Image: 123rf
Pubes, pubic hair, the short and curlys…they do not sound appealing whatever you call them; especially not on women, according to our research.
Feminists may recoil (and so they should), but most men still say a wild bikini line is a no-go. In fact, according to a recent study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 60% of the men said they prefer their partners to be hair-free down below.
Most of the rest said they either like a little hair or don’t mind either way. Equal amounts of women said they like their men shaved, trimmed, bushy, or they don’t mind.
In turn, most women groom their own nether regions.
JAMA Dermatology quizzed more than 3,000 American women and found 84% groom their pubic hair, while just 16% go au naturel.
But what comes first, the bald chicken or the egg? Why do men like the hair-free look, and is it just because it’s all they know? What would change their mind?
Image: Showbit
ALSO READ: Shaving and waxing increases your chances of contracting STIs
To get down and dirty (excuse the pun) on this subject, here's a conversation between a real couple discussing just how hairy is too hairy...?
Ana*, 32, and Derrick*, 30 have been together for two years and share an apartment together. Here they discuss bikini line ‘styles’, waxing it all off and the full bush – as well as underarm hair and spiky legs.
Ana asks Derrick what he thinks about body hair on women, and he says what he really doesn't like is armpit hair.
"I guess I'm conditioned into not liking it by society. If it was normal since birth when we weren’t conditioned by it, it would be fine. But because of the way we’ve been brought up that’s just how I feel, even though it is a feminist issue, and I like to respect women’s decisions. But personally I don’t like armpit hair. It’s not that I’m against it …it’s just not me. If you had long armpit hair, I wouldn’t go out with you. I don’t find it attractive, that’s what I mean."
When questioned how would he feel if Ana decided to grow her armpit hair, Derrick said he doesn't even really like it on himself anyway - it just holds more body odour and thus smells worse.
Image: Pexels
Moving on to leg hair, Derrick said: "I’m not fussed as much - if it’s spiky it’s fine but if it was long and curly like mine that would be weird. Only because I’ve been conditioned to see it that way; it’s just not the norm. But feminists would get offended so you can’t win."
But let's get down to the good stuff here...the bikini line aka pube hair.
Derrick actually said he doesn't mind when vaginas are spikey, but he'd rather not hairy. He prefers it to be bald because he prefers skin-to-skin contact, being able to kiss the entire body. And no, no he doesn't want a mouth full of hair.
So, there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth. It seems that on the whole, men do prefer us 'maintained' down below but this isn't because they can't stand pubes - after all they have them themselves - it's more about being able to have the skin-to-skin contact during sex.
That being said, I'd bet my bank statement that men also don't like the look of fluffy pubes sticking out of bikini bottoms too. I certainly don't.
Image: Showbit