THIS STORY IS PART OF THE LENS CARNIVAL EDITION.

Through their iconic symbol, the merkin – a pubic wig – the Bearded Oysters marching group has been a symbol of feminist freedom and confidence on the Muses parade route for 20 years. Oysters basically use their crotches to create and display their personal art, says founder Katrina Brees, the self-described “Mother Shucker.” 

“The merkin is like their canvas, their piece of art, their self expression,” Brees said. 

In creating the Bearded Oysters, Brees was inspired by how oysters shift gender, transforming effortlessly with the flow of nature. The marching group’s body-hair element – which can include beards, merkins, costumed body hair and mustaches – explores  both gender presentation and the pressures that women face to shave, pluck, wax, tweeze, and laser – all to “become acceptable” by removing natural hair. 

On the parade route, the body hair, beards and mustaches – often made of glitter, faux hair, fringe, or face paint – are immediately noticeable. The merkins, on the other hand, are often hidden under skirts, visible only sporadically, when an Oyster chooses to flash someone. 

Some merkins have messages written them, like one with a flag that says, “Make a Merkin great again.” One of Brees’ favorites has a package of wet wipes attached, so you can pull wet wipes out of the merkin.

The Oysters, now 400 strong, use this playful approach to promote messages of body confidence and fight back against restrictive beauty standards, especially those involving hair removal. 

The merkin itself has a storied history involving women’s bodily autonomy, sexual freedom, and social hierarchy. “I don’t want anyone looking at our Merkins and just getting turned on,” Brees said. “I want them to learn something.” 

Brees wrote a small manifesto, a “brief and bawdy history of the merkin,” which notes that during the 16th and 17th centuries, some women lost pubic hair after mercury-based treatments for syphilis. “Because a full bush was seen as a sign of health, fertility, and desirability, these women crafted wigs out of animal hair to conceal hair loss.” 

Over time, a merkin became a symbol of disguise and deception. “We reclaim it as an emblem of empowerment, choice, and protest against restrictive beauty standards.”

Carnival is meant to be a day where normal societal divisions are temporarily dissolved and everyone’s a king. Or, as New Orleans human-right activist Deon Haywood from Women With a Vision wrote recently, “Mardi Gras is transgressive. It’s a chance for everyday folks to upend the rules and openly mock systems of oppression.” 

Bearded Oysters aren’t expected to be dancers. The group wears instantly recognizable silver and white costumes — with lights for night parades — and uses wings, glamour, and personal style to produce its free-form parade aesthetic rather than following rigid choreography. 

The energy of the cheering crowds is a nearly indescribable experience for nearly anyone who parades. But for people with body-image struggles, it feels like medicine. “You realize when you’re out there,” said Oyster SarahJane Guidry, “that people are appreciating you for your moves and not how your body looks.”

For Guidry, it even felt intimidating to join a group so large. She was able to take the leap because she joined with a friend. Brees, who understands those anxieties, offered a two-for-one membership promotion this year, to encourage friends to become Oysters together.

Through a self-described “benign dictatorship,” Brees built an intentionally flexible, all-ages group structure. All events are optional, including parades, and Oysters have lifetime memberships to come and go as they wish. 

Chronic health conditions, age, and parenthood can all make parading difficult, she says. Plus, not everyone became an Oyster to parade. Some joined for friendship and creative collaboration and would prefer to sit on the sidelines on parade night. 

Original Oyster Marilyn Enslow, 79, who also helped to found the Krewe du Vieux sub-krewe Pizza Sluts, counts three generations of her family as members. Her grandson, Zach Hunter, has paraded for 16 years. Her daughter has participated as well, and Enslow’s husband Steve was a fierce supporter of the Oysters before he passed. Male helpers used to be referred to as “Shuckers,” but today members of all genders are considered Oysters. Brees considers Hunter one of their strongest dancers. 

While Enslow no longer joins the Oysters in the streets, she still has her collection of merkins – including the first ever light-up merkin. Though it’s an extensive collection, it pales to the collection amassed by Brees, who at one point was the biggest merkin creator and distributor in the world through her Etsy shop. 

The intergenerational friendships between Oysters also help promote body positivity. Younger members see older Oysters “putting themselves out there, taking up space, and realizing you can do this forever.” 

Today, the Oysters are an institution within the Muses universe, Hunter said. “There’s always someone on the route that’ll have a dedicated Bearded Oyster sign.” And of course, when beckoned, the Oysters will pay attention.

If you’re lucky, Oysters say, they might slip you a decorated oyster shell. If you’re luckier, they may flash you their merkins.