I am not a guy, but I do like women, so I’ll weigh on on that portion of the question. I like women to be shaved or trimmed. I like men to be trimmed–a guy with a completely hair-free pubic area looks odd to me–but I would never presume to dictate to anyone how they should style their pubes. It’s your hair, and however you want to wear it is cool with me. I shave or trim mine, but as I’ve never had much in the way of body hair, anyway, it doesn’t much matter.
I don’t mind pubic hair, but yeah, shaved or trimmed.
Hijack: how does everyone handle theirs? I hate waxing with a passion 
For shaving, I use a fresh, triple-blade razor (either Gillette Venus or Schick Extreme 3) and shaving cream made for dry or sensitive skin. Exfoliate the day before, then shave a small section at a time, once with the grain and then once against. After shaving, rinsing, and gently patting dry, I apply clear aloe gel and then hang around as long as possible letting the area air-dry thoroughly. For trimming, I use a lady’s trimmer and just tidy up the longish bits.
I handle waxing very well, but I don’t want to try it there.
First I never said anything about shaving your pubes causing emotional scarring. More like itching, red bumps and ingrown hairs.
Second, I am fully aware that the reason I shave my legs and armpits is due to societal pressure and the fashion industry and I am not terribly overjoyed about it, but since my armpits and legs are seen by the public (during the summer months) I conform. (There are some interesting threads here about when and why pit and leg shaving started.)
Anyway back to your analogy: There a huge difference: armpits and legs are parts of your body that are regularly and publicly exposed (during warm weather, and if you’re not Muslim!) They are not your genitals.
And everyone wears clothes, right? So to some extent most of us follow basic fashion trends to fit in amongst everyday society, because your clothes are visible to everyone. The fashion industry is not exactly the same as the porn industry. (This should be obvious.)
I’m not comfortable with the fact that due to the fact that shaved pubes became the norm in porn to allow for better penetration shots → then boys would grow up thinking that was normal → then women felt pressure to conform to be considered sexy.
I honestly don’t care either way, but that’s not to say I don’t prefer a bit trimmed. I guess my favorite way wouls be a “landing strip,” but as someone else said, I’m not going to hoist up my pants and leave if it’s anything but that. Full bush, no bush, landing strip, racing strip, even a hitler, doesn’t bother me, do what you want with your pubes. Bit merely from an oral sex standpoint, at the very least a bit trimmed makes it so much easier to perform, and helps to reduce the “pube stuck in the back of the throat” problem. 
I do kind of think guys who shave their moustaches and beards off look kind of prepubescent, now that you mention it.
*He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. *
-Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, scene 1
The title says it all. 
I like women to have hairs on their legs, too.
In descending order of preference:
• Never shaved anything, or not in a really long time
• Shaved until fairly recently, then quit (thicker hairs, coarser ends)
• Shaved until 4-5 days ago, then quit (short prickly hairs)
• Shaved 5 minutes ago (possible irritated follicles, no hairs)
• Shaved 10 hours ago (coarse skin, slightly red & swollen)
• Shaved 36 hours ago (skritchy stubble everywhere, eeeew)
You know, assaulting your skin with a razor on a regular basis isn’t the kindest thing you could do for it. (Of waxing I shall not even endeavor to speak).
Are you freaking kidding me? It’s a vagina. Unless there’s some horrible smell, rash, pus, etc. I guarantee you no normal young heterosexual man exploring the outer borders of sexuality will react with anything even distantly approaching disgust.
Fifteen years of porn ain’t got nothin’ on a few million years of evolution.
I shave my legs not because of fashion, but because I feel they look and FEEL better. When you’re lying in bed, it’s nice to feel freshly shaved skin sliding against the sheets. Same with armpits.
But like I said, I draw the line at my girly bits. It’s just too much of a hassle.
Actually, it’s a vulva. Just doing my part to help stop ignorance. It’s a common mistake, but I have decided to try and “fix it” as best I can.
Assertions are not facts.
Men and women have been shaving or depilating their bumpy bits throughout all of recorded history, for any number of reasons.
It’s the norm in the Islamic world for men and women to shave down there, and they certainly didn’t pick it up from Jenna Jameson.
It’s bizarre to think that people are pressured by pornographers to modify their grooming habits. Pubic grooming styles change of their own accord, and always have. Pornography reflects these styles in the same way that it reflects changing hairstyles farther north.
People have been waxing, shaving, sugaring, trimming, and styling their goodies for thousands of years, long before anyone was concerned with getting a clear penetration shot.
Not true! I started to shave mine all on my own. The truth is, most girls I know say they find their pubes nasty and just want to get rid of them. And these girls don’t watch porn. Porn for the most part is directed at middle-aged men, not teenage girls who are thinking about shaving. Therefore I doubt if we’re influenced in any way by these standards. Just helping out.
Leg shaving, also causes itching, red bumps and ingrown hairs for some people. But most do it anyway and eventually overcome the discomfort and adjust. Try shaving your face every day. It hurt like an SOB when I first started but my skin soon adjusted to the ritual. Without providing TMI, all body parts do.
So succumbing to fashion industry pressure is acceptable but sex industry pressure, not. Care to elaborate exactly why?
It is not in fact obvious. Just cuz porn is marginalized doesn’t make it more wrong than the fashion industry stereotypes. If you want to apply your value judgement on the subject then that’s fine. But that’s your values. Don’t project them on some vague group of men and women who may choose to follow a different trend and who don’t view porn as something immoral or counter cultural.
Look… Why be disingenuous? Women want to attract men and vice versa. People are guilty of all sorts of physical modifications in the pursuit of attracting the best mate possible. From neck stretching rings, to lip, ear and nose adornmets, to surgical enhancements of all kinds for both sexes. In the grand scheme of things, shaving the pubic area seems hardly the kind of thing that warrants this level of militant objection.
For those of you women that have trouble shaving down there, fearing nicks & cuts, my wife loves the Shick “Silk Effects” razor. It has fine wires crossing the blade that makes it very difficult to catch & nick.
She also swears by a shave cream called “Coochie” (no link - sorry). It’s available at places that sell sex stuff and, of course, over the internet. It’s expensive but you don’t use that much at a time.
My tastes? My wife used to au-natural but started to shave maybe a year or two ago. I think I prefer her shaved. If she decided to stop, I’d be OK with that too but I think I’d suggest that she just trim back every now and then… a little grooming.
Why? It’s a turn-on for me to see her private bits, I guess, rather than an amorphous blur of dark fur. It’s also, frankly, easier to go down on her. She also says she has increased sensations.
$.02 - B
The boyish bits can definately feel better sliding against sheets, so I susspect girly bits can do to. Shaving is all about how you feel the area looks and feels, it shouldn’t be about what other people expect of you. Personally close cropped seems best in most situations for me, I wouldn’t expect anyone else to have exactly the same feelings or reasons.
I would appreciate if pseudo-psychologists wouldn’t try and associate their own petty neurosis with what I do or do not do with my own bodily hair or how I feel about what others do with their own hair. Thank you very much.
Well, that’s fine-I hope you don’t think I’m suggesting that. I just hate it when people say, “Eeeeew, pubes!” if a woman has even a little bit of growth.
Sorry Guinastasia I definately didn’t feel you were suggesting that. My second paragraph was said on bahalf of your very reasonable position (and I hope my reasonable position). I see it didn’t get coomunicated very weel My Bad.
Oh, I also wanted to make a suggestion. For irritation and razor bumps after shaving, I use a medicated cream called Bikini Zone. I got it from Walmart, and it works quite well.
My wife has left her “personal” grooming for a couple of weeks and it’s looking a bit unkempt down there. Having said that I’m not about to turn her down becaus e of it.