The Day I Noticed My Pubic Hair

While taking a shower this morning, I noticed my pubic hair. I knew it was there, but it’s not a conscious object of my attention. I wasn’t even sure if “pubic hair” was the right term, since I somehow associated that phrase with women. I had to look it up in a dictionary just to confirm it was the correct term for mine. That’s how little I had thought about it.

The first time I thought about it was when it first started growing. I believe I was in fifth grade. For some reason, I told my swimming coach that a strand of hair had sprouted near my penis. He then announced it to the entire team. Everyone congratulated me. As far as I know, no such tradition exists in Japan. He must have made it up on the spot.

The reason I suddenly noticed it today is that, aside from washing it, I have never done any kind of maintenance. I use it as a sort of reservoir for soap, since it’s conveniently located at the center of my body. From there, I spread the soap north and south. In my mind, it’s just a tool, not even something that needs its own upkeep.

Despite never maintaining it, it never grows too long. Why is that? For almost five decades, it has stayed the same length without trimming. Clearly, this maintenance-free feature doesn’t apply to my facial or head hair. Is it just mine that takes care of itself? Do other men trim their pubic hair so it doesn’t burst out of their underwear? I’ve never thought to ask.

It’s like our sewer system: we take for granted that it works. We don’t think about the people who maintain it and only complain when something goes wrong. Nothing has ever gone wrong with my pubic hair, so I never had a reason to notice it. But why did nature think it was necessary in the first place? I understand why we need a sewer system.

There’s a lot about ourselves that we don’t understand. Do I really know myself best? Not particularly. This “I” that’s trying to figure itself out doesn’t know much. Meanwhile, the rest of me knows exactly what it needs to do to keep functioning. It must think the “I” is pretty stupid.