How To Ask Someone To Shave Their Pubic Hair

For most people, pubic hair grooming is merely a fact of life, whether information technology's a quick trim or a neatly manicured landing strip. But although the concept of "manscaping" has become popular enough to spawn its own catchy name, a new survey institute that men still await more than from their partners when it comes to preparation downwards beneath.

The survey of 4,146 respondents ages 18 to 35, drawn from Cosmopolitan.com's social media accounts, Esquire's Twitter account, and Ask Men's Facebook account, found that 92 percent of respondents undertake some grade of training, with unsurprising differences: Most men (69 percentage) trim their pubic hair, while the majority of women (57 percent) get completely bare.

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Simply co-ordinate to the survey, men not only expect their partners to take off more — nearly half (46 percentage) of men prefer their partners to go bare, while the majority of women (70 pct) desire their partners to get a neat but comparatively less high-maintenance trim — they also aren't shy well-nigh vocalizing their expectations and are more likely to meet a partner's grooming habits every bit a potential deal breaker. According to the survey, 40 percent of men take asked their partners to change their pubic hair, compared to but 23 percent of women. Men (30 per centum) are likewise likelier than women (19 percent) to say that a partner's pubic hair might make them reconsider dating someone.

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"I think men await a lot more from women, in terms of grooming," Tabitha Southward. said. At 32, she said she'south been asked by a previous partner to shave completely, and although she complied, both the hair removal and the request made her feel "kind of crappy." "I thought, 'Isn't there supposed to exist some hair there?'" she said. She's at present married, and although her husband hasn't requested a particular style, she opts for a landing strip or a trim that works with her bathing suit or lingerie.

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When asked why they prefer a partner with piddling or no pubic hair, virtually men said they just like the way it looks. "If you can feel information technology under her underwear or information technology's sticking out of a pocket-size pair of underwear, that'south only non attractive to me," said Jason T., 29. He'southward asked several of his partners, including his current fiancée, to shave, and added that a bare pubic surface area makes oral sex more enjoyable. "If a girl had a full bush and didn't want to shave, that wouldn't be a deal billow, but I too probably wouldn't go downwards on her very oftentimes," he said.

The result is that women groom more than frequently — and spend more money on training — than men. A bulk (62 percentage) of women groom at to the lowest degree weekly, compared to 44 percent of men who groom that often. And while nearly men (67 percent) say they spend nothing on training each month, a bulk (55 per centum) of women say they spend $i to $20.

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These pocket-size monthly costs tin add together upwards. Women (12 percentage) are much likelier than men (1 percent) to wax, and two-thirds (66 percent) of women use a razor, compared to 28 percent of men. "I prefer to shave because I just like the way it looks, simply I will admit that razors are expensive," said Angela C., 25. "I'm a educatee, so waxing is pretty much out of my price range, but I'd totally get it if I could."

In follow-up interviews, virtually men reported that they utilize an electric trimmer to groom, which amounted to a 1-time investment. Women, on the other paw, reported shelling out for razors, cocoa butter, shave gel, and other supplies to keep their pubic expanse smooth. It's hard to pinpoint exactly how much more women are spending on training, but there's clearly a dissever: if a woman spends $10 each month on pubic pilus grooming betwixt the ages of 18 and thirty, the total cost would exist $1,440. If she spent $twenty, the total cost would be $two,880. During the same period, a man ownership an electric trimmer would probably spend less than $200 — fifty-fifty if he had to replace it several times. And women who opt for waxes will pay significantly more than.

Cost wasn't respondents' only worry. Many women reported that they experienced pain as a event of shaving with a razor. Bethany R., 20, began shaving after her high-schoolhouse swain told her he preferred a bare pubic expanse. She struggled with razor bumps and ingrown hairs, but persisted considering she didn't want to disappoint her partner. "I had this sense that everyone was doing information technology," she said. "And when you lot don't shave, you have a lot of anxiety about being gross down there."

For some respondents, the perception that training is more sanitary was a factor. "When you take pilus down there, information technology inevitably gets buildup from sweat and whatnot," said Justin R., 35. For that reason, he prefers a partner with a completely bare pubic surface area or a "cute piddling landing strip" — and has asked several of his partners to change their grooming habits as a result. He says a "full, untamed bush" could be a deal breaker for him. "Even if you don't shave completely, y'all tin can notwithstanding trim it down and make information technology neat," he said. "I just can't imagine being downwardly there without any sort of budget. It seems unhygienic."

Doctors and medical experts, however, say that pubic hair grooming does not promote cleanliness — in fact, it's more hygienic to refrain from shaving. Pubic hair protects sensitive skin and traps leaner before they enter the vagina, and so when information technology's removed, vaginal irritation tin be more common. There is also a broad range of grooming-related injuries to worry about — everything from lacerations to infections to allergic reactions.

A bulk (51 percent) of respondents — both male person and female person — reported that they groom their pubic hair because it makes them feel more attractive and only 7 percent cite a partner's preference every bit the primary reason for hair removal. Reece H., 27, began shaving as a teenager after his girlfriend requested it, just now says he'due south grown to prefer the look and feeling of a hairless pubic area. A few years ago, he made an investment in laser hair removal and hasn't looked back. "I love that dainty, shine texture," he said. Some women also see shaving equally a liberating act. "I dear my landing strip and it'due south completely my choice to have it," said Libby Chiliad, 24. "I like to exist able to control the hair. It makes me feel sexy."

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Only a minor number (three percent of women and five percent of men) said they groom considering information technology makes sex activity better. Simply in follow-upward interviews, a number of respondents reported that they accept been asked to groom after their partners got tired of getting hair stuck in their teeth during oral sexual practice. "My first girlfriend didn't want to go down on me with hair at that place, and I thought that was completely reasonable," said Reece H. "I call up for both men and women, it'south nice to not become scratched up past all that hair."

Reece's relaxed reaction to his girlfriend'south request wasn't shared by all respondents though. While some women, similar Angela C., said they don't mind fulfilling a partner's grooming requests — "If they're turned on past something like a landing strip or a pattern, I'thousand happy to try it out" — others said they think men don't sympathise how personal grooming can be for women or how painful information technology can be to shave. "I think sometimes men just expect women will shave — peradventure they've seen it in porn or other women they've been with in the past have done it — and they don't think about how that question feels," Tabitha S. said. "Merely you practice have a reaction — like, what'due south wrong with me the way I am? And are yous going to do this too?"

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Other men said they're open to changing their way — they've just never been asked. "In my experience, women don't like to see a human completely bare," Justin R. said. He agrees that there's a double standard for men and women, but thinks that women contribute to it too. "Men are more open to preparation than ladies might remember."

The survey also revealed a split in the amount of pilus that older (ages 26 to 35) and younger (ages 18 to 25) remove. Younger women (62 pct) were likelier than older women (49 percent) to say they have a completely blank pubic surface area. This split may reflect women'south increasing comfort with a lower-maintenance training style as they grow older or enter long-term relationships. For Bethany R., it wasn't until she went to higher that she decided to start trimming rather than shaving. "In high school, I never liked shaving but I also didn't really question whether I needed to do it," she said. "It took some time and some exposure to the thought that not everyone does this, for me to become comfortable with having it more natural."

The lesser line, for many women, was that preparation should be a personal selection. Helena S., 18, says she's shaved a few times to please a partner but her skin was too sensitive to stay completely blank. "You tin can have that conversation with someone you've been dating for a while, merely it'south unacceptable to ask someone you're hooking up with to change their style," she said. "And fifty-fifty if you know someone pretty well, yous should get in clear that they tin can say no. I don't know if men empathize that it can be hard for women to do that." She'due south never asked a partner to change their pubic hair and doesn't call back she ever would. "What you lot do with your pilus should exist your decision."