Social pressures from peers, partners, or certain media can sometimes influence the decision. However, this should be a personal choice. Some people may prefer to remove their pubic hair because it makes them feel better about themselves. Other people might remove it to feel more attractive to their partner.
Pubic hair removal is common — approximately 80 percent of women ages 18 to 65 report they remove some or all of their pubic hair.
No. You do not need to shave your pubic hair. Some girls decide to remove it (as a personal preference) but there are no health benefits. In fact, there are risks involved with shaving your pubic hair including: razor burn (rash), redness, itching (from hair growing back), and infection in the hair root.
Anthropologists have suggested that hair removal (including arms, face, and pubic region) was for a multitude of reasons including hygiene (e.g. to avoid pubic lice), aesthetics, fashion, class symbolism, and cultural symbolism.
There are a number of hair removal options they could be using, some of which are temporary and others that are permanent. Temporary options include shaving (by far the most popular method), waxing, depilatory creams, tweezing, and trimming.
Turns out, I'm not the only one who's curious—nor am I the only one with strong feelings on the subject. Fifty-three percent of the women who responded to PureWow's questionnaire said they regularly remove at least some of their pubic hair, with another 11 percent saying they only do so for specific occasions.
Pubic Hair Trends
According to the researchers, when asked if they removed their pubic hair, 80% of women and 39% of men removed their pubic hair near the time of the survey. Also, 3% of women and 21% of men had never removed their pubic hair.
Interestingly, 84 percent of the men surveyed had a preference when it came to a woman's pubic hair, but only 9 percent would end a date or sex because of a women's grooming habits -- so they must not care all that much. And of the men polled, a whopping 88 percent do some grooming of their own.
Pubic hair may extend out to their thighs, and some girls may have a line of hair up to their belly button. Most girls attain their peak height by age 16, but some may continue growing through age 20.
Removing pubic hair is not necessary to keep the vulva or vaginal area clean. Pubic hair can help protect the skin and prevent chafing. Hair removal is a personal preference. Some people do not remove any of their pubic hair, and others may remove only the hair that grows outside of the bikini line.
You're Less Likely To Get Rashes
If you don't shave, those things aren't really a possibility anymore, leaving you and your lady parts in peace. Indeed, Dweck listed infected hair follicles (folliculitis), rashes, and irritation (razor burn) as some of the most common issues she sees from patients who shave.
It is more hygienic not to shave it (although depilation does make pubic lice homeless). In removing their pubic hair, most women will get cuts or ingrown hairs, and some will develop inflammation of the hair follicles or hyperpigmentation.
Pubic hair holds on to residual urine, vaginal discharge, blood and semen. Bacteria line up all along the hair shaft just lunching it up and creating odor. (Very appetizing, I know.) Trimming your pubic hair reduces that surface area for bacteria, thus reducing odor.
If you want to simply trim or style pubic hair, use a pair of scissors, electric razor or bikini trimmers to cut the pubic hair to the desired length. When trimming hair around areas that are not clearly visible, grab a mirror so you can see what you are doing and minimize chances of error, cuts or irritation.
In most ways, male and female pubic hair is all the same. Sure, you'll find differences from individual to individual, but there are no significant, overarching differences from male to female. The hair on each body is chemically identical. The reasons for growth are also the same.
According to board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Felice Gersh, MD, there is a “basic normal amount” of female pubic hair. She explains, "Typically it should cover all of the labia majora to the inner surface of the thighs and up to the pubic bone-roughly shaped like a triangle."
The practice of removing female body hair is not new, it can be traced back to ancient Rome and Egypt. Some of the first razors, made of copper, were used in Egypt and India around 3000 BCE. Egyptian women removed their head hair and considered pubic hair uncivilized.
Brazilian wax: the triangle
(Yep, that means around your bum). If you want to feel totally smooth and hairless, go Brazilian.
Celebrities may have more time and money to devote to their appearance, but ultimately the hair removal treatments available are the same. Traditional techniques like threading, shaving, and waxing are still used; however, innovative techniques like electrolysis and laser hair removal promise more permanent results.
"I think most of the girls get Brazilians. That's normal protocol. European Wax [Center] for me is the least painful place."
Darwin suggested it was due to sexual selection, that our ancestors preferred less-hairy mates. Others have argued fur loss helped deter hair-dwelling parasites like lice. But the majority of researchers today posit that reduced body hair had to do with thermoregulation — specifically, with keeping cool.
Marc Glashofer, a dermatologist and fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, claims that the texture of pubic hair tends to be thicker and more coarse than hair on the rest of our body because of its origins as a buffer. “It prevents friction during intercourse that can cause skin abrasion and rashes,” he says.
Yes. It's perfectly fine to carefully trim your pubic hair with small scissors along your swimsuit or underwear line. Many girls trim their pubic hair, or go to a salon to have a “bikini wax”; others prefer to shave just about every day, and many just leave it alone. Removing pubic hair is a personal preference.