Bidisha article on pubic hair removal

It's not particularly that I think it's an 'attractive look' though - I think it just looks NORMAL.

I definitely can't imagine why it would be 'a bit gross' - not more than the hair on any other part of your body.

Ah, Mr Mymblesson, but you have not experienced the difference on the receiving end!

Can't argue with that! I can say though that my wife tried shaving once (before we met) and hated it. Thankfully.

a bit surprised that anyone would think that was an attractive look

No really, it's very sexy indeed.

No, not the pubic hair itself, the straggly bits that stick out of your knicker legs.I'm a bit surprised that anyone would think that was an attractive look as I've never seen anyone actively displaying this hair on the beach etc. ( though I have seen and admired women with hairy armpits) I thought my experience was something that might explain the phenomena because as a 30+ year married lady in my 50's, with only my DH ever seeing my bits I'm hardly a teenager worried about what the boys will think!

"Would it not have been that 20 years ago women's sexuality/interest in things related to sex were often ignored or unexpected." I think the idea that in 1991 that women's sexuality was ignored is total nonsense I'm afraid....

Higgle your post seems very contradictory.

you say 'I started doing this because I was aware that women were paying more attention to pubic neatness, and that it was viewed as a bit gross to have hairs showing round the legs of your knickers. I simply kept removing a bit more and a bit more, found it to be an improvement and eventually decided all off except for a decorative bit at the front suited me best.'
Surely the bits in bold are exactly to do with peer pressure, and the reasons why pubic hair is viewed as gross is likely to be linked to the standards of porn actresses/models.

I find the idea that pubic hair is viewed as gross to be deeply disturbing and very very sad indeed.
Not to mention grimly misogynistic

Ah, Mr Mymblesson, but you have not experienced the difference on the receiving end!

it was viewed as a bit gross to have hairs showing round the legs of your knickers

A shame. It's actually very very sexy.

If it encourages men to explore, stroke and lick in a more creative way and not just "bean flick"

This is perfectly possible without shaving. I know, I've been doing it for many years.

I'm in my 50's and moved towards shaving over the last 3 years ( not all of it, but most) it was a revelation for me and I wondered why we didn't do it before, it just feels so much nicer for me and my DH, I can feel his tongue all over my flesh ( you can't lick the hair covered bits and get so much sensation) my underwear looks neater and I feel less sweaty.

I started doing this because I was aware that women were paying more attention to pubic neatness, and that it was viewed as a bit gross to have hairs showing round the legs of your knickers. I simply kept removing a bit more and a bit more, found it to be an improvement and eventually decided all off except for a decorative bit at the front suited me best. Nothing to do with porn, peer pressure etc. just a better way of doing things. If it encourages men to explore, stroke and lick in a more creative way and not just "bean flick" I think it is a very good thing indeed.

Dunno where all this 'getting pubes stuck between the teeth' comes from. If that's happening, it ain't being done right.

For me, going down on a shaved woman is a very diminished and poor experience compared to going down on one who is unshaved.

I'm a man, so anyway not really much of my business what women do with their bits, but I do know what I prefer, nonetheless. Shaved = a complete and utter turnoff.

I don't care who shaves their fanny...my DH trims mine but I have never been completely bald as a coot..what worries me is this idea that young people have hair = unhygienic, unclean, bad grooming..shape your hairs how you feel but don't feel disgusted by a natural process of the body..tis weird and a bit self involved..

Well obviously! they have nothing to attach to and so the float off and find the nearest beard

Does waxing them off take the pheremones away?

I don't know if this has been covered yet... but I love my pubes because of all those lovely pheromones stuck to them.

Exactly, the exceptions would have worn white/ shaved their pubes/ shaved their foreheads anyway. (Actually, perhaps not shaved their foreheads, that does now sound like a bit of a berserk thing to do outside an Elizabethan court.) It's the general trend that's interesting.

Coldtits the reasons you have for your decision are not being denied.

The discussion just keeps coming back to the broader trend of why lots of women are doing something different to what lots of women used to do. Because this is more interesting to undertaking a feminist analysis of a phenomenon such as pubic hair removal.

It's not about you and your decision.

I don't know how I can express that any differently, but I really don't get why you think this is related to you personally, and I hate to think that it feels this way for you.

I was thinking of another analogy. The majority of women wear white(ish) when they get married. That is a social trend linked to all sorts of stuff that doesn't matter here, but I'm sure most people recognise it is a trend. I don't think women think they have gone through all the colour charts and come up with white individually without the cultural influences. However there might be some women who wear white because it suits them best, it is a special colour as their first teddy was white, their partner gave them a white rose on their first date. Or something. Hopefully you get the idea. But even with their experiences and their reasons, I would have through that the reason most people wear white(ish) when they get married is due to broader cultural trends. It's an individual decision, it doesn't make them an idiot but it is rooted in something bigger than just them. Except for the exceptions, but they aren't the answer to the interesting trend.

I'm angry because i don't feel I am being heard.

I'm angry because the reasons for the choices I make are being denied.

That's what I am saying I don't think it is a one way thing, the people invovled in pornography are not exempt from culture their surroundings will influence them as well. I would say that pornography can take something from society and exaggerate it a bit like how movies do the same thing.

But saltatrix no one is saying that it's solely a question of individuals being influenced by porn.

We are syaing tht porn has influenced various bits of culture - music videos, film, fashion, art etc. - and they influence culture. It's not direct.

Coldtits why are you so angry about the fact that we are trying to discuss women's grooming choices in the context of the culture in which they live? Nobody has called you or anyone else a "bubble headed imbecile" because they trim their pubes. Any more than we would call Elizabeth I and the ladies of her court, bubble headed imbeciles for shaving their foreheads. That was their individual choice, I wonder why we don't make the individual choice to do that?

I do think we have become way more open and interested than 20 years ago. I am not denying anything just pointing out that there can be multiple reasons for doing the same thing and that it is a bit unreasonable to lay the blame on one sole thing as well as saying anyone that anyone that does so for another reason is just an individual especially since at least to my knowledge there hasn't been a major study/questionnaire etc asking what they feel influenced them. Yes people can be influenced by porn, but it's difficult to say its the only reason.

People have shaved places where there is likely to be hair on show (chests,legs,armpits) I suppose now that it is more common for people to dress in ways where pubic hair can easily be seen (swim wear, beaches, night out etc) it has become part of the grooming category.

scaredoflove - "Now salons are offering the service"

It sounds like a chicken and egg situation. More women do it because salons offer. Salons offer because women do it.

On this thread, I think we are simply examining which came first and why.

Would it not have been that 20 years ago women's sexuality/interest in things related to sex were often ignored or unexpected. Over the past few years would it not be fair to say women have taken much greater interest and are more explorative on things that they like?

I think governments make generalisations because they often make nationwide reviews/studies in order to have reference for their claims. Has there been one to find out the general reasons for why women shave/trim/wax their pubic hair, there was a thread which showed that many women have varying reasons.

Porn likewise is not exempt from the popular culture who's to say the popular fashion/choices didn't influence porn. Porn from years ago showed people with lots of pubic hair, in fact there was lots of hair everywhere. Normal T.V shows from 70/80s etc showed men with hairy chests that was the 'in' look now however men feel the need to wax their chests (depends on race though some races don't grow much hair). You will find that many young men now trim their pubic hair.

Is it the majority now? I'm not sure it is. Tidying, trimming and bikini line is more common now I would guess

I never used to mention my shaving to anyone, it was just personal grooming to me. Now people aren't scared to talk about it and tell others. So is the difference that now people discuss it?? Now salons are offering the service it is more spoken about. Women are still squeamish about their bodies

I agree that more people are now not scared of getting to know their bodies, if you trim or shave - you have to have had a look at your pubic area, vulva and anus. There was a thread not long ago with someone wanting to know where their urethra opening was!!?? Many woman had never looked at their pubic area - I found that to be very sad and alarming