Pubic Hair on Women
Many women today remove, or at least trim & style their pubic hair. It’s almost difficult to believe that not a long time ago (read: 70s and even 80s) pubic hair was seen as a normal, even a desirable thing, at least in western cultures. For centuries, pubic hair was seen as a major turn-on, because of otherwise hairless female body (and some men even described female pubic hair as an arrow pointing down the female most sensitive parts).
Things are so different today that is somewhat difficult to find anybody, male or female, who likes pubic hair on women in its full, untrimmed state. While there are millions of women who don’t remove pubic hair in any way, it’s sure seen as an imperative, and something any attractive woman do.
The reasons for removing pubic hair are quite simple: it’s a fashionable thing to do today and women are seen more attractive that way. Simple as that. It’s not much of a mystery; women always perform certain things to alter their bodies and make them appear more attractive, and today’s standards say it’s what makes women “hotter”.
Therefore, it’s interesting to see this simple motive is not what many women (or men) use when talking about removing female pubic hair. The motive that most of the people mention is hygiene. In short, hairs are dirty and smelly, and should be removed so the area is clean and fresh. Many women believe this, and the last thing women want is to be dirty.
But the truth is quite the opposite: pubic hair keeps your body clean. If body hair was dirty and unhygienic, we wouldn’t have it on sensitive places such as around our eyes and in our nostrils. Eyelashes, and eyebrows are there to protect our eyes from dirt and they help keeping sweat out of our eyes.
Pubic hair works the same, especially on women. Hair is what prevents the dirt and sweat and germs to find their way inside your vagina. A naked pubic area is a perfect place for all sorts of infections, especially since the skin is often irritated after shaving or waxing. Combine that with unhygienic underwear (the one that’s not made of cotton, and sadly, sexy & tight underwear is often not made of cotton), and you have a perfect scenario for a vaginal yeast infection.
So no, pubic hair is not dirty and unhygienic. One would say it’s a body’s natural barrier against dirt and gems.
Besides hygiene, there are other motives that people mention, such as: I want to receive oral sex (hair doesn’t prevent it, as Colin Farrell was happy to inform us), I want to wear bikinis and sexy underwear, etc. Some women say they do care about what men thing, and men of today tend to hate pubic hair on women, so they remove it. While all of these reasons are good, it’s all back to the basic one: it’s a fashionable thing to do today.
Still, many women insist on removing pubic hair because of “hygiene”. Many men, bless them, also claim it seems “cleaner” that way. But, why kid ourselves? Women remove their pubic hair because it’s a fashionable thing to do today, even if it’s not healthy in the strict sense of the words. It’s nothing new: women always do things that aren’t good for their health in order to appear more attractive, and this one is hardly alarming (with good personal hygiene, it’s relatively easy to avoid an infection).
But it’s interesting to note that the real reason here is often hidden: so many people insist hair removal is a good hygienic practice. Why? Is it because they feel fashion (and/or male attention) aren’t legitimate enough reasons? Or because today’s people insist on healthy lifestyle so much they have to proclaim even unhygienic practices healthy in order to go with them?
Possibly related
03 Aug 11 at 11:46 AM | Blah blah, sex and gender | 29 comments
Alee
I’m not a fan of the “bald” look. And I do consider a negative if a guy must have a bald or nearly bald look. The whole thing is just putting more pressure on women and their appearance. Frankly I see the whole craze as just another form of objectification. It’s a little ridiculous.
Just keep it trimmed and you’ll be fine.
03 Aug 11 at 6:06 PM
Mira
And I do consider a negative if a guy must have a bald or nearly bald look.
Wait… You mean a guy who removes HIS pubic hair, or when I guy insists that women do it?
Men here don’t do it (well, they don’t talk about it), but women do. To go au naturel is seen as, well, you guess it: unhygienic. Still, most don’t like the bald look; they leave a bit.
03 Aug 11 at 6:59 PM
Fiona
Ugh. I hate the bald look! Call me crazy, but it looks so unnatural and the feeling isn’t any better.
But to trim here and there, yes, it’s ok.
I know it’s about fashion, but I also think it’s about sex. People were not that sex-obsessed like today, so things like styling pubic hair didn’t matter that much.
And I think men do it because it makes a penis look larger.
04 Aug 11 at 4:26 PM
Alee
Mira,
“Wait… You mean a guy who removes HIS pubic hair, or when I guy insists that women do it?”
LOL. The latter. I don’t know what I’d think about the former…
04 Aug 11 at 8:48 PM
Mira
Fiona,
Oh, people were THIS sex obsessed in the past, don’t worry about it. And they did pay attention to pubic hair. It was considered hot, just like a “brazillian” is considered today.
And I think men do it because it makes a penis look larger.
Makes sense, I guess… Does that mean there ARE guys who do it?
Alee,
I don’t know what I’d think about the former…
I know porn actors do it, but I don’t know about the regular guys. Still, with guys, it’s not that important, I think. I mean, when it comes to health. It’s not like it can increase the chance of them getting yeast infection or something.
04 Aug 11 at 9:52 PM
serpentus
I don’t see anything wrong with removing pubic hair. Why do men work out at the gym? To get women.
As far as hygenic reasons, does this mean that you’re in favor of male circumcision? People also make that same argument in favor of that.
05 Aug 11 at 4:19 AM
Mira
I don’t see anything wrong with removing pubic hair. Why do men work out at the gym? To get women.
The point is, that’s hardly a matter of hygiene… Which was kind of a point of this post. You DON’T remove your pubic hair because of health, but to appeal to men (or to look better). Why is that difficult for some people to admit it.
Now, with gym, some people (male AND female) go to gym for genuine health reasons, not just to appeal to others.
As far as hygenic reasons, does this mean that you’re in favor of male circumcision? People also make that same argument in favor of that.
Men are left intact here and I don’t have much experience with circumcised penises (I’ve seen one, though).
Also, most of the world population is intact and they’re fine that way, so this has to be an American thing (routine infant circumcision).
I’m not against it and I’m not one of those people who think it’s genital mutilation (especially not the way female circumcision is), but it’s something that’s just not done in my culture. I guess I wouldn’t do that to my son, unless it’s for religious or medical reasons.
But in a way, it’s a good example of another of those “hygiene” excuses people often make. Intact men aren’t dirty.
And you seem to believe, Serpentus, that I was the one who’s making “hygiene” excuse for removing pubic hair. I am not. The whole post is about people who’re making that excuse and don’t admit it they’re doing it because of fashion/men.
05 Aug 11 at 11:04 AM
Mariana
Can I get in this conversation? Can I? Can I? There must be around 10 depilation centres around me right now. hahahaha This is so funny.
Why Brazilian got famous because of this topic? Because our underwear and bikinis are smaller. And I’m not talking about the “flossing” type. I don’t know why there’s no balance in American’s underwear (before the influence of Brazilian’s) they are enormous or microscopic. Whatever, Brazilian regular underwear is smaller, that doesn’t require total depilation, I’m a living proof of that. I HATE do shave or wax. I can’t stand the pain of waxing. But I must say that I’m a lucky gal ’cause I don’t have much hair. Some girls do have lots, like hair in the crotch, in parts that are not covered by the underwear, that can be problematic if you want to go to the beach.
I don’t like chest hair on men. But I wouldn’t ask my boyfriend to wax it if he had that much. Still, completely hairless man are not real man to me. I don’t know if I made myself clear.
I think I get your point… it’s just one of those revolting situations in which people are brainwashed to do something “healthy” that in fact is just fashionable.
09 Aug 11 at 2:27 PM
zek j evets
Okay, if I may I’m going to try delving into the greater female zeitgeist on this issue… I believe that women MAY shave/trim their pubic hair in an effort to seem clean, to be neat, to look younger, BUT ALSO to say, “look at how nice my vagina looks, please won’t you lick it or something?”
Seriously! I often believe that pubic hair grooming is pretty much done to encourage oral sex.
And for my part, it does entice me more to know that I won’t choke on any hairs. (And yes, I do trim myself. And yes, it does make your penis look waaaay bigger.)
I do find bald attractive on certain women, but in general I prefer trimmed hair just because it looks “normal”. And I’d say most guys would agree with me their, judging by the numbers of men with women who probably are not even able to regularly shave off all their pubic hair.
However, now all of this begs the question (which Mariana kind of alluded to): do women like men who are bald around their genitals? What’s the female take on ball-hair? Or hair around the taint? And all the rest of men’s pubic hair?
Oh what a topic ; )
09 Aug 11 at 4:49 PM
Mariana
@zek j evets Well… I don’t think I like completely depilated man (even down under…) as I said, it gives me the feeling of unaturality. Although some “organization” is nice. Don’t let the Amazon Forest grow wild down there.
Haha
11 Aug 11 at 2:54 PM
Kirsty
Hmmm what about women who shave/wax when they’re not even sexually active? Surely then it must purely be for hygiene or comfort reasons?
12 Aug 11 at 10:31 PM
Mira
Mariana,
I think the fact “brazilian” is named after Brazil says a lot about the way people perceive Brazil.
I don’t like chest hair on men. But I wouldn’t ask my boyfriend to wax it if he had that much.
Same here. While I’m not crazy about the “hairy men”, I prefer things to be natural, and if he’s hairy, he shouldn’t be ashamed of it.
Still, completely hairless man are not real man to me. I don’t know if I made myself clear.
“Completely hairless” as in “removing pubic hair”, or body hair in general?
I think I get your point… it’s just one of those revolting situations in which people are brainwashed to do something “healthy” that in fact is just fashionable.
Exactly. Which is silly, because it means they are ashamed of doing something out of fashion… why? Many people do lots of things for the sake of fashion (or attracting the opposite sex). Why being ashamed of it?
14 Aug 11 at 8:56 PM
Mira
Zek,
Seriously! I often believe that pubic hair grooming is pretty much done to encourage oral sex.
Could be. Then again, (and contrary to the popular belief), oral sex existed in days when removing pubic hair wasn’t popular, so I’m not sure.
(And yes, I do trim myself. And yes, it does make your penis look waaaay bigger.)
I see. But then I must ask, WHY is a good thing for a penis to look bigger?
However, now all of this begs the question (which Mariana kind of alluded to): do women like men who are bald around their genitals? What’s the female take on ball-hair? Or hair around the taint? And all the rest of men’s pubic hair?
Like I said, I prefer the natural look. I couldn’t care less if penis looks bigger or not. You could say I like pubic hair on men.
But it’s his choice whether he wants to shave/trim etc. or not and I won’t complain. But I ask the same thing from him, to let me decide what I want (or, in my case: what I need) to do with my pubic hair.
14 Aug 11 at 9:01 PM
Mira
Kirsty
Hmmm what about women who shave/wax when they’re not even sexually active? Surely then it must purely be for hygiene or comfort reasons?
Obviously, it all depends on the individual. But I think in general, they, too, do it out of fashion. It’s something that is done in this day and age, and women (sexually active or not) are encouraged to do it in order to “look better”, or to “feel better”, or even to “be cleaner”. But basically, it’s just a fashion.
I mean, why else would they remove the hair? It’s not something people do without being told it’s a good thing. Nobody (ok, most of the people) don’t shave their left eyebrow and leave the right one. But if that thing was fashionable, many people would do it. It’s how the things go.
14 Aug 11 at 9:06 PM
Kirsty
do women like men who are bald around their genitals? What’s the female take on ball-hair? Or hair around the taint? And all the rest of men’s pubic hair?
I find shaved incredibly unattractive… I guess trimmed but not so it’s noticeably trimmed is ok (if that makes sense), but I don’t think it looks good when men remove pubic hair
14 Aug 11 at 11:07 PM
Mira
To be honest, I didn’t know removing pubic hair was popular with men.
15 Aug 11 at 12:09 AM
Mariana
Mira, even in the 80′s it was very common for women to wax here in Brazil, because our bikinis are smaller than people abroad are used to. So, I little bit more hair is not a good thing to be seen if your are at the beach. Nowadays they wax everything or leave a small stripe infamously name as “Hitler’s moustache”
“Completely hairless” as in “removing pubic hair”, or body hair in general?
Body hair in general. I think it’s gay you know what I mean? I’m not being homophobic or something like that, it’s just that I don’t find attractive what gay guys find and I have seen many gay guys all concearned about removing every single hair on their bodies.
Still, I’m not into men with TOO much hair on his chest, arms, back. But if my bf had them I wouldn’t put the pressure on him to remove.
16 Aug 11 at 3:00 PM
Mira
I used to like when a guy has almost no body hair. But I was a teen, what did I know? I thought it was natural. Then I learned about waxing chest hair and… ugh. I didn’t like the idea behind it. If you’re hairy, you’re hairy.
Like I said, I’m not a fan of excessive body hair on men, but it’s better to be natural than to wax. I don’t know. It seems fake.
Also, some gays prefer hairy men.
16 Aug 11 at 8:45 PM
Dr. Vagrant X
Yeah, I’ve never understood the whole shaving of the pubic area. I mean, a trim is cool if you’ve got the Amazon Jungle down there, but I prefer something that looks a little less…bizarre.
And I think it’s fashionable just like men shaving their chest hair is fashionable. There’s no real reason behind it other than mass marketing, personal preference, and enculturation.
17 Aug 11 at 4:33 AM
Mira
Well, it’s down to personal preference, really. I’m not saying hair removal is morally wrong or something… But I do think the hygiene excuse is just that, an excuse.
And yes, men shaving chest hair is fashionable, too. No health reason there whatsoever. And this might be just me, but I prefer men to be natural. If you’re a hairy dude, you’re a hairy dude.
PS- Isn’t it sweet how this post quickly moved from discussing female pubic hair into objectifying men?
17 Aug 11 at 10:51 AM
Melina
I trim a little. My bf says it’s easier for him to perform oral sex on me that way. So OF COURSE I’ll trim! But just a little. I don’t want to bother with the full hair removal, plus, it looks ugly (but to each her own).
Oh, oh, and don’t get me started on circumcision. You know how that will end.
21 Aug 11 at 3:55 AM
Mira
Melina,
Well, as long as it means he’s eager, I say go for it!
And yes, I know where the circumcision talk might lead. And with all due respect for the foreskin, I don’t need a bunch of intactivists (sp?) screaming about genital mutilation here. It took me a while to get rid of that Ollie guy.
21 Aug 11 at 4:39 AM
Fiona
What Ollie guy? Do I know him?
I never though much about circumcison but I’ve never been with an uncircumcised man, so what do I know?
21 Aug 11 at 4:15 PM
Melina
allright, then. I just think you might write a post on it, like you’ve planned. We need a more, European perspective on it. (If you know what I mean).
@ Fiona: you’re not the only one.
Do you know rumor has it Josh Hartnett is uncut?
24 Aug 11 at 2:12 AM
Fiona
He is? I need a proof!
26 Aug 11 at 10:59 PM
Mira
Ladies,
As much as I appreciate any potential attention that frequent use of “Josh Hartnett penis” might bring to this site, I’ll have to ask you to stop.
No more discussing Josh’s dick (or anybody else’s, for that matter) (
unless you do it in the Objectifying men post) <- joke, joke! Don't do it there either.Fiona,
I don't think you know about Ollie. He's a guy who opposes circumcision and he's promoting his views through anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. You get the idea.
Melina,
I might thing about it, but I'm not sure if anybody would like what I have to say. Not that it's problematic in itself, but I don't want "Ollies" around here, or any form of hate speech. And for some reasons, this kind of discussion brings it.
27 Aug 11 at 4:15 AM
Nkosazana
I got mine trimmed. My husband likes it like that and says he does not like little girls, he likes a woman.
And I don’t mind at all.
27 Aug 11 at 12:57 PM
Mira
Nkosazana,
It looks like trimmed is considered to be the best: not too hairy, not too bald.
27 Aug 11 at 10:48 PM
Eurasian Sensation
I have to say I prefer it shaved (or trimmed), but previously I wouldn’t have cared, and I can’t say it’s really a big deal. That patch of land is highly valuable no matter how the hedges are kept.
I certainly think it’s a shame though when shaved becomes “the norm”. I think it’s increasingly common because of internet porn; boys are seeing shaved genitals from early on and thus some think pubic hair on women is just weird.
31 Aug 11 at 9:19 AM