"HAIR TAPING"
by Ernie Mejia
If you haven't tried it by now, what's going on? For months now a new phenonenom in underground chÌc has been growing and growing . College students either on semester break or preparing for finals do it. High School students say that doing it in groups builds ideas. Girls do it. Boys do it. I do it.
Hair taping, or DUCT taping, is the practice of removing ones own body hair by stripping off chucks of tape attached to the human body. Mimicking the waxing technique, the tape yanks off shafts of hair, but not quite as accurate. The hair comes off a few hairs at a time, sometimes more if the pull is quite right.
The high of the doing it has been said to be prolonged and vibrant. I have found a group of girls who do this. Some do it by themselves at night or while watching morning TV. Some seem to enjoy taping each other. "Hair Tape Parties" are growing common among the retail chain blue collar females.
Jaime from Gresham, Oregon says that taping is like masturbation when you do it alone or like sex when another girl does it. She has yet to try it with the opposite sex. "I think that doing it with a guy would be too open," says Jaime, "With a girl you kind of feel like each other knows what it's gonna feel like. I don't know. I just like it."
Heather, a friend of Jaime finds that doing it is a lot like a hobby to her. Heather says, "I've never tried it with anybody else, but to me, I'm still getting used to doing it by myself. It's very complicated"
The practice of "H.T.," "T-ing," or "Duck Billin" has even come over scrutiny from merchants city to city nationwide. Stores are now aware of cloth tape sales increasing. A local area storechain in Portland, Oregon has even talked about decreasing prices on rolls of tape, siting that sales have more than made up for stocking costs on obscure items.
Teens seem to find the 3 or 4 dollar rolls of tape are a bargain for the price. Del, a kid I met at the Home Depot buying tape says that he can do about 50 yards a week now. "I started with a 10 yard roll. I did that in one day. After that I started doing my whole body," Del stated. As I talked to Del, it was apparent that he was a chronic taper. Weaving shorts he sported have legs that shone bright red, 2 inch bands trailing up his blotchy haired legs.
Like I have said before, I've tried it...in moderation, of course. It isn't close to waxing. Consider it as a parallel to smoking a cigarette for a few puffs, then putting it out, then re-lighting it, then putting it out. Try it...then try it again. Try it...then try it again.
Ernie Mejia has been a staffwriter for No-Fi "Magazine" since the
very first issue and usually keeps things like this to himself.
