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The pure erotics of Brazilian Waxing

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One of the questions I often get asked when I talk about my research is how much longer I think the trend for full pubic hair removal will last. I’m hesitant to give an exact expiry date if I’m honest. But I think this question opens up into broader discussions about what impact social, political and economic change has upon our bodily surfaces, and how embodied ideals of womanhood and femininity can both shift and remain constant over time. More revealing than any answer I might be able to give about the potential longevity of the Brazilian wax, is the asking of the question itself.  It demonstrates an understanding of pubic hairlessness as ‘current’, constructed, transitory, and it encourages conversation about where the norm has originated from, and why women in particular feel pressured to conform to it.  My Google Alerts notified me recently of an online survey examining men and women’s pubic hair grooming preferences, undertaken by Cosmopolitan.com , and suggesting that p
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“You might not notice it … but I do”: Shame and Cosmetic Surgery

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Augmenting the Body: Disability, Care and the Posthuman is an interdisciplinary research project that explores practices of bodily augmentation, from caring robots to prosthetic limbs, across the fields of English, Engineering, Healthcare, Philosophy, and Robotics. The project, led by Professor Stuart Murray and funded by a Wellcome Trust Seed Award, involves collaborators from the University of Leeds, the University of Exeter, and Sheffield Robotics. In this post, one of the collaborators working on the project—Dr Luna Dolezal (University of Exeter)—offers a snapshot of her work on the relationship between bodily augmentation through cosmetic surgery and beauty demands. It is only very recently that elective cosmetic surgery has entered the mainstream as a routine and socially acceptable way to alter appearance. In the 1950s, for example, aesthetic plastic surgery was a largely marginal and unknown medical practice. Just a few decades later, it is a recognized medical spe
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Embodying trauma and troubling appearances within photography for the ‘Your Body Belongs to You’ exhibition

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  'Flow' - Copyright Dee Lister I currently have the self-portraits shared in this blog (proudly) showing in an exhibition called ‘Your Body Belongs to You’, which was co-curated by Karen Harvey and Marisol Mendez .   I want to contextualise why contributing to this art exhibition is so meaningful for me before explaining my intentions with the images. This is in addition to the great privilege of standing alongside nearly one hundred talented women and non-binary photographers whose two hundred images collectively feature. If you’re itching to see the exhibition click here to view this online via the Shutter Hub’s website .   I remember years ago someone I vaguely trusted said to me in a judgmental tone, “Dee, you need to stop getting so stressed”. They rattled on about how I should live my life, which was of course in line with their ways of being. I struggled (and still struggle) to find my voice and so forgive my transgression in not calling them out. I was carrying (and
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