To Shave or Not to Shave?

Young people supposedly get rid of pubic hair mostly out of practical and hygienic reasons and increasingly for aesthetic reasons as well.

Our bodies are covered by hair

The human body is covered by about six million hairs. This includes hair on our heads. 90 percent of this hair is in a state of constant growth, while the other ten percent is dormant. All hair grows at the same rate: one centimeter a month. Some hair gets tired of this and slows down. And the longer it is, the slower it grows. Other hair is very persistent though. The one on your head and on the pubic area, for example. If you do not cut this hair, the hair gives up in about six years, or when it reaches a hundred and ten centimeters in length. Experts say that eyebrow hair, eyelash hair and hair on your arms, legs and chest hardly ever reaches more than two centimeters in size. The hair covering your pubic area is a different matter altogether.

Pubic hair is 'out' with young people

Modern analyses, which deal with the sexual habits of young people and are used to find out what the key elements in sexual attraction are, show that removing hair on the intimate parts of the body is becoming a real trend. Young people supposedly get rid of pubic hair mostly out of practical and hygienic reasons, but ever increasingly for aesthetic reasons as well, meaning that they wish to increase their sexual attraction.

The results in American polls have surprised people by stating that women are more sloppy than men in this respect. Men find it easier to keep their intimate parts hygienically sound, but they do not do it often enough. Women, on the other hand, do it more often, but are not thorough enough. Cosmetics experts say that pubic hair is similar to that under the armpits. The substances that are excreted during perspiration create a combination of smells, which is supposed to arouse the opposite sex in its most primitive essence. But as it is commonly known, these smells in many cases repel most civilized people. So why risk it, probably thinks the young generation, who ever increasingly looks to razors, electric shavers and depilatories to take care of the areas below the belt.

Shaved pubic hair has erotic undertones

Shaving pubic hair, which was once a condition for maintaining intimate hygiene and the easiest way to get rid of crab lice, has been acquiring an erotic undertone nowadays. Concrete results, for example, show that only six percent of women between the ages of 18 and 35 stay natural, 34 percent occasionally trim their pubic hair with scissors or a shaver, 31 percent frequently get rid of excess pubic hair and as many as 28 percent of those women frequently shave or get waxed until their intimate area is totally smooth.

Read more about intimate hairdo in the Encyclopedia of Sexuality.