# Another adolescent question, this time about pubic hair. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 29, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361 "2014-07-29T21:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/1 "2014-07-29T21:08:14Z")
Another adolescent question, this time about pubic hair. I noticed in the docu-drama \*Xingu \*that none of the natives had any significant pubic hair. I dismissed it as something done by the director and make-up people. Then I remembered at university male classmates who were native usually didn’t have to shave. Hence this adolescent question, do full blood American aborigines have significant pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/2 "2014-07-29T21:56:26Z")
No they have none. Until they mix with other races, then they get to shave. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/3 "2014-07-29T22:07:14Z")
> [@MrsTime](#): > > No they have none. Until they mix with other races, then they get to shave. This is incorrect. Where are you getting this from? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/4 "2014-07-29T23:31:35Z")
> [@MrsTime](#): > > No they have none. Until they mix with other races, then they get to shave. I first took this as a serious reply. Then I noticed the phrase ‘’ … get to shave … ‘’. This was a facetious reply, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/5 "2014-07-30T01:28:07Z")
A bit breezy in here… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/6 "2014-07-30T01:49:12Z")
Native Americans (as well as some East Asians) often have much less body hair that people from other areas. However, as far as I know they still retain at least some axillary and pubic hair. The complete absence of pubic hair among females along the Xingu is due to shaving or plucking. This site states that Xingu women shave their vaginal areas when they reach puberty. (Spoilered as NSFW) [Adventures all around the world: July 2012](http://travelsz.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html) Per [this reference](http://etnolinguistica.wdfiles.com/local--files/hsai%3Avol3p321-348/vol3p321-348_upper_xingu.pdf) on the Xingu: > [@](#): > > Plucking all body hair is customary, although Camayura and Nahukwa men sometimes keep their moustache and beard, and Suya men do not pluck pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/7 "2014-07-30T05:24:53Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This is incorrect. Where are you getting this from? From the Natives I have known both in the US and Canada. The purer the native the less hair he has everywhere except his head. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/8 "2014-07-30T10:02:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > This site states that Xingu women shave their vaginal areas when they reach puberty. (Spoilered as NSFW) I blame internet porn ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-adolescent-question-this-time-about-pubic-hair/694361/9 "2014-07-30T18:07:58Z")
> [@MrsTime](#): > > From the Natives I have known both in the US and Canada. The purer the native the less hair he has everywhere except his head. Saying that some “full blooded” Native Americans have less pubic hair than most people of European descent is as correct as a generalization can be - IOW, not very. One would have to be much more specific to get a truely correct answer. For instance, it would be true to say that, on average, the Cherokee found in North Georgia had less body and facial hair than a Spaniard. “Native American” and “European” are far too broad to compare to each other. It’s kind of like saying “Apes are larger than monkeys” - on average that’s probably true, but there are many specifc cases where it is not. Anecdotally, my grandfather was half Cherokee and had all the “typical” features (he looked like the indian on the buffalo nickel) including very sparse facial and chest hair. His son, my uncle, could pass for a stereotypical southern Italian - full, thick moustache and could grow a beard with the best of them. Me, at 1/8 Cherokee, am much more like my grandfather. I have a moustache, but only because I have not shaved it in 30 years. I can’t grow a full beard, but given several weeks can manage a weak goatee. There is one patch of hair in the middle of my chest. The real answer is “Maybe. It depends. Could you be more specific?”