A Whole New Bald Game
I've noticed some things vanishing from the North American landscape; namely, phone booths, drinking fountains, and pubic hair on women. Phone booths I understand, drinking fountains I chalk up to cost of upkeep, but why the hair down there?
--Bemused
Trends in hair removal seem to follow trends in fashion. Starting around 2000, ultra low-rise jeans were in, but looking like you had a furry little pet peeking out from them was not. With the growth of Internet porn, and porn culture merging into mainstream culture, women started wearing underwear the size of a postage stamp. (If a woman doesn't at least prune the edges of the hedges she'll look like she's wearing a doily over a bearskin rug.)
Many people favor going mowed or bare because it seems "more hygienic," and because you don't have to make your way through the bramble to get to the good parts. There are men who are creeped out by a woman in her 30s who looks like she has yet to hit puberty. But, according to my research, most women under 30 at least trim, and a good many opt for totally barenaked ladyparts. Many men, especially younger men, trim, and a few go for the full-bare "boyzilian." Eek. Some women and men are even making the hairless downstairs a permanent thing with laser hair removal. They seem to be forgetting that fashions change. Just as all those ugly '70s styles came back, the 'fro down below could eventually be in again...good news, I suppose, for people who sell press-on goatees and dermatologists in the business of installing hair plugs.
I'll bet that guy who almost lost a testicle for sweet charity's sake has a new opinion of hair removal.
Pricklypear at June 22, 2010 5:01 PM
There are men who are creeped out by a woman in her 30s who looks like she has yet to hit puberty
I've never understood this argument. I'm in my 30s and I shave my face, does this make me look like a man who is yet to hit puberty? If it were up to me I'd shave once a week (and probably a Spike Milligan 'rough cut/trim to stubble' at that) but women seem to prefer my skin smooth. What's the difference?
I can confidently say I've never been confused between a woman's shaved or waxed vagina and a little girl running round without her pants on.
Ltw at June 23, 2010 7:52 AM
I should add, no I don't trim or wax the shrubbery myself. But I have pretty light body hair so it's never been an issue. If it mattered to someone I cared about, I would do it.
Ltw at June 23, 2010 8:00 AM
Ltw - It's all societal convention. In our culture hairless genitals signal a pre-pubescent person, and that perception has not changed just because some people take it all off.
If you like that look, then you like that look, don't try to justify it with silly comparisons.
Mattie at June 23, 2010 8:27 AM
"If it were up to me I'd shave once a week (and probably a Spike Milligan 'rough cut/trim to stubble' at that) but women seem to prefer my skin smooth. What's the difference?" - LTW
The difference is that shaving your face once a week will probably make being kissed by you feel like being rubbed with sand paper four or five days of the week. Your facial hair might also not grow in well. I don't know because I can't see your face.
There's nothing WRONG with preferring bare women, but I would also tell you that if you've never actually removed all your pubic hair, don't be so quick to say you would. It can be incredibly uncomfortable.
"In our culture hairless genitals signal a pre-pubescent person" - Mattie
Not really culture so much as biology. People start sprouting hair in different places at puberty. It's the way the human body works. (Yes, there are extreme cases in both directions, I'm speaking in general terms.)
The Original Kit at June 23, 2010 8:46 AM
Yes Mattie, it's all societal convention. That was exactly my point. Societal convention is what drives my desire to shave before a date, and currently the same applies to hairless genitals. You can say the perception hasn't changed - but it has. And as Amy says, maybe that will change again in the future. I don't see how that is a silly comparison.
When did I say I liked that look? I don't believe I expressed a preference either way. I just said I don't see the association with pre-pubescence. Have you got kids or friends who have young girls? Do they really look anything like a grown woman with a hairless pussy?
Ltw at June 23, 2010 8:57 AM
There's nothing WRONG with preferring bare women, but I would also tell you that if you've never actually removed all your pubic hair, don't be so quick to say you would. It can be incredibly uncomfortable.
I'll point you to my previous response where I (hopefully!) made it clearer that I don't have a preference.
And I've been through some pretty intense pain before (unable to walk, unable to breathe, banging on the floor to alert your partner in the middle of the night kind of pain) - if it ever comes up I doubt that pubic hair removal will cross that threshold. 'Uncomfortable' ranks as a minor nuisance.
Ltw at June 23, 2010 9:07 AM
The removal itself can be painful, but it's the assorted regrowth/itchiness/ingrown hair misery afterward that can really make it irritating in every sense of the word. I trim and keep things neat and tidy, but if a partner insisted it had to be bare, I'd be rethinking him.
Anne de Vries at June 23, 2010 11:41 AM
I'd say it's been 75% pro-hair, 25% hairless preference in the guys I've dated over the years. The younger the guy, the more likely he was to prefer hairless, probably because of his porn exposure. Older guys tended to prefer a more natural bush. And one of my friends collects vintage porn so he has some bush to look at, since so much modern porn is clean-shaven. To each his own.
Peggy C at June 23, 2010 11:48 AM
and probably a Spike Milligan 'rough cut/trim to stubble' at that
Wow, Ltw, talk about an old school reference! Also, this is how I'm going to picture you from now on.
NumberSix at June 23, 2010 1:58 PM
ltw . . . thank you!!! I am a curvy woman with big boobs and decidedly gorwn-up hips. No one has ever mistaken me for a 12-year-old since I was, oh, probably younger than 12. I find it highly unlikely that matters of pubic topiary would cause such a mistake.
I wax because I find that bare skin is more sensitive, in a good way. My boyfriend has gotten the "boyzillian" a couple of times (form an actual salon, not a bunch of drunk guys in a bar, as in the news story ref'd above. It's amazing how much difference a little thing like that can make). The first time he did it was kind of on a dare, as some other girls and I were getting waxed, and bet him he couldn't handle it. But then he discovered how much more attention all of his dangly bits got he was a convert (don't get me wrong, I wasn't ignoring things before, but he's a very furry guy. Lack of foliage makes it much easier to concentrate!).
anathema at June 23, 2010 5:12 PM
I have to say that I don't think it's about mistaking a woman for a twelve-year-old. But, for some people, that's what it brings to mind. Those are just people who don't like the completely hairless look. Then there are people who like the look, which is perfectly okay as long as the reason isn't that it does make the woman look twelve. Like Peggy said, to each his own.
I think the more accurate correlation for men would be a hairy chest, not a shaved face. There are men that shave or wax their chests, and there are women that prefer the totally smooth look. It's probably a cultural thing, too, because that's the way the models all look now. Not a chest hair to be found in an Abercrombie ad. But there are women that prefer the hairier chests because, for them, hairy=manly.
All a matter of taste, I think.
NumberSix at June 23, 2010 5:41 PM
Mattie - It's all societal convention. In our culture hairless faces signal a pre-pubescent person, and that perception has not changed just because some people take it all off.
If you like that look, then you like that look, don't try to justify it with silly comparisons.
Right?
Seriously though, anyone confusing a fully mature woman who goes base with a pre pubecenat has issuses with sexuality in general and not with the practice itself.
Technically the hormonal changes of puberty can last into a persons early to mid twenties.
And for those who find the "pre pubecent look" reminicint of pedophillia, I somehow doubt they look all that fondly on post pubecesnt, legally underage girls, who keep their pubic hair having sex either.
For those people its not about the look, the lack of hair, or the age of the woman having sex. Its about the fact that they are HAVING SEX.
Make me wonder if theyve ever had an orgasm
lujlp at June 23, 2010 6:05 PM
Also, this is how I'm going to picture you from now on.
I wear much sillier hats NumberSix :)
Spike always did pretty well with the ladies so I think I'll accept that.
I think the more accurate correlation for men would be a hairy chest, not a shaved face.
Good point, much better comparison - particularly with regard to different women preferring waxed or not. Hairy backs as well.
Anathema - yes, your sort of figure is what I was thinking about when I said the difference is obvious, my ex has the same figure. Hard to miss bald or not.
Ltw at June 24, 2010 1:30 AM
Not to be completely, completely disgusting, but I started going bare right about after I got my period, because blood + hair = not pretty. It's nicer looking, more hygienic, and makes wearing a bathing suit a lot easier. If guys prefer the look then that's just an added bonus; if they don't then too bad!
Shannon at June 24, 2010 3:55 PM
I haven't seen anyone mention it, but I started going bare-down-there every once in awhile, because my husband prefers it when he's engaging in a certain activity down there. I'd rather it be that way too, I want him to touch my skin and not instead get a big ol' mouth fulla hair!
Jess at June 25, 2010 6:45 AM
Personally, I like to have mine bare, but I'm careful not to when my boyfriend is around. I have an hourglass figure and look womanly. However, he doesn't like that because "its just weird, like a little girl". I've said, "Clearly, I don't look like a little girl" but he still finds it a turn-off.
However, he would like a landing strip. I trim regularly, but shaping it is a lot more work than just shaving it all off and I think the "landing strip" looks really stupid. I don't know why guys like it. We compromised: just regularly trimming and shaving the edges, but no shaving it completely off and no landing strip.
Jaclyn at June 25, 2010 7:20 AM
I have always been a trimmer, leaving at least a landing strip. Few years ago went to Tahiti and decided to go 'whole hog' with a Brazilian. Looked stupid. Maybe it was because I had just turned 40. The boyfriend didn't like it either. Said it creeped him out.
That said, there is something to be said for hair, biologically speaking. I have noticed the less fuzz the more sweat. I think the hairs form a wicking action. Also, the ingrowns from waxing can be horrible. Unless you exfoliate (Use Tendskin daily) you can sprout bumps the size of golf balls! Har.
The itching and rash from shaving can defeat whole purpose. Who wants to look at a cooter with bumps all over it?
The whole pubic hair thing is a constant source of misery if ya ask me. I hate a hair pie but keeping it mowed is hell. And I am blessed with blondish, thin, uncourse hair. I can't imagine if I had big black Brillo Pad.
And I worry a whole generation of young men don't even know what a natural woman looks like, thanks to porn.
As for men...please, please, please don't shave the whole body. It's NOT manly. How I loooove some chest hair, treasure trail, etc. A totally hairless man is complete turn-off. I would not even date a guy second time if he was a shaver. It's 'gay' to me. My girlfriends agree.
donna at June 25, 2010 10:22 AM
I get the edges waxed because it looks great for a long time, and there are no painful bumps and ingrown hairs. For the middle part, I use an electric shaver and use the edge trimmer to keep things very trimmed. It's nice and tidy for my guy, and not painful for me (other than the 1 second of the waxing!)
My guy trims his area too, as it's nicer for me when I've got my face down there, and it makes everything look bigger (he likes that).
Chrissy at June 26, 2010 7:52 AM
"The boyfriend didn't like it either. Said it creeped him out."
Thing is, you hear enough people brainlessly equate the shaved look with pedophilia, and you'll feel practically 'required' to proclaim it 'creeps you out' - loudly - to keep that label away. Hence the barrage of such comments every time the topic comes up; claims of creepiness are simply not rational.
"And I worry a whole generation of young men don't even know what a natural woman looks like, thanks to porn."
I'm pretty sure it has less to do with porn and more to do with the fact that most *actual* flesh-n-blood young women go bare nowadays as the 'norm'. I watched a TONNE of porn in my younger days, believe me, and yet because my first few flesh-n-blood girlfriends were hairy, I simply and totally unthinkingly assumed a full bush to be normal and expected. It was only when I had my first 'smooth' girlfriend that I realised how sexy and awesome shaved is, and now I prefer women that way. For today's generation of boys, their first actual sexual experiences will be with smooth women and so that will be what is implanted in their brains as the 'norm'.
Lobster at June 27, 2010 3:55 PM
My wife of 42 is going to get lasered and go completely smooth. It is sexier for both of us and we love the look. a mature woman with a completely smooth pussy is so sexy and has all to do with the erotic nature of it being a little outside the norm. When I do look at porn, smooth women are so much more of a turn on that hairy, even a landing strip (but that is my opinion only).
troy at August 1, 2010 4:45 AM
I'm an average well adjusted male that doesn't waste his life sitting in front of a television for 99999 hours each week. The reason I don't "space out" in front of a TV is because I don't think damaging my brain with commercials and stupid shows that were created only make us want to buy crap we don't need is a healthy thing to do.
I also don't download and watch hundreds of porn films, like so many other stupid men do. Therefore, I have also not accidentally brainwashed myself into believing that that the "ideal woman" is some barely legal child with dyed blonde hair. An adult-infant with no breasts or hips. Who due to lack of life experience is too innocent to know that only people outside of porn performer that are having weird gangbang or group sex are late 40 and early 50 year olds in a swingers club. And that the female swingers tend to be over-weight and the majority of the men only have a 6 inch penis or less. Furthermore a 10 man swingers gangbang tends to only last 30 minutes because most normal men can't maintain an errection like the sex machines in the films.
So let me make it clear. I like vaginal hair on a woman. Because it lets me know I'm with a real woman and not some plastic barbie doll wannabe chasing the fads and trying to look like this week's popstar.
I like to have sex with a woman that has enough brains to use her money wisely. She doesn't waste 50 dollars each month of her hard earned money having some esthetician torture her vagina. She is well aware that if need be, a pair of scissors and a comb will take care of any problems. And as far as the hygene argument goes, she understands why soap was invented and uses it daily to keep herself clean.
Therefore since I'm an average man with an average penis and not some fantasist, allow me to add a little bit of fuel to fire of this topic by expressing what I have learned by experience of "bald pussies."
A woman's vagina that has been ripped, stripped and tortured each month by hot waxings, razor burns, etc. eventually becomes desensitised. And the reason that these women brag about how great oral sex is due to the fact that normal penetration by an average man stops doing anything for them. Their partner needs to have a penis of 12 inches or more before she can feel what is being put inside her.
Since nature didn't bless me with an elephant trunk between my legs. I'm very happy to accept a little "hair pie" in my sexual diet. Because the benefits are considerable of being intimate with woman who's sexuality comes from within and not some billboard-music-video-television-fashion trend.
Thank you
Mark at September 12, 2010 3:31 AM
I'm an average well adjusted male that doesn't waste his life sitting in front of a television for 99999 hours each week. The reason I don't "space out" in front of a TV is because I don't think damaging my brain with commercials and stupid shows that were created only make us want to buy crap we don't need is a healthy thing to do.
I also don't download and watch hundreds of porn films, like so many other stupid men do. Therefore, I have also not accidentally brainwashed myself into believing that that the "ideal woman" is some barely legal child with dyed blonde hair. An adult-infant with no breasts or hips. Who due to lack of life experience is too innocent to know that only people outside of porn performer that are having weird gangbang or group sex are late 40 and early 50 year olds in a swingers club. And that the female swingers tend to be over-weight and the majority of the men only have a 6 inch penis or less. Furthermore a 10 man swingers gangbang tends to only last 30 minutes because most normal men can't maintain an errection like the sex machines in the films.
So let me make it clear. I like vaginal hair on a woman. Because it lets me know I'm with a real woman and not some plastic barbie doll wannabe chasing the fads and trying to look like this week's popstar.
I like to have sex with a woman that has enough brains to use her money wisely. She doesn't waste 50 dollars each month of her hard earned money having some esthetician torture her vagina. She is well aware that if need be, a pair of scissors and a comb will take care of any problems. And as far as the hygene argument goes, she understands why soap was invented and uses it daily to keep herself clean.
Therefore since I'm an average man with an average penis and not some fantasist, allow me to add a little bit of fuel to fire of this topic by expressing what I have learned by experience of "bald pussies."
A woman's vagina that has been ripped, stripped and tortured each month by hot waxings, razor burns, etc. eventually becomes desensitised. And the reason that these women brag about how great oral sex is due to the fact that normal penetration by an average man stops doing anything for them. Their partner needs to have a penis of 12 inches or more before she can feel what is being put inside her.
Since nature didn't bless me with an elephant trunk between my legs. I'm very happy to accept a little "hair pie" in my sexual diet. Because the benefits are considerable of being intimate with woman who's sexuality comes from within and not some billboard-music-video-television-fashion trend.
Thank you
mark at September 12, 2010 3:33 AM
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