There is a stigma surrounding pubic hair that makes some women (and men) perceived it as ‘dirty’, and in today’s day and age, women are feeling the pressure to remove it.
A study conducted in America by JAMA Dermatology found that 84% of the women surveyed had groomed their pubic hair, while 62% said that they had removed all of it at some point in their life. 59% of the women who did it said they’d done it for ‘hygiene reasons’.
However, Doctor Emily Gibson has called for an end to the ‘war on pubic hair’, outlining the unhygienic effects of removing hair from waxing or shaving.
“Pubic hair removal naturally irritates and inflames the hair follicles left behind, leaving microscopic open wounds,” she says. “When that irritation is combined with the warm moist environment of the genitals, it becomes a happy culture media for some of the nastiest of bacterial pathogens. There is an increase in staph boils and abscesses, necessitating incisions to drain the infection, resulting in scarring that can be significant.
“Additionally, I’ve seen cellulitis (soft tissue bacterial infection without abscess) of the scrotum, labia, and penis from spread of bacteria from shaving or from sexual contact with strep or staph bacteria from a partner’s skin.”
She goes on to say that some clinicians have found that freshly shaved pubic areas are more susceptible to herpes infections and other STIs.
So in fact, the stigma surrounding pubic hair as ‘dirty’ should actually be reversed!
But when it comes down to it, the way you groom (or don’t groom) your pubic hair is a personal choice, and it should stay that way.
