For the last two decades, shaving off all of one’s pubic hair has been all the rage – probably because people always want to emulate what they see as a “standard.” Such is the case with porn which has been showing fully shaven men and women, giving the public the idea that this is a condition to strive towards. It certainly makes it easier to see the action without all that hair in the way! But I am here to say, you may want to think twice about shaving it all off.
Pubic hair offers true biological benefits – but of course. Mother Nature is never wrong. Why else would the body keep it there? First, pubic hair offers a natural barrier to keep things clean, to decrease contact with viruses and bacteria, and to protect the tender skin of the area from being abraded. Sure, now we wear clothes, but sometimes even clothes can irritate the skin there. Next, pubic hair helps to control the moisture of the area by wicking it up and away from the skin. This decreases the chances of yeast infections and skin breakdown. Without it, you will notice that your sweat will have to be absorbed instead by your clothing. Pubic hair is like nature’s way of keeping things balanced.
My favorite reason for why we have pubic hair, though, is sensation. At the bottom of each little hair follicle, there is a nerve ending. When you brush across each hair, it sends a little sensation down the shaft to that nerve ending. These are different from other nerve endings that we have on our skin for pressure and temperature. All of these sensations are registered together in the brain, the result being the feeling of light touch. Pubic hair doesn’t keep you from feeling the skin underneath, which is stimulated with a firmer touch, so you can have both. Shaving completely, however, reduces your sensations to just the nerves on the surface of the skin and you miss out on a wider range of stimulation. Not to mention you can no longer enjoy when your partner might tug or even blow warm air across your bush.
Interestingly, pubic hair is part of what designates a person as having reached sexual maturity. It’s the flag that says “I’m an adult who is sexually ready” rather than the bareness that exists before puberty hits. Think about how your ideas about what is sexy and how they have been shaped by what you have seen. I am not opposed to cleaning up the area and being well-coiffed. Certainly clipping hair, shaving around the edges to give it definition and shape, or trimming the length can make things more comfortable both in an out of clothes. I just think it’s a shame to shave completely and miss out not only on the health benefits, but the sensual benefits as well.
