GCSE biology textbook features woman with Brazilian

Is it common now to be shaved before giving birth? When, over 21 years ago, I had my first child, I wrote a birth plan which included not wanting to be shaved. One of the midwives looked at it and almost burst out laughing, saying that they hadn't done that for years.

As an aside - the relatively new "enhanced recovery" (aka kick you out 24 hours after surgery) protocol for sections now often says that you shouldn't shave or wax in the 2-3 weeks before the op to reduce infection risk.

@IfNotNowThenWhy @Deathgrip if you've had one before then a full wax during pregnancy wasn't anymore painful for me personally, wouldn't recommend it for a first timer though as I appreciate many people are more sensitive. Also it wasn't to do with 'being mortified', if a nurse or doctor can't deal with pubic hair that's worrying but they're professionals (no doubt seen worse things!). I didn't want anyone shaving me so waxing at nine months avoided that delightful experience.

Brazilians are porn driven. They should not be in a biology textbook. The sexualisation of young girls is reaching epic proportions.

IMO they should either be showing the biological norm - i.e. full hair - for accuracy, or none at all where the aim is for clarity of the underlying shape/structures. They shouldn't be showing a "style" as it does reinforce the message that this is the norm.

And I say that as someone whose personal preference for myself is to shave the lot off. When I can be arsed!

Fuck, that would be so painful!

Waxers definitely do pregnant women. When I was pregnant and using a forum there were multiple posts about when to schedule a wax so it was gone for the birth, how to handle the increased pain, how they’d be mortified to go into labour before it’s done etc. It shocked me.

It was fairly normal to have a Brazilian in the early 00s actually. I'm pretty sure it's outdated now, and it looks ridiculous in real life and in that textbook! What were they thinking!? I'm fairly sure a waxer wouldn't do a heavily pregnant women anyway?
My teen thinks all body hair is fairly gross, but not just on women. Lots of men remove all body hair now.
Does the illustration of the man have shaved knackers?(vom)

It’s about a message being sent to young girls that public hair is abnormal and disgusting and that they must remove it to be considered attractive or desirable. They are taught that it’s not natural. This is reinforced more or less everywhere in everything they see. Now it’s also in their schoolbooks. Can none of the ‘no ingrown hair’ brigade see that this adds to the existing problem

Of course I see the problem, jheez. I don't agree with it. I was purely commenting on it being possible not to have all those negative things happen. It's not like I went to school and went through all that negativity around oubic hair is it, I mean why do I shave in the first place? Why did I start shaving aged 13? I deffo see the problem.

This is ridiculous. Pearson should be ashamed of themselves. If I was on twitter I would have a rant!

Our poor young girls can't even learn biology without being told how they look naturally is not right.

I think that the assertion was that it was very unlikely and not typical, rather than commonplace and the norm. Not suggesting that it was impossible.

I really wouldn't have thought any teenagers will be rifling through biology magazines looking for pubic fashion tips.

You wrote this, which implies you don’t get it at all.

It’s not about whether the teenagers will see this and think “oh great idea, I’ll get a Brazilian”. It’s about this subtly reinforcing for boys the heavily modified female bodies they are exposed to, in an educational setting. It’s about girls already being told this is the norm, and this being reinforced in an educational setting.

And I would like to point out that despite my shaving, I don't think it should be seen as the norm, I often let it grow out when I cannot be bothered, as I'm 23 now I find myself not caring as much, when I was in secondary school it was a big deal.

@AssassinatedBeauty

Obviously... But then I read this part too " I want to know how to remove most of your pubic hair with a bic and cheap conditioner without...." Which was clearly someone who doesn't believe it's possible when it is

@Aleela can you understand that your experience is not going to be everyone else's experience?! It doesn't itch for you, it's not uncomfortable for you, ingrown hairs don't happen for you. For many women it's the opposite experience.

@Deathgrip

I can see that other people have strong opinions on the matter. I don't consider a consensus to be the same as an absolute truth.

Is humanity in general under pressure from all angles to conform to a certain standard? Yes, certainly. Just like you are asking me to conform to the opinion of this group - to not be an 'outsider' - so humanity pressures those around them to eschew uniqueness. And cut their pubic hair to a cultural standard. But do I agree that a biology textbook is a centre for great damage in the hearts and minds of young woman across the country? No, I don't.

Further to that, I don't think a popular hairstyle is of any great consequence to the success or failure of our mutual endeavours. Whether it's in our shorts or not. I think it's irrelevant how many pubes someone has.

When nine months pregnant I will admit to having everything off mainly as it was standard practice to be shaved at the local hospitl

Same here. It wasn't "standard practice tho

"It is just a matter of care and regularity, I guess." - nope. Some people are prone to it, no matter what they do, how much money and time they spend on it.

You've missed the point, it's not about fashion. It's about normalising something that isn't typical, it's a specific choice made by some women, not a general state for every woman.

Also shaving doesn't itch! Maybe the first time, but it's not uncomfortable in the slightest.

You can get the same look with a bic razor and some cheap conditioner. and you can get painful ingrown hairs that way too....

I've been shaving 10 years with a razor and soap and never had an ingrown hair.

Do you really not understand why it’s a problem, despite many people here discussing why?

@ChakiraChakra

Lots of people shave and don't end up with horrible after effects. It is just a matter of care and regularity, I guess.

I'm really not that fussed about what style of pubic hair a picture has. I really wouldn't have thought any teenagers will be rifling through biology magazines looking for pubic fashion tips.