A
merkin fist(first use 1617) is a
pubic wig, originally
worn by prostitutes after
shaving their
genitalia.
Usage
There are many different ways of wearing a merkin, although most
involve placing the merkin on the
pubis or the
scrotum.
In
Hollywood
film-making, merkins are currently used in films
where they are worn by actors and actresses to prevent inadvertent
exposure of the genitalia during nude or semi-nude scenes.
If a merkin was 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. A merkin is also used if the actor has less
pubic hair than required for the role, as
in the case of
Kate Winslet in the film
The Reader or the
nude dancing extras in
The Bank
Job.
History
The
Oxford Companion to the Body dates the origin of the
pubic wig to 1450. Women would shave their pubic hair and wear a
merkin to combat pubic
lice, and prostitutes
would wear them to cover up signs of disease, such as
syphilis. The term is also applied to decorative –
typically sequinned – patches commonly sold in sets with nipple
tassels or "
pasties", which are enjoying new
popularity as part of the costume of
new
burlesque adult entertainment, and, according to NSOED, is also
applied to fake
vaginas.
"A short and curly history of the merkin" in
The Guardian provided a partial history of
the merkin. It highlighted "comedy terrorist"
Aaron Barschak's flashing of a merkin to
onlookers. 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 bawdy scenes.
Origin of term
According to the
American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language the term stems
from a corruption of the obsolete word
malkin, meaning a
lower-class woman or mop, which is derived from a diminutive of the
personal name Mary (Mall, Moll and Malkin probably come from
'Mary'). The
New Shorter Oxford English
Dictionary concurs in this derivation.
Other usage
The term can be used in an obscure sense to refer to the vulva. In
Europe, "merkin" has also been in common usage as a jocular term
for an American since the 1960s (as it sounds like the
half-swallowed pronunciation of "American" by some Americans,
particularly President
Lyndon
Johnson). The OED reports that the term has become common
internet slang for Americans or American English.
Merkins in popular culture
The term merkin is used frequently in literature, film, music, and
art as an
inside joke. For example, in
Stanley Kubrick's black comedy
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb, the
President of the United
States is named Merkin Muffley. There is also a more prominent
example in the 1969 film
Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget
Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?.
More
recently 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
.
References
- Oxford English
Dictionary
- Duchovny, David DVD commentary for Stephen Soderberg's
'Full Frontal'
- Oxford Companion to the Body Oxford
University Press, 2002
- Withycombe, E. G. (1950) The Oxford Dictionary of English
Christian Names; 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; pp. 200-202
(Malkyn is found in the Coventry Mystery Plays)
- Matilda according to the American Heritage Dictionary of
the English Language (fourth edition). Boston: Houghton
Mifflin
- New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Oxford
University Press, 1997
- Murray, J. A. H., et al. (eds.) A New English Dictionary on
Historical Principles: [1st] Supplement (1933) - Merkin
- See this Random House Word of the Day entry, this
[alt.usage.english FAQ
http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxmerkin.html Alternative
Usage in English: Merkin] and this Straight Dope article
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