"Pubic hair marked a woman's sexual desire, her erotic passion: To show it was beyond all bounds of modesty."
The Battle of the Pubes
I was on Facebook posting a list of things that make me happy and one of the things that I included on this list was pubic hair. Most of my Facebook friends did not comment on this, but a few questioned me further as to what I meant. I explained that pubic hair varies from person to person and it is this thing that I think is just really cool. As a former art student I did a drawing for my life drawing class that emphasized the model's pubic hair. During the class critique the professor asked students to comment on it and several of them stated that it made them uncomfortable to see the pubic hair emphasized. What gives with this? What is it about pubic hair that makes people uncomfortable or grossed out?
I find it interesting how much emphasis is put on pubic hair in our society. Most women's magazines focus on grooming of pubic hair and how it should be neat and tidy. Where does this idea stem from exactly? I found a couple of amazing resources on the internet regarding this topic. One article published on the Huffington Post talked about the disappearance of pubic hair. This article points out that porn magazines started having models shave their pubic area to better expose the genitals for shots and that readers responded by wanting to see that in their significant others. This article also discusses how this affects everyone, even women about to give birth who will have their pubes waxed right before delivery because they do not want everyone seeing them with pubic hair. I recall a scene in Sex in the City where the girls make fun of Miranda's character because she wears a swimsuit and has pubic hair exposed and her lack of waxing means that she must not be getting laid.
The other article I found highlighted having your pubic hair waxed into different styles. The author decided to do an informal poll of her male friends and they all stated that they wanted pubic hair short and trimmed. A couple of them preferred no pubic hair at all and none of them wanted a "bush" or large, unruly amounts of pubic hair. So what is one to do about their pubic hair?
It is my opinion that everyone should decide what makes them happy in regards to the cut and styling of their pubic hair. If someone wants to rock an untrimmed bush then they should be able to do that. Our society should not make people feel ashamed of their pubic hair. If someone wants to wax their pubes into shapes then that's their business. So what to do if you start to go down on a partner and have issues with their pubic hair? Well you should probably handle that conversation with sensitivity for starters. I have never had a problem communicating with partners about their pubic hair or vice versa. I waxed everything off one time and a former partner did not like that at all and certainly had no hesitation letting me know in a very respectful way that it made this person feel weird and that it was painful to have oral sex when the hair started growing back. It can be a fun thing to discuss pubic hair likes and dislikes with your partner and open up communication. But in the end it is your pubic hair and you should decide what way you like it.