#body-politics

#body-politics

What does government govern? What, in other words, is government the government of? The answer - at least in the West - has shifted over time. In the age of religion, kings and queens ruled over souls, preparing them for the divine beyond. After the Enlightenment, the soul gave way to the mind as the focus of governance. By the late 18th century, the target had shifted again.

Call it the box boom. In the past year, Kiehl's has rolled out a 96-hour vulva freshener and Dove launched an intimate deodorant advertised to the tune of Khia's 2001 hit My Neck, My Back (Lick It). There are muff-specific moisturizers now, as well as crotch-brightening creams, sprays to make your various nooks smell like bergamot and supplements to make your vagina taste sweeter. (Thanks, Kourtney Kardashian.)