Anyone else hate the expectation to shave down there?

Untrue.

I have noticed an expectation to shave, to the point of disgust if you dont, from men. And I am talking about men my age and older (50 +) as well as younger ones.

Any man that mentions it gets two things. Firstly I say that anyone who gets close enough to find out should think themselves lucky and secondly, they dont get a date if they want one.

I find that with armpit hair. the last time I shaved them was YEARS back now.
it was a heatwave, and I made the mistake of shaving my pits
and I felt so wet and slimy, and got smelly really quickly, and felt overheated.
as it grew back, I was drier, a more comfortable temperature, and didn't get smelly. because the hair wicks sweat away from your skin to evaporate. YES,you have to keep your armpits clean, but the hair makes you feel much less stinky and sweaty

It exists because not so long ago we didn't have underwear and daily showers. It serves no purpose these days.
Personally I find it unhygienic.

I find a lot of these replies quite baffling.

My partner has no preference but i shave completely because I prefer it, i feel a lot cleaner. Even when single i still shave, because its my preference.

Have never felt any pressure around any of this. As to previous comments, ive never had any sort of infection or health issue due to shaving, and i barely notice the regrowth stage.

We're all free to do what we want with our own bodies to our preference. I personally wouldnt have a bush, but i also have no opinion on if another woman wants that. Because its her preference.

The amount of comments saying a woman shaving imitates a childs body is quite uncomfortable. A womans body is still a womans body and clearly not comparable to a child, and that way of thinking is quite disturbing.

I mostly agree,but I do pluck the underneath to make it easier to wipe. it's hair and it can get menses and pee on it. but up front it's a full bush. hair isn't intrinsically dirty.
I can understand a hygiene argument for lower pubes and anything in your bumcrack, but I've seen people saying they do their armpits and legs for hygiene reasons, and there's no way they're unhygienic by any stretch

I write fanfic, and one AFAB Nonbinary character I was writing (Beelzebub from Good Omens, so technically genderless, but played by a woman, and is referred to as They/Them)
someone actually commented to me, thank you for letting them have pubes.
because they were fed up of reading fics where they were hairless, when the character obviously gives zero shits about that kind of thing.

I started shaving mine almost as soon as it came in. I had only the vaguest concept of sex and zero pressure or expectation from anyone. I didn’t even know that shaving it was “a thing.”

I just immediately recognized that it was a) impractical and b) unhygienic (to my standards) and decided that it would have to go. I didn’t like discharge and menstruation getting matted up in it and hated it getting ripped out with sanitary products. I’ve never found it a big deal to swipe the razor across every other day, but I also don’t have much and it’s only in one spot.

nothing wrong with natural hair.
I'm quite naturally hairy, and I tend to pull out hair from the undercarriage, when I'm sat on the toilet.
it doesn't really hurt, and it leaves the skin soft and ... ahem. accessible. makes wiping easier too. but up front it's all natural.

Because I have a lot of posts about schools options! Unlikely, but I don’t want any potential School Mums knowing!

It’s thought that we’ve kept small amounts of hair all over our body to enable us to feel when insects have landed on us.

Since wasps are strongly attracted to human sweat (it provides them with salts), I believe we’ve evolved thick hair on our sweatiest parts to give us extra protection from stings.

Because men have brains and practice using them, women just go 'i don't want to do it but can't think so i will blame society'

I am far too lazy to be waxing/shaving/trimming on a daily basis. My DH prefers a natural bush as do I on him. We have been together for 30+ years and we did both go hairless once to see if we liked it, neither of us were keen.

However since the menopause, I can grow a beard much better than he would dream of and my pubic hair is falling out. I no longer grow hair in my armpits, but my legs, if left, resemble a gorilla’s.

It is a very personal choice and I can’t say I have ever put much thoughts into other women’s genitals and the amount of hair they have.

I think porn drives choice and shapes the desire for hairy/hairless genitalia.

Due to a serious health condition, I have had my labia minora removed. My DH has never expressed an opinion where that is concerned either, his only desire was that I was healthy.

Also the options are limited. I believe people should be free to have their pubic hair however they want.

My choice is to remove it all but a partner has nothing to do with it. I am single and not looking but still maintain a hair free pubic region as I have for over 20 years.

Waxing has been going on for thousands of years. Didn't realise the porn industry was that established.

Shaving public hair came from porn films. It was done in porn films so you could see what was going on.

Expectation? I can honestly say I have never had a conversation with DP about how I ‘should’ present my pubic hair😆 None of his bloody business. What about HIS pubic hair? Are you allowed to ask him to submit to a bit of topiary or is it just women who feel the need to meet these requirements?

But generally facial hair is the preserve of adults not children. So do clean shaven men look “childlike?”

Out of curiosity, why did you need to change your username for this?

I have the same as you - everything off. I prefer it and that's all that matters. My hair, my choice.

Weren’t we all hairless in our pubic/penis area as children/pre-puberty?

If a man is lucky enough to get that far he can like it or lump it . My body. My choice .

No it doesn't make a woman looked like a plucked chicken. You sound weird and creepy even mentioning pre-pubescence. If you were male you'd be accused of paedophilia tendencies. Think about that.

Have your pubic hair any way you like and leave other women to do the same.

My older brother is nearly 40 and still can't grow a beard.

Not all men can grow beards - and actually some women with PCOS grow beards.

All children with vaginas are hairless and will have hairy vaginas as women. It's not the same comparison

But as I said, if someone wants to shave that's up to them. This is why I don't

That’s such a crap argument re chins not being sexual.

You can completely see it’s an inconsistent stance. If it’s childlike to have no pubic hair then it is childlike to have no facial hair.

Also not all of us watch porn, care about porn or remove pubic hair in response to porn. Some of us just prefer a hair free pubic area (and also some of us are around cultures where being hairless is the norm.)

The difference is the pubic area is a sexual characteristic

Not for a child it's not!

Jesus, some people.