Re: Shaving

[Jim Gillogly <jim@xxxxxxx>]

Jorge Stolfi wrote:
> Well, I don't know. The male ideal of female beauty seems to always
> have included a hairless body. For instance, I cannot think of any
> famous nude painting that shows body hair.

Hmm... Gaugin's "Nevermore" comes to mind, or Toulouse-Lautrec's
"Woman pulling up her stocking" and "Rue des Moulins: The Medical
Inspection" -- the collar and cuffs match on the redhead, as James
Bond expresses it in "Diamonds are Forever".  I'm not confident of
this one, but T-L's "Yvette Guilbert greeting the audience" may show
a furry armpit.  More typically (e.g. Degas) the potentially hirsute
bits below the neck aren't shown shaven... they simply aren't shown.

> Otherwise, the lack of pubic hair would fit with the general character
> of the VMS nymphs. To my eyes, there is no erotic content in those
> drawings --- or, at most, only a "childish" kind of eroticism.

Agreed, I don't see any particular reason to think the Voynich nymphs
are intended to represent ideals of female beauty -- other than their
nudity, they don't seem designed to inflame male prurience.  At
least <I> prefer other artists for that sort of thing. :)
-- 
	Jim Gillogly
	Mersday, 6 Astron S.R. 2000, 06:06
	12.19.7.1.6, 4 Cimi 14 Cumku, Eighth Lord of Night