The practice of removing female body hair is not new, it can be traced back to ancient Rome and Egypt. Some of the first razors, made of copper, were used in Egypt and India around 3000 BCE. Egyptian women removed their head hair and considered pubic hair uncivilized.
Brazilian waxes, a beauty treatment consisting of removing all pubic hair, became a standard by the '80s. It is reported that the first full body waxing experience was first offered in the U.S. in 1987.
Pubis Shaving
In the 1980s, they were now encouraged on trimming and even to do a thorough shave. During this period, videos and images of women who had a shaved pubis were in circulation through fashion photography, which made women give it a thought.
Later in history, in Ancient Greece and Rome, it was considered uncivilized to have pubic hair, so men and women used tools to pluck the hairs individually or singed them off with fire. Other forms of hair removal included razors, sharpened stones, and even forms of depilatory cream.
During the 1950s, hair removal became more publically accepted. Since many depilatory creams were still irritating to the skin, women relied on razors to shaver their legs and underarms and tweezers to groom and shape their eyebrows.
There was shaving and tweezing, of course, but there were also more dangerous methods. These ranged from caustic depilatories made of arsenic and quicklime to surgeon's needles dipped in carbolic acid or nitrate of silver. Below are just a few Victorian options for hair removal (not to be tried at home!).
Pubic hair removal is common — approximately 80 percent of women ages 18 to 65 report they remove some or all of their pubic hair.
Weiss speculates that one of the main reasons that human beings uniquely evolved a “thick bush of wiry hair” around their genital regions is its visual signaling of sexual maturation. (It also likely serves as a primitive odor trap and aids in the wafting of human pheromones.)
Removing pubic hair may therefore make a person more susceptible to common infections, such as UTIs, vaginitis, and yeast infections. Hair removal can also irritate your skin, leading to skin infections such as cellulitis and folliculitis. In other cases, grooming-related injuries, such as cuts, could become infected.
Laser hair removal or electrolysis
Laser hair removal and electrolysis are both considered “permanent” methods to denude pubes: both eliminate hair follicles so hair doesn't grow back.
In the 1920s, the new fashion for sleeveless tops and short dresses meant that the legs and armpits of American women were now visible in social situations, and advertisers seized the opportunity to encourage women to shave their legs and their armpits.
According to the book "The body project", women started shaving their legs in the 1920's when skirts became shorter.
Bacteria can cling to hair. In the vaginal area, that is both a good thing and a bad thing. You need your good vaginal bacteria to prevent an overgrowth of yeast, but when bacteria mix with the sweat and oil on your pubic hair, it can produce a smell.
Protection from bacteria and other pathogens
It follows that pubic hair may protect against certain infections, including: cellulitis. sexually transmitted infections (STIs) urinary tract infections (UTIs)
You really don't need to remove your pubic hair for any health reasons, sexual or otherwise, other than perhaps decreasing odor from sweat. When it comes down to it, pubic hair grooming is a personal preference.
Everyone has some hair in the area between their butt crack. This hair wicks away moisture and protects the sensitive skin around your anus.
A combination of polls shows that 80 to 90 percent of women prefer some amount of grooming for starters. Only 10 to 20 percent prefer guys with a completely unkempt bush; this means that going wild below the waist is not the default look. It may require less work, but you're not playing the odds.
When the hair wicks sweat off the skin (to keep you dry and cool), it collects, along with pheromones and bacteria, in that area. "The hair traps the smell," Michael Cackovic, M.D., an ob/gyn at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF.
As a cyclist, you don't want a wild, unbridled mane of pubic hair because it can trap sweat and odor, or add additional saddle sore-causing friction.
The Victorian Period (And Beyond)
From the 1890s to the early 1980s, people used sanitary belts, which basically were reusable pads that attached to a belt worn around the waist – and yes, they were as uncomfortable as they sound.
Culturally, the Chinese consider it bad luck to alter their physical appearance in any way. Women in the U.S. have been on quite a roller coaster ride when it comes to their armpit hair, or lack thereof, over the past century.
Long hair was considered desirable but it had to be worn properly in public in order to be considered respectable. In the 1830's young girls were expected to wear their hair up when the reached the age of 15/16.
Answer From Mary Marnach, M.D. There's no medical or hygienic reason for removing some or all of your pubic hair. But the removal process can be painful and cause many side effects, including: Genital itching, sometimes severe.
In most cases, the color of your pubic hair is closest to the natural color of your eyebrows. Throughout life, the melanin in your body decreases. This makes hair lighter and eventually grows gray, both on the head and in the pubic area.
Marc Glashofer, a dermatologist and fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, claims that the texture of pubic hair tends to be thicker and more coarse than hair on the rest of our body because of its origins as a buffer. “It prevents friction during intercourse that can cause skin abrasion and rashes,” he says.