about it all the time on the news with dire warnings and tons of case studies and “if only I’d know” kind of things. But we don’t.
There’s a reason for that.
March 20, 2009 at 9:53 am
Oh my God. How ludicrous. Now I’m with Kel, because absolutely nobody is getting anywhere near my business with hot wax and yanking hair out by the roots. No thank you. And while I think the practice has some serious masochistic overtones that make me question the sanity of anybody who has it done (and for the record I feel the same way about waxing anything but my eyebrows), I don’t see it as unsafe. Certainly not as unsafe as cigarettes, as you pointed out. Or a great many OTHER things that the government doesn’t legislate at all or only minimally. And if it ISN’T about it being a “naughty area”, why aren’t they wanting to make the same restrictions for leg waxing or eyebrow waxing? Like you said, the answer could easily be certification and informed consent regarding the dangers of the procedure.
March 20, 2009 at 10:15 am
hehe Kait, yup.
On the masochistic thing, I’m not sure it’s so much that as, it’s become pretty fashionable for women to remain bare down there now.
And a lot of women find shaving annoying, plus some get frequent razor burn. Waxing doesn’t produce that effect and you have to have it done less frequently.
Laser hair removal would be another option, but it’s expensive and takes several treatments.
Of course the idea of never having to shave ANYTHING again ever thrills my little soul.
March 21, 2009 at 10:43 pm
What the hell? What’s the big danger in brazillian waxing? Am I naive?? Is there a danger of rupturing the big vein and artery that go past the groin? *snort*
Weird-arse foreigners!
March 22, 2009 at 7:03 am
Hey Naomi, This strikes me as a “Coffee is hot.” warning, ala McDonald’s when that woman sued McDonalds because she burnt HERSELF with hot coffee.
Except instead of a warning label they want to institute a ban.
And we all know that wax is hot, however, having had my eyebrows waxed, it’s not THAT hot. The pain generally comes in with the REMOVAL of the cloth strips which bring the hair with it. Not the wax itself.
So if a proper temperature is reached and not exceeded, and proper cloth is used, and proper training methods in how to rip the cloth off of a sensitive area, I can’t figure out a way in which someone could get “injured.” Unless one of those rules are broken, or the individual has some kind of reaction to the wax itself, which is rare.
The way I see it, you’re more likely to get seriously injured from a vibrator than a brazilian wax. Yes, I’m being facetious, but surely vibrators are more evil and naughty than waxing.
What’s next to be banned? Armpit shaving?
September 10, 2009 at 4:26 am
This would be a great news for those who were fond of doing this. Many had been using this in removing unwanted hairs. Now that it was already banned, there were another options such as laser hair removal. It would also be effective.