Fashion

Bikini Link Hair Grafting is a Thing South Korea

by Arielle Dachille

Well, this is a rather interesting way to go au-naturale. It turns out, people are paying top-dollar for pubic hair transplants in South Korea, because a full bush is considered a sign of femininity. This takes "no shave November" to another level.

A recent article in Refinery29 discusses the growing popularity of this procedure, which basically involves grafting hair follicles from your head to your lady parts. Part of the chief demo for the treatment is the nearly 10 percent of Korean women have "pubic architosis," which is essentially a dearth of pubic hair. Despite the hefty price tag of $2,000 and up, the surgery has really been catching on in recent years. According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, the demand for this procedure has shot up 160 precent from 2010-2012.

Interestingly enough, ladies seem to be are getting it for other women rather than for men. Like full breasts of curvy hips, pubic hair is considered a sign of "fertility and sexual health." When you consider the prevalence of communal baths in Korea, it's actually totally not surprising that this is a thing. Basically, pubic hair is one of the many sexual traits that women size up other women with when they're in the steam room.

It's no secret that body hair is equated with masculinity in the west. From the various kinds of waxing, to bleaching, to lady-targeted shaving products, hair removal is a bustling subset of our beauty industry. Sure, certain types of hair in the US are considered feminine — like eyelashes and the hair on your head — but the convention of adding body hair evidences an extremely interesting beauty dichotomy. It's yet another thing that highlights just how relative and culturally-informed beauty standards are. Ah, perspective.

Image: Giphy