Anyone else hate the expectation to shave down there?

I do nothing to mine bar trim it up a bit and shave bikini line if I'm going to be in a swimming costume. Mid-winter it is allowed to grow freely.

Anaesthetist so see about 5 naked people most days. Most people don't shave

YANBU
However I have never in my life experienced this. I am only in my 30s and have had many sexual partners. Mostly male and a couple female.. not one single one of them has ever made any comment on my pubic hair. And my pubic hair has been long but neat most of my adult life bar one experiment when I was 18 and waxed it.. hated how it looked and felt so never did it again.
So I'm not sure how much pressure or expectation there is in reality.. unless you do sex work..
And I believe there probably are people out there who have pubic hair preferences and maybe they put pressure on people... but I just don't believe it's the majority.

If all women stopped shaving and plucking and waxing and whatnot, no woman would ever feel pressured to cater to the male gaze.

Women who do are basically scabbing for the patriarchy.

Eew! I find the idea of shaving off my pubes revolting! I like my pubic hair just as it comes.

I think it’s age dependent. I’m 50. It wasn’t the norm when I was younger. It became fashionable due to porn.

neatly trimmed bush is the norm amongst my peers from what I glimpse in changing rooms.

I've always shaved the lot since it started to grow in but haven't felt pressured to by anyone else. I can't tolerate the feel of coarse hair down there and never have been able to. Men do seem to prefer it, I've had comments on how they like it, but I do it mainly for myself. I don't think it looks childlike as my figure is clearly that of an adult female. On men I prefer trimmed.

I generally speaking, shave all mine off. However, I’ve never had a sexual partner male or female, express it as a preference. Not that I’ve ever asked for an opinion on the matter.

Gosh. I've never removed pubic hair other than a tidy up at the top of my legs. Never had a comment.

I KEEP my pubic hair for hygiene reasons but trim it short otherwise I get discharge stuck in it! If I remove too much, I find I'm too sweaty and smelly. The pubic hair seems to reduce this. Anyone else?? TMI...!

I agree the cultural pressure is significant and anti-woman no matter how many like to insist it it personal choice.

I short circuited it by not shaving anything (I’m talking legs, underarms, bikini) and the first time DH saw me naked he said bloody hell maybe a Gillette next time and I said nah I don’t think I will, and left it up to him to decide if he was so disgusted by my natural clean adult body that he would decline any further dates. He didn’t; so that was that sorted. But that is really flying in the face of social conditioning and I would not have been self assured enough to do it in my 20s (I was 31).

I lost all mine due to chemo, quite liked it at the time. But happier with a full bush now!

I don't shave because I don't buy into society makes me and I can't think for myself

Never had pressure in real life. I’ll trim for practical reasons occasionally, but rarely

I gave up on that at about 20, when I matured enough to realised it wasn’t necessary. Why are you as a from woman still shaving if you don’t want to??

I used to shave most of it when I was in my early 20s, but haven't for a good 10 years now. I cycle quite a lot and found I was often getting ingrown hairs. Above all I just couldn't be bothered anymore, happy to leave it as it is.

“For hygiene reasons”

this always comes up on these threads. Pubic hair is hygienic. Removing, trimming, whatever is not more hygienic.

I think the whole “YABU- it’s nice to do things for your partner” is a shame.

Im completely bald down there and have been all my adult life. And that’s because that’s what I want. And it’s my preference for my body. Each to their own obviously but I don’t like the feeling of any hair down there, I never have. But it’s not because any partner has asked for it/wanted it.

I’ve been with my boyfriend a few years and he says it wouldn’t bother him either way, and obviously there’s times where we are intimate during my couple of days regrowth stage and he isn’t arsed at all. Doesn’t even notice.

I shaved between 20-26 because the guys I was with expected it. Then I realised fuck it why am I doing this and I stopped. I’m married and my husband sometimes requests it but he’s wise enough to mainly complement me on my downstairs with hair

im in the minority - early 30s and lots of friends have been shaving it all off for over a decade as they’ve felt they have no choice. One friend even had it all lazered off at 24 because she said she would never want hair down there which I think is sad and rather permanent

Well, I once had a partner who expressed his preference for a bush. I did give it a fair go but it wasn't for me. Ditched both the bush and the partner at the end.
I like what I like which is no hair at all. Whoever thinks it's disgusting is under no obligation to have sex with me.

Seems like a spin-off from porn/fantasy stuff - total elimination of pubes to achieve a pre-pubescent look. No thanks.

What expectation? I never have and never will.
But I did find a few really loooong hairs recently so I trimmed those and then a few more. Then it felt weird and different. I wont again in future.

I wouldnt date anyone who thinks women should look like little girls or mega groomed 'down there'. Too weird and totally unnecessary.

Same here. But younger women are pressured

Never felt any expectation, been with DH for 22 years. It’s been a range of bush, trimmed, shaved depending on my preference, not his.

It's a weird fashion... I am quite sad that my teenage daughters think it's the thing they "have" to do (despite me saying otherwise)