# shaving the pubes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 1999, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605 "1999-12-24T15:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/1 "1999-12-24T15:21:00Z")
What’s the deal with women shaving their nether regions? How common is it? My question is spurred by the recent millenium issue of Playboy featuring historic playmates from past issues - whereas all of today’s playmates have either very little or no hair down there, all of the other women from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s seem to have had muffs like wool coats. Generally, most naked women one sees in public nowadays are shaven - is this a function of societal fashion (i.e. the public prefers it) or is it for other reasons? Is this just a pornography thing that’s mainly among women in front of a camera or in a strip club? Did men prefer unshaven women in the past? Personally, I can’t say I have a preference either way, but I will say that seeing some of those older pictures is slightly arousing because it’s so uncommon to see that nowadays. I don’t have enough personel experience to come to a conclusion. My last girlfriend did shave, but that was because she was a competitive swimmer and didn’t want to be all hairy underneath the swimsuit. ---
**Author:** ![dlv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dlv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlv)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/2 "1999-12-24T15:42:00Z")
Moslem girls are supposed to shave because the Prophet told them to. (In my very humble opinion, shaving is a bad idea because, unless done diligently, it results in nasty stubble.) ---
**Author:** ![aha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@aha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aha)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/3 "1999-12-24T15:44:00Z")
## Women have been showing more skin since the 60’s…bikni’s thongs, etc…shaving is just one last way to show more skin… Of course that’s just my opinion I could be wrong. Dennis Miller ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/4 "1999-12-24T15:56:00Z")
Shaving is necessary for the new bikinis. Not every woman shaves. Playboys Etc, are NOT the real woman. Duh, those are computer enhanced, cropped and retouched. Plus, woman don’t all say ‘YES!’ like those women do. ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/5 "1999-12-24T15:59:00Z")
Bikinis and one piece swimwear have become more revealing. Even athletic swimwear shows more now. Back in 1976 Hustler had a cover showing a girls region covered by red, white, and blue panties with her pubic hair pushing out of the panties. Hustler was meant to shock, Playboy attempts to put glamour into nudity. Personally, I prefer it shaved. It keeps the odor down and there is just less stuff in the way. But I am getting into serious guy talk now. ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/6 "1999-12-24T16:08:00Z")
Obviously, I’m not saying that women in Playboy are typical of all women. The new issue of the magazine just sparked my curiosity in the question as nearly all of the women from the older issues have a heck of a lot of hair down there. I guess I’m more interested as to whether men’s tastes in the looks of playboy models have changed in the past few decades or if it’s a more general societal trend for all women to shave their pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/7 "1999-12-24T16:40:00Z")
My gorgeous Scandinavian ex-girlfriend once explained to me that while most modern bathing suits can contain the beast, removing some or all of the hair can avert any anxiety about stray hairs poking out. I’ve known several ladies who sport the “Hitler” in order to prevent this. Also, some ultra-sheen light colored bikinis can show off the pubes when wet, despite the extra layer that is usually applied to that area. An untamed forest can also cause an unpleasant looking (to some) rumpling of the fabric in that area. Finally, nobody wants to be accused of not being a natural blonde. [Incidentally, college boys, I had some success at parties by casually mentioning that I had used Nair on myself. Several ladies expressed an immediate interest in seeing what a “shaved” man looks like. Plus, the little guy looks hilarious without his fur coat.] ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/8 "1999-12-24T16:48:00Z")
Actually a long discussion was brewing on this very subject over in MPSIMS. Trying to find it with the search function would be time consuming though. ---
**Author:** ![dlv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dlv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlv)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/9 "1999-12-24T17:59:00Z")
One word: \

Rug Burn!\ (Oops, that’s two words.) ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/10 "1999-12-25T06:52:00Z")
_“Most naked women one sees in public nowadays are shaven”_ ?! Damn, dude, what mall do you shop at? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/11 "1999-12-25T00:50:00Z")
johnnyharvard, because long time back, like the 50’s they couldn’t show pubic hair, later they could but no detail down there, then they could do that, so they shave, either real, or computerized. While you’re reading Playboy for the pictures, the color of everthing down there has been changed. No asshole looks pink. ---
**Author:** ![Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/12 "1999-12-25T10:50:00Z")
funneefarmer - [Shaving pubic hair](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002281.html) * * * …and remember, duct tape fixes _all_ your problems, big and small. [Fun with HTML (tutoral) : The True Sequal](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Archives/Archive-000001/HTML/19991103-2-000302.html) ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/13 "1999-12-25T11:42:00Z")
And a thank-you to Louie for digging that out. I knew it was there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/14 "1999-12-25T19:42:00Z")
So much of this is “fashion” I for one like vulvas covered with thatch in shape of a triangle like in the old days. I also don’t balloon inflated breasts. The NATURAL will one day return as soon as a couple magazines reintroduce thatch and non-inflated boobs. To see these rediculous rectangular shaped hair patterns are not a thing of beauty to me much less all the thatch being shaved. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 1999, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/15 "1999-12-26T16:31:00Z")
I think shave pubes look prepubescent. I dont know where J is looking at women if all he sees in public are pubic shaved women. Women in my city all have clothes on. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/16 "1999-12-27T08:36:00Z")
Last I checked, most on [CA.US](http://CA.US) nude beaches were unshaved. Didn’t check last summer. Mostly fog. Check in the upper right of this photo taken at [Red Rock Beach](http://www.redrockbeach.com/home.html) in Marin County: [http://www.tsoft.net/~raych/rand\_image8.jpg](http://www.tsoft.net/~raych/rand_image8.jpg) Ray (down by the see) ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/17 "1999-12-27T10:23:00Z")
So that’s where you go to unwind, hey Nano ? ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@WhiteNight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhiteNight)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/18 "1999-12-27T13:08:00Z")
There _is_ a convenience issue. Perform oral sex on a shaved and unshaved partner and try to claim otherwise. As for looks… all depends on what you like. I think it depends on your tastes in pornography. Do you prefer to look at soft playboy type pictures, or spread shots like in Hustler? I would imagine that most people who like more … detailed views, prefer shaved crotches. People who don’t look as directly at the genatalia don’t, because they find it crude. I think tastes in pornography are changing. I remember when I was young and a glimpse of a naked female butt was enough to keep me buzzing for weeks. Now, casual nudity being common among my friends (nude swimming, etc) I don’t get that ‘shock’ from simply seeing a nude woman. As nudity, and semi-nudity become more acceptable, I think people will start to prefer harder pornography, because they’ll see everyday what would have been pornographic years ago. Thus, because shaving the crotch esposes the genitals more, especially in women, I imagine more people will like it as time goes on. Plus, it is a lot nicer to play with. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/19 "1999-12-27T16:12:00Z")
I don’t really care what my partner thinks about it, I feel cleaner with it all shaved. I also prefer the way it looks. Actually I find that pubic hair tends to pull and catch and is very uncomfortable. Shave it off and it isn’t a problem anymore. * * * – Teeming Millions: [http://fathom.org/teemingmillions](http://fathom.org/teemingmillions) “Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat O p a l C a t [www.opalcat.com](http://www.opalcat.com) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605/20 "1999-12-27T17:18:00Z")
Im sure pubic hair has some function. Just what function isn’t quite clear. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving-the-pubes/5605.md?page=2)