Sarrazin. Flooding in Brandenburg. Deadly coach accidents. Hartz IV. So much to weep and rant about even here in peaceful Germany. But only one thing really works me up – something I’m hearing from all quarters – male hair removal.
It’s a disease that has struck all generations. An uncle in his fifties casually told me over dinner that all of his male friends shave their ‘nads. A 2008 University of Leipzig study found that 67 percent of young men shave their “intimate areas”.
And now this: a 16-year-old “writer” (can we really call her that?), has published a book on “Generation Geil”, the teens and tweens of today. The only thing that stood out in this boring video interview with Katharina Weiß was was the sentence “Schamhaare sind so was von out!” (“Pubes are so out!”) Her reasoning: gender equality. If girls have to shave, so do boys.
What is WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? Nobody should have to shave anything – if they don’t want to.
Somehow, bald genitals are a fitting image for the current mentality: everything out on the open, frankness, practicality, hygiene, infantilism, exhibitionism. And a total aversion to mystery or anything biological about oneself.
That said, Katharina, with her dyed blonde hair and tight leather skirt, puts the fear of God in me: the young will be just as boring and mediocre as the rest of us. Once upon a time, those under 20 wanted to change the world or were at least angry or passionate about something or other. If Katharina is any sort of spokeswoman for her age group, all young Germans want is a good job and sanitary sex with plastic hairless people.
Am I just a solitary loon? What do other people think?
