Final cut for the hairy frauleins
“It’s worth going to a Nena concert these days, if only for sociological reasons,” says the woman at the till in Wax and the City, a slick German wax-and-go franchise. She is perhaps 23 and has immaculately shaped — waxed — eyebrows. Beneath her woollen tights, she says, her legs are hair-free. When Nena played Berlin a few months ago, the checkout girl noticed with satisfaction that the singer of 99 Red Balloons had finally shorn off “that Black Forest under her arms”. This, she says, is a cultural signifier. German women are no longer hairy.
In 1984, when 99 became no 1 in the UK, German women were relaxed, white-sock-and-sandal-wearing primates. Now they militantly self-depilate. Younger women are so allergic to body hair that boyfriends are packed off to have it professionally removed, even from their legs. Why? Here are the as-yet-unproven theories: people have been more body-conscious since the 1990s when the techno scene exploded; waxing signifies the end of Lutheran body-hatred; the trend has caught on from the country’s immigrant Turkish population (always meticulously waxed or shaven); something to do with hygiene.
German women are mad about waxing, says the shopgirl. Next year branches will open in almost every big city across the land.