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Pubic Hair: Shaving, Waxing, Au-Naturale–A New Study Sheds Light on American Women’s Habit

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By Sarah Jio, Glamour magazine

Pubic hair in a headline–now that’s a Vitamin G first! :) Let’s get right to the point: Have you ever wondered if you’re “normal” about your pubic hair grooming habits? A sexual health researcher I know just released a fascinating study about the pubic hair grooming habits of American gals. Where do you fit in the mix?

Debby Herbeneck, PhD, research scientist at Indiana University and author of Because it Feels Good, recently published a study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. Perhaps one of the first studies of its kind, her research shed light on the pubic hair grooming habits of American women.

According to her findings, 67% of 18-24 year olds shaved some off pubic hair, 57% had shaved it all off at some point in the past month, 6% had waxed some off in the past month, and 6% had waxed it all of in the past month.

“Despite common myths that most young women go bare, we found a diversity of pubic hair styles among women,” she says. “It was generally more common than not for women to keep at least some hair. However, women’s total removal of their pubic hair was linked with younger age, sexual orientation (bisexual women were more likely to remove all of their pubic hair), having a sexual partner, having had cunnilingus in the past month and higher scores on female genital self-image and sexual function.”

Loved what Debby had to say about the takeaway message for women: “Women do all sorts of different things with their pubic hair,” she says. “There is no one dominant way to ‘wear’ one’s hair down there, and women shouldn’t feel pressured by their partners or cultural ideals or their friends, even, to do anything with their hair that they don’t want to do.”

Care to share your thoughts on this intimate topic?