"14 year olds should remove all pubic hair" **MNHQ adding quote marks as per request**

[TowelRailing]

My daughter reckons this is what all teenagers do. If you agree, please vote YANBU. If you disagree, please vote YABU.

Thank you. Sometimes heated debates don’t help with bad moods. 😬

I think pubic hair removal and a broader discussion on genitals, consent iand sex have been conflated and perhaps we are talking at crossed purposes.

not read the full thread but I know my DD does this. Its nothing to do with P8rn etc for her. Its a sensory thing and she hates the feeling of it. As soon as it started growing she wanted it gone. I was initially worried about it but as soon as I realised her motives I was fine.

Nobody "should" remove pubic hair. I did tend to shave it a bit to make it less visible in a swimsuit at that age but not total removal. Perhaps your daughter should tell you who she thinks will be seeing her pubic hair?

But it is because of the porn industry, why pretend it's not?

Patriarchy told her to.

Is it?

I've been hairless down there for about 40 years, just because I prefer it, not because I plan on putting my fanny on display

interestingly my teen dd and her friends all have body hair.
No shaven armpits etc.

It is interesting that they have taken quite a strong stand the other way and all keep their body hair.

I thought that it was more of a trend to not shave

Why do so many women state it feels "cleaner" to shave/wax, when pubic hair actually plays a role in the vulva and vagina's ability to self-clean, and shaving increases the risks of ingrown hairs which can lead to infected cysts?

Because centuries of conditioning within various cultures, religions, social mores etc have enforced the message that women's bodies, especially around the time of menstruation, are somehow inherently "dirty".

Many teenage girls are influenced by the social trends around them, whether that's in fashion, music, hairstyles, in more worrying social contagions such as anorexia or ROGD...when porn and sexualised images of women are everywhere and being as sexually available and 'up for anything' as a porn star is an increasing expectation for young girls, it's naivety to think this doesn't influence impressionable young people as much as any of the other social 'norms'.

It's not painting women as victims to point out some of the influences brought to bear on us, but it's naive to deny they exist or that a fashion/preference which just happens to align with the increasing exposure of shaved women in porn is pure coincidence. I consider myself a feminist and am aware of all the beauty standards pressure but I still shave my legs in the summer; I just recognise I'm doing something relatively conformist that contributes to the continuance of those pressures and norms.

No, BenCoopers, the sensation of feeling cleaner is real for many women and that doesn't have a basis in porn. During menstruation, clean up is quicker and easier - and certainly more comfortable. If you're a woman then no further elaboration is needed.

For some women it feels cleaner, that is not the same as saying that it is cleaner. Those are two different things and not a good argument even though some would like to make it so.

Agree. Ultimately their body their decision but I do find it a bit sad. It may not in their mind be associated with porn and misogyny but that is where it stems from. Wanting to shave a bit so it doesn't stick out the side of the swim costume - get that. Started with all the talk about 'Brazilians' 10-20 years ago and now it's gone all pre-pubescent. I guess some girls who says they don't like it perhaps feel the way many feel when they first have their period. But let's discuss/talk about it so that they feel comfortable about growing up and being a woman, with all it entails.

Oh, and my comment earlier about 'pink, pink, pink' was of course not to suggest that wearing pink = porn. No, it was just a comment about how girls/boys clothes became much more gender specific (boys - blue; girls - pink) in the last 20 years or so. And not just clothes, but toys!! Lego even at one point. A real step backward.

This is the third thread I’ve seen in a week asking about pubescent girls pubic hair in here.

Exactly what I said earlier. And OP doesn't appear to have come back.

Well why post and add to it then? There's no need to go into any detail at all about this and these threads will keep on coming so it's either, ignore, post but give no information for the hairy handed - or just post what you want and damn the consequences (of posting made up tosh).

Whingeing about threads won't stop them appearing.

Ditto. I’m in my 50’s and I’ve shaved or waxed for as long as I can remember. Nothing to do with porn.
Ive been single a few years now so no one but me sees down there but I still shave regularly. I prefer it personally and don’t find it at all uncomfortable

I genuinely get soooo sick of people insisting that porn is at the root of pubic hair removal.

I remove my pubic hair, started at 13 ish as soon as it started growing properly. My mother said that it was ridiculous and I'd look like a plucked chicken.
This did not prevent me from removing it as I cannot stand the sensation of pubic hair. Made me crawly when it first grew, and if it grows over a couple of mm now I am really REALLY uncomfortable with it. It feels squeaky and like a valance and honestly, gives me the total shudders.

Im convinced it's a sensory thing as I cant stand feeling like ive got something in my teeth either, cant do anything until its gone as the sensation drives me up the wall, thats what pubic hair feels like to me.

I wasn't affected by porn then (hadn't seen any), I am not affected by porn now. Neither do I do it to appeal to the male gaze as I am a GNC lesbian and have been forever so hardly the type to be sucked in to appeasing patriarchy

I rarely shave my legs (as dont grow anything worth removing) and only do my pits every few months as I dont grow anything there really either apart from a couple of wispy bits as im a fine haired blonde.

Pubic hair though, nope. Cant cope with it.

It's nothing to do with porn for me.

Its all well and good blaming porn, until you watch some of it, and discover many of the performers have pubic hair, just like some of the men have beards.

Those who are saying "its my choice and mind your business" well it is our business if the injuries caused by some of this grooming is being treated by the NHS. After all there are plenty on here who stick their noses in when it comes to what obesity costs the NHS. Overweight people dont seem to get away with "its my choice and mind your business" So why should others.

It is perfectly fine to have body hair, my goodness. I am 38 but even when I was 13 I remember my friend shaving her arms because she thought they were too hairy! And one friend shaving her big toes because they had a few hairs!

I don't shave my underarms or legs as an adult but know how hard it is to be a girl and 13 and did shave my underarms as a teenager, mostly just to fit in (when changing for P.E or swimming at school). But pubic hair?! I got a lot of teasing due to being ginger haired but I still wouldn't have gone that far!

I find this so crazy and sad.

Eagerly awaiting the Daily Mail headline
"Pubic Topiary #1 Drain on NHS Resources since Covid 19"
A nurse slouches in a hallway, exhaustion etched on her face as The Daily Mail exclusively reveals that she spent a 36 hour shift battling with an ingrowing bikini hair.
Bosses urge the public "Let It Grow, Let It Gro-ow, Can't shave it away anymore" to alleviate pressure on the national health service.

@Panteranoir So it IS taking up NHS time.

Your post makes no sense and no, it's actually none of your business.

What are you going to do about it, since you're so convinced that it is?

😂

To be honest I don't like hairy toes.

I know its none of my business But i know certain posters want it both ways. They only care about what obesity costs the NHS We have a thread that barely mentions what these grooming injuries cost the NHS Apart from me and one other poster @Panteranoir no one has mentioned it. Its very telling. It proves that the people who bash overweight people dont care about the NHS at all. I agree with you @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe People absolutely have a right to do what they want with their OWN BODIES. Bodily autonomy. But a lot of posters on here think that this shouldnt include overweight people THATS the point i am making. They are happy to use the NHS for emotional blackmail for this purpose. IF the NHS was what it was really about , more than two posters would have mentioned these grooming injuries in the context of the NHS.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts @Verv , I agree with you.

This "It's all because of porn" is really annoying and quite an assumption. I saw some porn in the 80s and guess what? The women mostly all had pubic hair.
I first read about Brazilian wax and the new trend for "all off" (or mostly off) sometime mid nineties in the Sunday Times. It was an article about some Brazilian sisters who'd opened a salon in NY and it was all the rage with the rich and famous. The trend to remove pubic hair was taking off. The Brazilian wax trend started in Brazil (surprise surprise) as a way of dealing with those revealing carnival costumes. Nothing to do with porn.

It could be argued that porn has kept up with pubic hair trends, rather than driven them.