We Have Pubic Hair For A Reason

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source: KevinMD

The war on pubic hair must end


I must have missed the declaration of war on pubic hair.

It must have happened sometime in the last decade because the amount of time, energy, money and emotion both genders spend on abolishing every hair from their genitals is astronomical. The genital hair removal industry, including medical professionals who advertise their specialty services to those seeking the “clean and bare” look, is exponentially growing.

But why pick on the lowly pubic hair? A few sociological theories suggest it has to do with cultural trends spawned by bikinis and thongs, certain hairless actors and actresses, a desire to return to childhood, a misguided attempt at hygiene or being more attractive to a partner. Surely human beings are not so naïve as to be susceptible to fashion trends and biases.

It is a sadly misconceived war. Long ago surgeons figured out that shaving a body part prior to surgery actually increased rather than decreased surgical site infections. No matter what expensive and complex weapons are used—razor blades, electric shavers, tweezers, waxing, depilatories, electrolysis—hair, like crab grass, always grows back and eventually wins. In the mean time, the skin suffers the effects of the scorched battlefield.

Pubic hair removal naturally irritates and inflames the hair follicles left behind, leaving microscopic open wounds. Rather than suffering a comparison to a bristle brush, frequent hair removal is necessary to stay smooth, causing regular irritation of the shaved or waxed area. 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, namely group A streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus and its recently mutated cousin methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA). There is an increase in staph boils and abscesses, necessitating incisions to drain the infection, resulting in scarring that can be significant. It is not at all unusual to find pustules and other hair follicle inflammation papules on shaved genitals.

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.

Some clinicians are finding that freshly shaved pubic areas and genitals are also more vulnerable to herpes infections due to the microscopic wounds being exposed to virus carried by mouth or genitals. It follows that there may be vulnerability to spread of other STIs as well.

Pubic hair does have a purpose, providing cushion against friction that can cause skin abrasion and injury, protection from bacteria and other unwanted pathogens, and is the visible result of long awaited adolescent hormones, certainly nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about.

It is time to declare a truce in the war on pubic hair, and allow it to stay right where it belongs. We owe it to our patients to encourage them to let it be.
 
Now that I back living in a hot place it just feels SO good shave clean and I am very careful and that hair creates a LOT of heat and YES when I was in the cold I would let it GROW...
 
Man I remember fucking a long haired scrangly ass pussy bitch, and her hairs actually cut the shit out of my joint. Smh, yall can have that shit.. Not to mention how folks used to get crabs and shit.
 
source: AlterNet

5 Unintended Consequences of America's War on Pubic Hair



As more and more women (and men) are expected to get rid of their pubic hair, it's time to look at some of the negative effects.


America's merciless war on pubic hair continues, with hair removal -- a trim or totally bald -- growing in popularity across gender and age groups, especially among the young: a recent study by the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University found that the younger the woman the more likely she was to wax or shave all of her pubic hair. Meanwhile, alarmed health providers and researchers have launched a counter-offensive, publicizing the wide variety of nasty health effects. Here are 5 unintended consequences of our battle against pubes.


1)The Spread of STI’s: The universe has decided humans need more ways to exchange diseases during sex. Earlier this year, a French médecin observed a surge of pube-less patients bespotted with the Molluscum contagiousm virus (MVC). The dermatologist concluded the MCV was spread amongst people who had shorn their pubic hair with razors carrying the virus (from a different part of their body), and/or bumped hairless uglies with MCV carriers. “Long ago, surgeons figured out that shaving a body part prior to surgery actually increased rather than decreased surgical site infections”, wrote Emily Gibson M.D.

Skin, especially the soft epidermis of your nether regions, is made vulnerable when hair is yanked out, or burned, slashed, or pruned off. “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, namely group A streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus and its recently mutated cousin methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA)”, as well as herpes.

2) Injuries: Recently, the journal Urology reported that pubic hair removal injuries increased fivefold between 2002 and 2010! A bit of unsolicited advice- when wielding blades around your genitals avoid going all Edward Scissorhands on yourself; 83% of those wounds were suffered from shaving (and only 56.7% of those reported injuries came from ladies). The study cites lacerations as the most common injury, with rashes coming in second. The report also describes “... the use of the shaving cream lid to control bleeding from a vaginal cut, self-circumcision with scissors, slip and fall on a razor with external genital injury, use of a razor to incise genital lesions, razor handle assault by another person, ritualistic genital cutting, and shaving skin over a spider bite” as some of the anomalous injuries sustained from hacking at the hedges. The study advises self-groomers “don’t shave while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” Where’s the fun in that? Booooo. Also, do not shave and drive. Like this Floridian (of course) woman.

Severe infections have been hospitalizing the hairless as well: after two separate incidents of women being rushed to the ER due to infections from their Brazilian waxes, the state of New Jersey considered banning the service in 2009. A diabetic woman in Australia nearly died from the life threatening bacterial infection incurred by her Brazilian wax.

3) The expense: In its comprehensive piece about the fiscal cost of being a lady with lady problems and lady expenses, Jezebel wrote that waxes are a conservative $35 (plus tip). I found they were typically between $45-$65, or more. For those that prefer to mow their labia lawn the old fashioned way, $15.95 a month is the estimated cost of shaving supplies, in addition to “soothing gels” and ingrown hair/razor burns solutions. Don’t worry dudes! When enjoying your Dr. Pepper Ten or sipping on Pepsi Max, you too can spend your money on genital vanity. Brands once solely associated with women’s grooming have created products for men. “Who wears short shorts?” You do, bro. Salons are eager to manicure your manhood, offering services like Bliss Spa’s “the Ultimate He-Wax” (!) for a mere $125 (for the record, I think it’s masochistic to seek a brazilian wax from a place called “Bliss”).

4) The Message: 30% of the women wounded in the aforementioned Urology report were under the age of 18. Apparently, for teen girls to appear more grownup, they must look more...preadolescent. What messages are we subliminally sending girls as this body modification becomes normative? Will they develop body-hairexia to round out the rich catalog of pervasive body image and gender issues that dictate “femininity” in pop culture (like talented, well-respected, renaissance woman Kim Kardashian who has demurely purred that she is completely hairless)? Anyone who hasn’t completely blocked out the emotional scars from that hormonal hellscape known as adolescence remembers that being perceived as “abnormal” is the social kiss of death. Will peer pressure teach girls that their vaginas are naturally ugly if follicle-y dense? Girls as young as EIGHT YEARS OLD are getting waxed, and last July one salon ran a deal offering 50% off the first wax for any girl 15 years old or under! “Celebrate freedom and independence all July”, the advertisement demanded. From what, the nascent stages of puberty? HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! Your middle schoolers can now get their pubes ripped out, suck it Red Coats! Lastly, let’s not forget that the appeal of the bare vagine (in America at least) was its aesthetic emulation of pornography.

5) Depriving yourself of pubes deprives you of their Darwinian advantage: Hey, guess what?! Your bush is not vestigial! It has several functions, should you let it be. Pubes are “pheronmone diffusers”- they “trap” pheromones and help you get laid. High five! And once you and your partner begin your motion in the ocean, the hair acts as a soft buffer to keep you from rubbing each others skin off. As mentioned previously, your private hair also protects your genitals from viruses and dirt and all the other the scary business of the outside world.
 
This really depends on the woman's hair texture. "Short kinky hair" can feel like a brush while straighter hair is barely noticeable.

I've found short hairs if kinky (2nd or 3rd day after her shaving) can irritate and even cut. So for me its either cleanly shaved or bushy.

BTW I think shaving became popular when cameras were added to cell phones.
 
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