Sex Ed Debunked

Study Session #21: No Shave November

• Trailblaze Media • Season 3 • Episode 8

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Ever thought about the evolutionary purpose of pubic hair, or why societal norms around it change? Buckle up, as we reveal the science of body hair and debunk some myths along the way. We'll dive into the benefits of pubic hair, from helping prevent friction, to fending off pathogens and bacteria, and even its part in signaling fertility. We also have a fun discussion about the Reddit perspective on body hair and preferences around shaving. Remember, no matter what your grooming style, vaginas are self-cleaning!

Fasten your seatbelts as we journey through the history of the adult film industry and its influence on pubic hair norms. We're also going to touch upon the pros and cons of shaving or trimming, and the potential risks involved. It's not all serious though - to cap off this enlightening chat, we'll give you a sneak peek into our upcoming episode that will dig into the role of media and the importance of comprehensive sex education in shaping our understanding of topics as intimate as body hair. So, tune in, be ready to unlearn and relearn, and let’s challenge what you thought you knew about body hair!

Follow us on social @sexeddebunked or send us a message at sexeddebunked@gmail.com

Shannon:

This is Study Sessions brought to you by Sex Ed Debunked In these mini-sodes.

Christine:

We'll discuss a myth suggested to us by listeners. Like you, Like what?

Shannon:

you hear, want to hear more? Follow us on Instagram, facebook and Twitter at Sex Ed Debunked to suggest new myths. Provide your own show notes and give us ideas for what to talk about next.

Christine:

Now take some notes. The study group is in session. Hi, this is Study Sessions, a bi-weekly mini-sode where we cover topics brought to us by Sex Ed Debunked listeners.

Shannon:

And this week's episode, and just in time for no Shave November, we're talking about body hair down there.

Christine:

There you go, the nether regions, that's right.

Shannon:

Well, it was spooky.

Christine:

Well, and the question really is to shave or not to shave? That is the question and that is the question, and it's a big one.

Shannon:

I mean, I feel like since the dawn of time we've been talking about whether people like a full bush or not.

Christine:

Well, I don't think it's the dawn of time, it's actually the dawn of porn. Before that, the research. Looking through the research before that, most people just didn't shave. Maybe there was some trimming involved, but really the porn culture is part of the culture that made shaving a social norm because it increased expectations of what partners expect to see and also what people viewed as more sexy, as being more trimmed and more bare. So not really the dawn of time.

Christine:

Since the dawn of time, we were kind of, you know, evolutionarily speaking, we were bushy for a reason. Well, what was the reason? So I know you did your Reddit dive, but I'll start with the health dive and then we'll go into the Reddit dive. So, looking for credible sources online Healthline and, of course, the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, the research they speculate, evolutionarily speaking, pubic hair was designed one as a friction, like to prevent friction when there's intercourse, because, if you think about it, hair is softer than skin, so designed to prevent abrasions and also to make it just a little bit more comfortable. And actually fair amount of gynecologists and this is obviously talking about female bodies keeps out pathogens, keeps out bacteria, and this is funny, said maybe not funny, but basically said, kind of like your eyelashes and your nose hair bring out dirt and dust. So it did have a purpose in terms of preventing bacteria from getting in and things like that. And the other speculation is that there's the hair follicles in pubic hair in particular produce something called sebum, which actually prevents bacteria from reproducing. So for bodies with vaginas in particular, it reduces the risk of UTIs and Gnecologists and STIs because it's killing bacteria. So that's kind of the medical point.

Christine:

Evolutionarily speaking, it also suggests that and I know this is like part of the reason people shave now but it also increases the odor and the pheromones and so evolutionarily speaking, that is also considered attractive to have. Well, at one point that was a good point, the idea being is that people, once they had pubic hair, the other partner, other people in the species, would know that you were fertile and that you were able to engage in sexual activity. So the idea that the pubic hair traps these pheromones could theoretically increase sexual attractiveness and in that way attract a mate. The other thing is hair keeps your genitals warm and being warm is good for sexual arousal. So I mean there are some incubator kind of, and so to kind of that there are benefits and the benefits are pretty consistent across the research, and this is particularly for bodies with vaginas, because obviously you know UTIs is something that's pretty prevalent for female bodies. So those are the possible benefits and before you go into going into your Reddit world, Also, medically speaking, vaginas themselves are self-cleaning.

Christine:

So even though you should clean them and you should obviously use soap and water nothing scented and not shampoo, because obviously shampoo is made for fluffy hair, you know, and well-conditioned hair but the vaginal canal itself is actually self-cleaning, so there's nothing unhygienic about it at all.

Shannon:

I was going to say so. It's self-cleaning with or without hair, right, Like that's still happening, yeah yeah, but the hair is a barrier.

Christine:

The hair is a barrier that prevents certain things from getting in there, so to speak.

Shannon:

Getting on the run. Yeah, it also traps things, though. You know how many times have you seen like men with giant beards and it's like what are you storing in there? Yeah, snack.

Christine:

But of course, like socially speaking, we do have preferences, and that is what your Reddit world would tell you right?

Shannon:

Yeah, I mean I always look at Reddit as everyone on the show knows by now, for crowdsourced information, but this is also one of those topics that I think is just like pretty widely talked about, despite the fact that people are still, you know, ooey weird about talking about sex. In a lot of ways, like, I feel like this is one of the more accessible topics that people have opinions on. But, looking at Reddit, there are a few things came up. One thing that was very funny to me is someone created a post like a couple of years ago asking this exact question of like to shave or not to shave and it just got like immediately so many responses and the top one of the top comments on it. When I looked at it was today. I learned that if you ask about shaving preferences for lady parts, you will have 1800 comments in five hours.

Shannon:

A lot of people feel a lot of things about this, but really it does seem like there's a range of preferences. You know, just certain parts shaved, seasonal shaving, trimmed seems to be the preference across genders. Make it neat is kind of the general idea. I think that I didn't see a lot of people saying it's cleaner to not shave. That wasn't really something that came up at all. It was more like keeping it contained, keeping it neat, so just not letting it run wild. At the same time, a lot of people said you know, I don't want fully shaved, because fully shaved is like a child. It's not really other, better way to say it. A lot of people who brought up fully shaved were like it's a little too, too young, like it's just weird.

Christine:

And I want to just interject a fun fact when I was looking through the biology of it, Actually pubic hairs are genetically programmed to only be a certain length. So even though we're talking about, like keeping it trimmed and keeping it contained, for the most part it's like, evolutionarily it's only designed to be between a half an inch and one and a half inches. So it's not. It may be like straightening out, but to a certain extent it's not really getting longer, and maybe you notice it getting longer because you've shaved and so you notice it coming back. But it's not like if you don't shave you're going to have pubic hair to braid, that's going to hang on your meat.

Shannon:

Yeah, but I think too, as we know, from shaving any parts of our body, like you shave it once and it grows back weird, and so that was I think that was one of the things that was brought up. A lot, too was you shave and you get rash and you get irritation and you get ingrown hairs and all these things. So a lot of people were saying, both for themselves and for their partners, they prefer trimming versus full shaving because it keeps it neat, it keeps it contained, but it also doesn't result in those other uncomfortable.

Christine:

And to get that, out like those aren't just like, like the idea of having like cuts or burns or rashes or ingrown hairs isn't just a matter of being uncomfortable. That's actually the part that makes shaving a little bit more dangerous, in the sense that if you have a cut, if you have an ingrown hair, you're more likely to get an infection, and those infections can include there is a small body of studies that suggests that that includes STIs, because STIs are opportunistic and look for an open space, and so a cut can create that open abrasion that's going to make you more susceptible to STIs or UTIs. So there is some risks to like full shaving as opposed to just you know, as you said keeping it neat. Yeah, exactly.

Shannon:

Well, so the other thing you brought this up at the beginning of the episode, but the porn industry being the foundation for this is really fascinating. And it brings me back to our episode that we did with Miss Bloom last season, talking about the unreal expectations set by set by porn, like in porn Hollywood. And it is interesting when you think about it because, like, why were they shaving in the first place? To get a better view, right, exactly, you know, like be able to see the parts. And I'll tell you that did not come up at any point. Nobody who said that they preferred shave or trim was like because I'd like to see their penis better, like it's not that, it's because people want to, you know, for whatever it is it's, they don't like touching hair, they don't like the smell, they, like you know, just don't want hair all over the place, whatever it is. But there was no one that said you know, gosh, I just wish I could see it better.

Christine:

Well, which actually surprises me, Shannon because for people with penises, having less hair can make the penis appear larger.

Shannon:

Yeah, Because you see the whole most penis owners aren't getting into that on the Reddit subgroup saying like I like it because it makes me look big.

Christine:

Well, it might be a different subgroup.

Shannon:

That's true, that particular group. But it is important, I guess, to bring up that too, because a lot, of, a lot, like some of what we've talked about goes for all genitalia, but specifically anything in the research about manscaping.

Christine:

Well, here's the thing right.

Christine:

So there's less research and when I was, like you know, trying to find stuff on the internet, a lot of the sources were about manscapingcom Dapper and Groomed like places that are trying to promote, you know, manscaping and shaving as opposed to like actual research.

Christine:

But I did find I did find a few studies and a few articles, like through Men's Health and Healthline that actually some of the benefits are pretty similar to the benefits that we talk about for bodies with vaginas, that it protects against infection and protects against dirt and pathogens and reduces friction, although ironically, some people who report wanting to shave, they say they shave to increase sensation, which makes sense if air is gonna reduce the friction. But also, looking at, here's one that was really interesting for bodies with penises Evolutionary, it was kind of like a lion's mane. So when you think of like back in the day, like, you know, a lion, the bigger the mane, then you're warding off other potential mates. And so there was and I was like, huh, I'm not so sure about like I'm gonna be more attracted to a guy that has a you know a lot more going on down there, but anyway, that's like the evolutionary point.

Shannon:

No, I mean that's interesting, it's funny. I did like. A few years ago I worked when I was working in marketing and doing branding. I did branding for a like beard cleaner and care company and obviously not the same. But there are similar things about like how Men's Health has become like glorified as like be a big man and take care of your face. Like, be a big man and take care of your hair, and it's. I think I prefer it in some ways to the anti-Men's Health narrative of like be gross and rough and tumble and muddy and don't practice self-care, but like as usual. It's also just kind of a weird environment of extremes. It's like you can wash yourself and like trim your hair without it being like a testament to your manhood. You can, everybody you can. But it is interesting that the different social reasons for to shave or not to shave and again, just to point out sorry for bodies with penises, there actually are.

Christine:

The dangers are a little bit more risky. But foreshaving or not shaving? Foreshaving because cuts with a razor was. One study said 83% of penile injuries involve razor cuts and 22% involve scissor cuts to the scrotum, aka the balls, and that is particularly dangerous because the skin of the balls is very thin. Yeah, all right, I'm going to say this very fast, and listeners with penises, you can close your ears right now. But one of the potential things that can happen is what's called fornier gangrene, which is flesh-eating bacteria of the balls.

Shannon:

So oh, boy, we should have put the sample set out right for Halloween.

Christine:

But the idea, the recommendation, is electric razors are preferred because cuts can be particularly dangerous in that area and also wax is better. So just to be on the safe side and to be really, really careful, or, you know, going. You know remember the scene from Bad Mom's Christmas. What a professional.

Shannon:

Yeah, I can't guarantee that your you know esthetician or your patient is going to be as attractive as they were in Bad Mom's Christmas.

Christine:

But there are professionals and professionals are Well and that's right.

Shannon:

As you know, at the end of the day, as much as it is a social question and what the social preference and social norm is, it is still a health question and so you know, whatever route you go, make sure that you continue to just practice best hygiene, best care, you know if you are particularly sensitive to shaving or you do get you know bikini burns or whatever it is like. Talk to your partner and talk to yourself about what's going to make you the most comfortable in terms of how you're presenting, but also always prioritize first your medical situation, because rather be a little bushy than have flasheting bacteria, I think is fair to say yeah, fair to say fair to say.

Christine:

We can't really end on that note. We're going to have to say you know? So we do have no shave November coming up and whether or not you decide to shave medically, just be careful. The science tells us that the pubic hair has been there for a reason, but that doesn't mean that you necessarily need it. If you are going to decide to shave, which is clearly your prerogative, be sure that you are much more mindful of cleaning that area so that the pubic hair has been shown to actually trap the trap bacteria. Keep it from getting into your vaginal canal if you're a female body.

Shannon:

I know, I know I'm bad at it. And then you rehearse every single time.

Christine:

Oh I know, Maybe we'll just like, let's just say it's no shave November shave.

Shannon:

if you want, figure it out, you're not going to be a weirdo. No matter which way you go, there you go. I mean, the human experience is a range of preferences. Just be smart and be safe. Okay, love your nethers All right, that's it for this week's study session. We'll be back next week with a full episode of Sex Ed Debunked and, as usual, if there are topics you'd like us to discuss or myths you'd like us to debunk, send them to over to us at sexeddebunkedcom or any of the socials at sexeddebunked.

Christine:

All right, take care, I know Sex Ed Debunked is produced by Trailblaze Media in Providence, rhode Island. Our sound producer is Ezra Winters, with production assistance from Shea Wine Drunk.