Should it be there? Should we get rid of all of it or only part of it? Should we feel comfortable to do whatever the hell we want with our genital area and not feel pressure to do what we think would be attractive to men? There is a lot of pressure on women to conform and be ‘normal’ when it comes to hair and the removal of it, but when it comes to pubic hair, what exactly is normal?
Never willing to miss out on a controversial debate, HC Notts spoke to a few university age guys and girls to discuss their views on women and their pubic hair.
How do you feel about girls having pubic hair?
Guy one: As long as it’s not a major bush, I think it’s fine. Major bush would remind me of my mum.
Girl one: What?!
Guy one: Old women have loads of hair, don’t they? I don’t know, all I’m saying is it needs to look like they’ve put in effort. Do what you like, but you don’t want it to look like you haven’t put in any effort.
Girl two: But boys don’t put in any effort, why should we?
Girl one: I don’t know. Some guys trim.
Guy two: I don’t think anyone would want to see bald balls.
Guy one: For some reason, if a girl is not shaven, I automatically think they’re less likely to be clean.
Guy two: In general, I don’t care. Do what you like down there. But if I’m gonna be sleeping with you, I do want it to be pretty much all bald.
Guy three: I don’t have major preferences either way. I’ve heard some guys say “I’d never do anything with a girl if she wasn’t bald down there”, so I guess girls could feel a bit of pressure, which is bad. But I really don’t care as much as girls probably think guys do.
Guy one: To be honest, by the time you realise whether they have hair or not, it’s too late – no matter what they look like.
Girl two: You wouldn’t kick her out of bed?
Guy one: Have I ever kicked anyone out of bed?
[All laugh]
What about if it was shaved in some kind of pattern?
Guy one: Girls do that?
Guy two: Hmm, I’m still saying no. It has to be completely gone for me.
Guy three: That could be interesting. I do like creative girls.
As a sexually active girl, do you think girls should always have to shave down there?
Girl one: No, I think do what you want. There’s a lot of pressure for girls to shave but it’s a lot of effort and to be honest, I don’t have the time really. I’d never go full bush but I probably would go partial bush, purely out of laziness.
Girl two: I don’t see how it can always be perfectly shaved, like after one day it’s started to grow back a bit. Unless you only sleep with your boyfriend once a week, it just isn’t always gonna be completely smooth.
Girl one: I don’t use a razor anyway – I use hair removal cream otherwise you end up with rash.
Guy three: I think I’d use cream if I was a woman.
Do you think the amount of pubic hair makes a difference to which sexual acts you do with someone?
Guy one: Yeah.
Girl two: Yeah, if there’s any amount of face involved you don’t want a bush.
Guy two: There’s an episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ where he’s… doing that on his wife and he gets a pube stuck in his mouth and it’s in the back of his throat for the whole day. That’s scarred me.
Would you ever go for a Brazilian wax?
Girl one: I would do… I never have done though. If I had the money, I definitely would.
Girl two: I don’t know, I’m a bit of a cry baby with pain and couldn’t deal with waiting for it to grow completely back to get it done again.
Girl one: I never ever shave/wax everything off.
Girl two: I do. I think once you’ve started you may as well go the whole way.
Girl one: I think completely bald makes it look like you’re a child. And it’s also unhygienic.
Guy one: I don’t agree with that argument. If I know their age then I know they’re not a child… I can look at their face and other body parts and know they’re not a child, even if they have no hair.
Guy three: Maybe girls should leave evidence they do have pubic hair but they chose to get rid of it – like just leave one long one so we know they’re not a child.
[All laugh] Finally, do you know what a vajazzle is?
Guy three: That sounds like an STI.
Guy one: Yes, it’s where you put sequins round the vagina to make it maybe look slightly better.
Girl one: More like gems, I think.
Guy three: I’ve never heard of that before, but I like the idea.
Girl two: Eugh they’re so tacky. What do you get, like a heart around it?
Guy two: That would put me off. I’d think she probably watches TOWIE and that would put me off her.
Girl one: I would never have one.
Guy two: Not even as a joke?
Girl one: Probably as a joke with my friends, but I can imagine them getting knocked off so easily…
Girl two: And being really itchy!
So there we have it: the views from a few of our fellow students. Do you have any particular views either way? Let us know your opinions!
Edited by Sarah Holmes
Image sources:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/06/why-do-we-still-have-pubic-hair/
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/10/waxing-damned-if-you-do…
http://www.thegorgeousgirlsguide.com/skincare/brazilian-waxing-how-much-…