It can be unnerving and a bit scary wielding a sharp razor near your private area, even more when you’re a guy. So if you’re feeling nervous or hesitant about shaving down there, then definitely keep reading for some manscaping information.
Why should you remove your manly bush?
Maybe it’s the anxiety and social norm to keep your area smooth and more aesthetically pleasing. Or maybe it’s what your partner wants or it could the fact that when your pubic hair is gone it will make your erection incredibly large.
You see, when your pubic hair covers up part of the shaft, visually it can seem much shorter. But when the hair is gone, the hidden section of the shaft will be revealed and can make your penis look a half inch longer.
But, of course you wouldn’t care about that, would you? If you’re still not convinced there are plenty of other benefits that you might not have known about or have heard of before.
Most Popular Reason for Manscaping
A popular reason and important benefit for manscaping is to the fight on genital hair is simply hygiene purposes. Something not to be forgotten about when it comes to anything genitals really is hygiene. With everything shaved it will be less prone to carrying sweat.
Say goodbye to the funky funk in your trunk.
It’s easier to keep clean and will stay cleaner for longer which will make your whole area more inviting too. When you’re wearing underwear with a bushy basement then there isn’t much room or oxygen to circulate down there. Ultimately means that whatever odours that you do have down there become more pungent and noticeable. Shaving the hair off creates more airflow and no more smelly penis.
Manscaping will make your shaft and scrotum look cleaner, but it will be healthier too. Without the obstruction of hair you can take advantage of your newly smooth area to examine your testicles regularly.
It’s also peace in mind for your sexual partner/partners
They can be rest assured that they are protected from skin eruptions or unusual bugs. It even gives good evidence that you have nothing to hide down there so not a surprise that even shaving can be considered sexy.
Get your partner to help you shave, apply heaps of gel and tease the area with long strokes from the razor. You can even get lathered up with soap in the shower and shave under the warm stream of water for a bit more eroticism.
A shaved pubic region is much less prone to cuts during sex.
Sometimes, when sex involves a hairy penis, the hair gets in the way and causes cuts in the genitals or even condoms. These cuts could be open doorways to infections.
Eating a few hairs when you are giving oral isn’t really ideal so it’s important to keep downstairs ready for oral pleasure by keeping it hair free. An average woman will be more willing to tongue-please a shaved ‘johnson’ than a bushy one. So if you want to get really intimate, stay well-groomed down there.
To Be Honest it Just Looks Better
Manscaping is simply more appealing. Benefits of having a shaved pubic area will be apparent straight away. A smooth scrotum begs to be touched. An unusual one and slightly related to another benefit is when shaved your preventing unwanted friction and chaffing in you junk.
Because hair stores sweat and gunk it’s possible that it can get really hot and build up friction and possible forming of blisters or burns. Will all these benefits you would think anyone with hair is crazy not to remove it.
There are Some Downsides
Some women view men with pubic hair as manly and masculine. So the removal of it could feminise you or make you look like a child down there, which is very unappealing to a lot of people. Also keeping its shaved requires dedication and commitment.
You have to keep it up if you want the look. To a lot of people that’s just too much time out of game of thrones to be worth it.
Something that everyone can relate to is when you freshly shave somewhere you essentially unleashing 1000 mosquito bites onto that area. Itching can be unbearable for beginners and people with sensitive skin.
Remember safety is important.
Sometimes when you cut it all the way it grows back faster, fuller and thicker. Most importantly is that you have to be careful not to castrate yourself. The balls are a sensitive spot and they do not need a razor poking and cutting down there. Manscaping can also cause razor bumps, allergic reactions, rashes and other uncomfortable side effects.
So at the end of the day you have to make the choice if you want to be bare down there or have hair to spare. I honestly think having it all trimmed is the safest, most hygienic and simply the easiest to upkeep.
Especially if you have one of those electric razors. Less risk of cutting your balls off.
Rise and Fall of the Bush
It is no secret that part of our human rite of passage is growing pubic hair during puberty. Thick coarse hair sprouts from our nether regions and continues to grow as we do.
In fact we are the only Mammalian species that has thick coarse pubes. You may hate them, you may embrace them or maybe you don’t care either way. But the practice of how and what we do down there has been part of cultural practice for hundreds of years.
Why do we have Pubic hair?
Science is a little grey on the exact reason why do we have pubic hair but there are several reasons hypothesised as to the reason behind the bush on men and women. Pubic hair creates cushioning and relieves friction during sex. Also intended as a “dry lubricant” the idea being that it is easier to rub hair against hair then skin against skin.
Pubic hair keeps the genital area the optimum temperature during sexual arousal which can be theorised as an evolutionary response. Hair creates warmth but also allows for air flow to cool the area if it gets too hot. Therefore giving it the best chance to regulate given the environment to ward off infection. But also to keep the genitals the most fertile which, evolutionary, would lead to the best chance of procreation.
Where Does Evolution Come in?
From an evolutionary standpoint, pubes are also thought to be designed to help attract mates. Hair down there, is connected to the apocrine glands that secrete lipids, proteins and pheromones which cause body odour.
This body odour changes when females especially are fertile, signalling to potential partners that they are ready for mating. Hair can act as a conductor and assist in wafting the pheromones as opposed to the sweaty body smell.
Despite the idea of catching and containing sweat, pubic hair is also theorised to keep bacteria away from the genitals. In many studies shows that people who have shaved or have no pubic hair have a higher risk or history of STIs than people who have pubic hair.
Why do people shave it?
Plucking pubic hair dates all the way back to the Egyptians where they would use copper tweezers or a sugar mixture to wax the hairs during Cleopatra’s reign. Women were depicted in paintings with pubic hair as a black triangle covering their nether regions or without.
Shaving was not the norm. Having wild untamed bushes, or even manicured bushes were the standard well into the 1900s. Even well into the 70s porn celebrated women and men with thick hair below the belt.
During the 80s and the 90s porn stars’ appearances became more critical. It was more in demand for sleek, trimmed and presentable pussies and penises. Setting a trend that would soon begin to dictate how the world perceived the standard nether region.
Higher rise leotards and swimsuits meant women were trimming their pubic hair to fit the fashion and remain pristine and spruce.
Hair or no Hair?
It wasn’t until the mid 2000s when waistlines on jeans dropped dangerously low at the front. Underwear became scraps of triangular material that the amount of trimming reduced hair to almost non-existent.
Brazilian waxes grew in popularity in salons and soon the Porn industry had reversed, having gone from having “shaved” as a niche to “Hairy” as the niche and “shaved” as the norm for both men and women.
This shift in the expectation in porn media also led to the expectation of what people understood was the norm when it came to sex. Over 50% of young women believed that they needed to shave their Vulva’s to be socially accepted for sex. Over 70% of young men expected women to have shaven vulva’s.
Shaved Became the new Norm in 2000s
Many individuals report that a shaved vulva increases sensitivity during sex for them. Whether or not that is fact has yet to be definitively proven. While others report that it makes them feel sexier.
For men the saying is “it makes it look bigger” and the trend has similarly followed. Men have also seen how men in porn are portrayed and adapted similarly; trimming or getting rid of the hair completely.
For both genders the idea that pubic hair was in the way of or compromised oral sex also began to take over as an excuse which was not as forthcoming in the past.
Pubes Started to Make a Comeback
During the Naughties (2010 onwards) pubes began to make a comeback when celebrities started announcing that they were once again wearing that ‘70s’ look, and quoting the bush is back.
Feminists began using growing out their hair as a symbol of taking back the power of their bodies. People regardless of their gender also took on growing out their pubes, underarm or leg hair as a reflection of self love. Loving the skin and hair of the body that they had.
Is this a trend that will rise and fall?
Was the brazilian wax the trend that is set to disappear? All we can say is that if you choose to remove or keep your pubic hair, choose to do it for you, because it makes you feel sexy and confident and helps you love your body and the skin you’re in.
Meet Stephen, a bold and opinionated cis-gendered gay advocate for gender equality and sexual education. Join him on the Adultsmart blog for fearless insights.
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