How Sex and the City made pubic lice an endangered species

The hit TV series encouraged so much hair removal that the humble pubic louse now has nowhere to go, according to one scientistIt's obviously a thrice-daily occurrence to receive a press release which forces the inquiry, "Is it August already?" Every now and then, however, you get one that suggests the Soviet dream of a mind-gun that could collectively incapacitate the west has finally become a reality. Behold, then, an effort from the British Association of Dermatologists, whose headline inquires: "Was Sex and the City the beginning of the end for pubic lice?"Aside from confirming that there is simply no story on which someone does not deem it vital to slap a celebrity angle, BAD announces that its annual conference in Liverpool next week will hypothesise that the hair removal trend threatening the pubic louse with extinction can be traced back to a single Sex and the City episode.On hand to explain is one of the authors of the research, one Dr Kun Sen Chen, who declares: "Pubic hair removal has been practised by humans for thousands of years, by cultures from all over the world, including the ancient Egyptians. However, until recently, with the rise of truly global mass media, pubic lice have been able to weather changing cultural attitudes to body hair."Once again, Lost in Showbiz suspects it is about to find out that the evils of globalisation know no bounds."What we have seen at work is the law of unintended consequences," states Dr Chen, in a peroration I flatly re...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian Blogposts Television & radio Infectious diseases Health Society Features Sexual health Life and style Celebrity Drama Science Source Type: news