Pubes

[tiggy114]

Does anyone know when or how it became unattractive to have pubes. I'm 33 now and in my early 20's it was never an issue. I always had them and non of my boyfs ever complained. It was never mentioned. I even dyed em blue once with hair mascara to surprise a boyf :) fast forward 10 years and i find myself in agony at the waxing parlor wondering why i'm doing it? It's not pressure from my current man and i don't really watch porn or any tv programs of that sort. It seems to have creeped up on me and many of my friends are the same. I'm fumoxed as to where this trend started. What do people think?

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

I have never ever waxed or shaved mine right off (am 38). I trim with scissors or use a ladyshave to make it short but not bald.

[whistlestopcafe]

I think it was about 10 years ago that it became mainstream. I have no intention of following suit and have been married for ages anyway. Even women my age (40) seem to have succumbed to the idea and say that they find the idea of pubic hair unhygienic. Fair enough if they genuinely feel that way, I'm just surprised that they were happy not to wax it all off 15 years ago.

[Rache1S]

There's a very funny book called 'How To Be A Woman' by Caitlin Moran where I seem to recall she attributes this modern day hair-free trend to the expansion and accessibility of the porn industry since the internet became common place in most people's lives. She puts it down to baldness making it much easier for porn directors to get their penetration shots and then because so many more people have access to porn than used to this trend is being copied because women assume that's what men want. Ridiculous really!

[TeiTetua]

This topic seems to come around every 2 or 3 weeks and there's just no stopping it.

[Fairylea]

Well I shave everything off because I like it and feel cleaner without it .. even though I know it actually makes no difference. And I don't do it for men. I did it even when I was single for 6 years and when I have been with partners none of them have cared whether there is hair or not. I don't think it's a feminist issue.... just a personal preference.

[NoIdeaWhyTheNameChange]

I thought it was so porn stars didn't get crabs.

You never hear talk of crabs these days, do you?

[Silibilimili]

It just tends to make me feel cleaner

[tiggy114]

I understand if it's something you want to do but there seems to have been a shift in attitude in the last 10 years. Maybe it is because of porn being more available. I don't watch it but maybe i've just got swept along with everyone else. Actually i suppose i do see images from time to time as my OH buys bizzare mag and there's often burlesque and fetish models in there with very small knickers. Maybe we can't escape the influence of fashion in sex now a days.

[TeaAndHugs]

I leave mine completely alone (as I do with all my body hair) and never get any complaints. Selling waxing and shaving products/services is a way for the beauty industry to make money, so it makes sense that they would promote the idea of pubes being gross.

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

It does make a difference shaving it off, it's slightly more likely to get infected.

I agree it's a money-making thing.

It's funny how it seems to be really common in some circles and not in others - I don't think I know anyone in RL who has theirs off, though obviously it's not such a hot topic of conversation there than on MN.

[NoIdeaWhyTheNameChange]

I thought one of the reasons people had pubes was because humans found them sexually attractive. If we stop finding pubes attractive, will we evolve to be less pubey? How long would that take, I wonder?

[DuelingFanjo]

You make the choice to do it? So why? If it's not pressure from your partner then what made you think you would start doing it?

[Fairylea]

My mother actually. She casually mentioned it felt much nicer to her to shave all her body hair off and I started doing it too. Never thought about it much to be honest.

[NoIdeaWhyTheNameChange]

To be honest, MN has been one of the largest influences on the state of my pubic hair.

I've always shaved my bikini line, but I learned the term "landing strip" on MN, a tested it out on myself, and rather liked it. I think mainstream media started mentioning "brazilians" a few years ago....and people became curious.

[MarjorieAntrobus]

Just what dueling said. Why did you start?

I'm older than you and I am aware that women younger than me think that pubes have to be shaved or waxed. I cannot understand why, nor would I want to pay a stranger to defuzz me.

[DuelingFanjo]

So you did it because your mother said it was more comfortable and you decided it was so carried on doing it.

No one seems to have told you it was unattractive, just less comfortable.

Personally I can't see why it would be more comfortable to take them all off, don't you get re-growth not to mention the discomfort of having someone rip them all out?

You won't catch me doing it.

[DuelingFanjo]

Sorry, just. Infused another poster with the op.

[DuelingFanjo]

Confused

[AnyFucker]

stop doing it then

[Fairylea]

I don't feel less attractive with pubes and it's not ever been an issue in relationships.

I don't have any problems with regrowth at all as I shave everything nearly everyday. I've been doing it years and years.

For me the main difference is when I have a period it takes me less time to wipe till I'm clean to be brutally honest and I like that. I feel really comfortable down there..no pubes itching or getting stuck on sanitary towels ! There are definite non sexual benefits !

I have had a partner who used to love my pubes and was quite upset when I shaved them off. I really think its only a big deal on mns.

[weegiemum]

I'm natural.

But I loved Jeremy Hardie's line. "why do they call it a Brazilian, it looks more like Chile to me!"

[crackcrackcrak]

Hate porn. Hate pubes. Take it all off regardless of relationship status - actually at present it's because I swim with dd about 3 times a week.
I find men's pubes equally foul.

[KRITIQ]

When did it become "mainstream" for women to shave or wax the pubic area?

I used to be a gynae nurse, and 20 years ago, no one did it. I can remember seeing maybe 1 or 2 a year (and seeing the pubic region of an average 20 women a day.) It was so rare, it would probably be remarked on.

I've had conversations with my friend who's still a gynae nurse, and she says she first started to see a few in the mid to late 90's, increasing steadily in frequency until the balance tipped towards more without than with by about 10 years ago and it was a higher proportion amongst under 30's than over 30's.

Where did it come from? Definitely from the fashion for waxing in porn. It wasn't to eliminate crabs, but to make it easier to see "what was going on" in close up shots of the female genitalia. If you note the dates, this corresponds with the beginnings of porn being available widely online, and a few years after the practice became common in porn.

A guy might have seen an actor with shaved genitals in a porn film, associated sexual pleasure with the imagery, then perhaps suggested it to his girlfriend. At the same time, salons started providing the service to cater for what started to be a demand for the practice. Now, Brazilians and Hollywoods are advertised on sandwich boards and newspapers, just like mobile phone deals or the dish of the day at a pub. It's become very normalised and now become almost de rigueur. One can argue it's "just a choice," but only in so much as choosing not to do it means you are now going very much against the "norm," and probably will have to defend yourself against insinuations that you are dirty, smelly, unsexy or unattractive if you don't.

I think it's interesting that the practice of vaginal douching never really caught on in the UK, but it's been quite popular in the US at least since the 1950's. I think folks will find these adverts make them (and Lysol is what my mum used to scrub the floors with - similiar to Jeyes Fluid here.) this, this and more recently this.

Douches are marketed on the basis that they make you "feel cleaner," although in reality, they can damage the flora of the vagina and increase the risk of infection. Many women say shaving or waxing makes them "feel cleaner," but there is no reliable evidence to show it actually makes one cleaner, reduces infection or odour.

It's depressing though that products and services are marketed at women pretty well on the basis that their natural appearance and odour are ugly, unsexy and dirty so here - pay for this and you'll be acceptable as a woman again.

[tigercametotea]

I used to do it a few times simply because I get more sensation (and sexual pleasure) down there when it was hairfree. But I hated the regrowth stage as it was so irritatingly itchy!

[floweryblue]

I remove quite a lot of downstairs hair because I use hair removing cream. I wouldn't say it was deliberate, DP certainly couldn't care less, it's just me being ham-fisted trying to get rid of my mohair shorts. I like to go to the beach and wear a skimpy bikini, hairy bits hanging out the sides
just don't look right to me.