Full bush in a bikini was the chorus of the summer – now what?
The eroticism of the bush has long been celebrated in the sapphic community. So what does it mean now that mainstream culture has caught on to the allure of women’s pubic hair?
Words by Katie Baskerville
When I tell you there is no finer sight than the gorgeous girly I saw at Bristol Pride this summer – dressed head-to-toe in man-repellent uniform with the slogan of the summer, “full bush in a bikini”, stamped proudly across her T-shirt – you don’t have to take my word for it. But whether you like your pubes or not, 2025 has been the year the bush became beautiful in the mainstream. The “bush renaissance,” if you will.
In January, British Vogue welcomed the return of full frontal puberty with open arms, citing pop culture moments such as Maison Margiela’s merkin-wearing models, Poor Things’ Emma Stone and her very visible bold black bush, and the popularised phrase “full bush in a bikini.” The latter, which first caught my attention back in rainbow-clad July, originated from a TikTok video posted by @sujinda – a clip that now has over 1.6 million views (50 per cent of which are probably from me).
This year, magazines have published story after story about the bush and the double standard of gendered shaving expectations. Personally, I’ve been delighted that my FYP has been filled with happy girls skipping along beaches, their bushes poking out of bikini lines. Good for them, I think. A tonic! A remedy! But to what, exactly? Are we finally addressing the slightly unhinged beauty expectations for adult bodies to be hairless and pre-pubescent? In part, yes. And good — frankly, about time. Especially when considering that only a few years ago, a 2018 poll conducted by YouGov revealed that “a significant number of people felt women should remove hair to be ‘feminine’; to avoid ridicule and isolation by not ‘fitting in’; and to appear more attractive to the opposite sex.” Sigh.