A new study by American researchers from Indiana University and published recently in the Journal of Sexual Medicine has shed new light on women, pubic hair removal, and sexual behaviors.
Pubic hair removal and grooming is common among women in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, especially for adolescents and young adults. The reasons are varied: some women remove their pubic hair because it makes them feel more feminine or attractive to a partner. Some see it as a means of sexual self-expression.
This study aimed to analyze women’s daily pubic hair grooming practices and the demographic, affective, relational, situational, and behavioral factors that govern them. This information could be useful in a larger context, helping practitioners understand how pubic hair grooming affects woman’s sexual health.
Using the internet, the researchers recruited 2,453 women between the ages of 18 and 68 to participate in the study. The women were asked to complete a daily diary questionnaire with details on their pubic hair grooming practices, sexual activities, and genital symptoms.
Women submitted diary entries for 49,287 days. Of these, 15.2% of the days involved either waxing or shaving pubic hair, suggesting that pubic hair removal may be a weekly practice.
Shaving was much more common than waxing; in fact, 99% of the pubic hair removal events involved shaving, possibly because razors are inexpensive and easy to find and women can shave at home (unlike waxing, which usually requires a trip to a salon).
Some sexual activities, such as sex with a casual partner and vaginal fingering, were more common on days that women removed pubic hair. Women were also more likely to use genital hygiene products and report greater sexual interest on these days.
Creams were generally used to treat problems (such as yeast infections) and to improve sexual arousal. The authors suggested that women also used shaving cream or creams that treat skin irritation that occurs after removing pubic hair. Creams may also be used to help women feel more feminine or sensuous or to make their vulva more attractive to a partner.
Future research may focus on the rituals involved with pubic hair removal (frequency, for example) , women’s feelings about their genitals, how those feelings affect their grooming behaviors, and the connection between grooming and sexual behavior.
“Understanding how women feel about their genitals, and the ways that they manage, try to control, or try to otherwise change or enhance their genitals, can help clinicians, health educators, and sex educators interact with women on these topics with greater compassion and, hopefully, with greater effectiveness than in the past,” the authors wrote.
The study was published online in December in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Resources
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Herbenick, Debby, PhD, MPH, et al.
“Pubic Hair Removal and Sexual Behavior: Findings from a Prospective Daily Diary Study of Sexually Active Women in the United States”
(Full-text. First published online: December 13, 2012)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsm.12031/abstract