A merkin used at Burning Man

Merkin is a pubic wig. Merkins were originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia, and are now used as decorative items, erotic devices, or in films, by both men and women.

History [edit]

The Oxford Companion to the Body dates the origin of the pubic wig to the 1450s. According to the publication, women would shave their pubic hair for personal hygiene and to combat pubic lice. They would then don a merkin. Also, prostitutes would wear a merkin to cover up signs of disease, such as syphilis.^[1][2]

It has also been suggested that when male actors played female parts onstage, they would cover their genitals with a merkin so they could expose themselves as women in nude scenes.^[3]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary first use of the term itself was in 1617.

Contemporary use [edit]

In Hollywood film making, merkins can be worn by actors and actresses to avoid inadvertent exposure of the genitalia during nude or semi-nude scenes. If a merkin is not worn, it would be necessary to restrict the shot to exclude the genital area. With the merkin in place, brief flashes of the crotch can be used if necessary. The presence of the merkin protects the actor from inadvertently performing "full-frontal" nudity — some contracts specifically require that nipples and genitals be covered in some way — which can help ensure that the film achieves a less restrictive MPAA rating.^[4]

A merkin may also be used if the actor has less pubic hair than required, such as the nude dancing extras in The Bank Job, Amy Landecker in A Serious Man (for a nude sunbathing scene, as the actress' bikini wax was not common for the period (1967) when the film is set),^[5][6] and female slaves in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Lucy Lawless was fitted for a merkin for Spartacus, but did not actually use it.^[7] In an interview for Allure, Kate Winslet related how she refused to wear a merkin in The Reader.^[6][8]

At the São Paulo Fashion Week in 2010, design firm Neon dressed a nude model in transparent plastic. According to the designer, the model wore a pubic wig to make her appear more natural.^[9] In the director's audio commentary of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, director David Fincher discussed how a merkin was utilized for actress Rooney Mara, after she suggested to him that the character she portrayed in the movie was a natural red head in the book and actually dyed her hair black. Consequently, the merkin she wore was made in the color red. For the release of the movie in Japan, Fincher stated, "I believe in Japan we had to like put a mosaic over it because fake pubes are considered to be nasty."

Other usage of the term [edit]

• In Stanley Kubrick's 1964 anti-war black comedy Dr. Strangelove, the President of the United States, played by Peter Sellers, is named Merkin Muffley.

• The term can be used in an obscene sense to refer to the vulva.^[10]

• In Europe, the term has also been in common usage as a jocular term for an American since the 1960s. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that the term has become common Internet slang for Americans or American English.^[11]

• More recently,^[when?] the removable sheepskin headband found on the inside of safety hardhats are referred to as merkins by many in the mining industry of Western Australia.^{[citation needed]}

• The popular saltwater fly fishing lure, used primarily in targeting bonefish and permit, Del Brown's Merkin^[12] is also named after the artificial hairpiece. The Merkin fly pattern represents a crab, referencing the merkin's historical use for pubic lice (also colloquially known as crabs). Further, Del's Merkin is tied with a disc of fuzzy yarn, imitating the crab's shell, but also reminiscent of the fly's namesake.^[13]

• In Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita, Humbert Humbert confesses to the reader "Although I told myself I was looking merely for a soothing presence, a glorified pot-au-feu, an animated merkin, what really attracted me to Valeria was the imitation she gave of a little girl".^[14]

• Maynard James Keenan, lead Singer of American Progressive Metal band Tool (band),owns an Arizona grape vineyard by the name of Merkin Vineyards.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: merkins

Look up merkin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Straight Dope article on merkins
• Alt-usage-english.org Michael B. Quinion and Ruth Bygrave, "Merkin"