What we can learn from merkins

The ultimate bush dates back to Cleopatra

Oct 15, 2025

Hi horny readers! Thank you so, so much for reading the ADULT SEX ED newsletter.

New here? Adult Sex Ed comedically challenges why we think what we think about sex. I’m Dani Faith Leonard, a filmmaker, comedy writer, and performer. In 2018, I started a comedy show called Adult Sex Ed and launched this newsletter in 2023. Each week, I take a fun deep dive into a topic that I’ve been researching. Ready to plug the holes in your education? Okay, let’s go!

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Listen readers, I had this whole month planned, but some breaking news this week caused me to deviate. If you’ve been following along, we’re in the middle of a history-focused month, and technically today is no different. Next week, we’re back on schedule, exploring the long history of medical quackery.

The breaking news that altered my plan—Kim Kardashian’s Skims has entered the merkin market, launching a product named “The Ultimate Bush.” Launched on instagram in a video of a fake retro game-show called Does The Carpet Match The Drapes?, the micro thongs feature different hair colors. For only $32, you can have the ultimate bush. (Listen, I’m well-aware that this was a marketing ploy to get people to go to the Skims website, but these merkins are sold out!)

Kim Kardashian is far from cutting-edge. Merkins date all the way back to the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Let’s dive in.

My favorite “lesson” that I researched and performed for the live show has always been The History of the Merkin. It’s an audience favorite too — my friends and fans of the show have been sending me merkin-related facts ever since I performed this segment back in 2019.

What is a merkin? In layman’s terms, it’s a vagina wig. More accurately, it’s an artificial covering of hair for the pubic area — a crotch toupée.

Most people associate merkins with film and television, since several prominent actors have spoken in interviews about wearing them during sex scenes. As it turns out, they have a long history that predates the invention of film by about 2,000 years. We can learn important details about public health during different time periods by researching the history of the merkin. Merkins can be short or long, but here’s a brief history:

At first, merkins were aspirational. Cleopatra was supposedly known for her long, luxurious pubic hair, which she proudly wore brushed and oiled. I can’t be sure, but I like to assume that her vagina also wore blunt bangs. Long pubes became a symbol of wealth.

At the time, poor people were forced to shave due to a fear of pubic lice, especially sex workers. People wore merkins to cover up their bits and appear rich.

This continued throughout history. The Oxford Companion to the Body dates pubic wigs to the 1450s. Women would shave their pubic hair for personal hygiene, and sex workers would also wear merkins to cover up signs of disease, like syphilis. Women of high society would also wear merkins as a sign of health and affluence — even though they shaved too, tired of getting lice from their philandering husbands.

In the 15th century, synthetic hair hadn’t been invented yet, so merkins were made from horsehair, goat hair, or even human hair stolen from graves. Imagine walking around wearing a ghost’s pubes?

Merkins are most associated with the stage and screen, dating back to Shakespeare’s time. Women were not allowed on stage, so men wore merkins to cover up their junk and play female parts.

Full-frontal nudity in commercial movies and plays didn’t hit its stride until the 60s, and once pubic-hair trends shifted in the 90s, actors started wigging it. Sometimes, actors wear merkins to portray a specific time period when people were hairier. Merkins can also be worn, especially by actresses, to avoid exposure since “full-frontal” scenes can lead to a more restrictive MPAA rating.

Merkins are also used as a fun erotic accessory, especially in drag. If you search on Etsy, you’ll find plenty of styles and colors. A few years ago, I posed the question: will merkins ever become as mainstream as they were in Cleopatra’s time? If the full bush is really back, those of us who zapped our bits with lasers will be forced to wig it. Kim Kardashian is betting on it.