Risky business: is pubic hair removal by women associated with body image and sexual health?

Grossman, Stephanie; Annunziato, Rachel A.

doi:10.1071/sh17154

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…People who remove their body hair seem to pay more attention to the desired, lean weight body norms and, as a consequence, are less likely to be overweight in contrast to nonremovers. This is in accordance with the findings of Grossman and Annunziato 13 who found a stronger body ideal with lean measures in women who removed regularly their pubic hair.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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Body hair removal: Prevalence, demographics, and body experience among men and women in Germany

Borkenhagen

Mirastschijski

Strauß³

et al. 2020

J of Cosmetic Dermatology

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Background Body hair removal is an increasing trend that has an impact on the individual's body image. Aims To characterize current body hair removal practices in Germany and the extent to which body hair removal was related to demographic characteristics, body image, and body mass index. Patients/Methods A national survey was conducted from September to October 2016 in men and women in Germany. Body experience was measured by a standardized questionnaire. In addition to sociodemographic data, age, gender, education, marital status, monthly income, and body mass index were collected. Results A total of n = 2510 participants aged 14 to 94 years (Mage = 48.4 years (SD = 18.2), 53.4% females) were randomly selected from the general population. 69% of the questioned women removed their body hair while only 41% of men do. The gender effect is statistically significant (χ2 = 203.43; df = 1; P < .001). Income, a higher level of education, and living in an urban region were significantly associated with body hair removal in both, men and women. Furthermore, significant differences with regard to body image were found between hair removers and nonremovers which are associated with a different attitude toward the own body. Conclusions Germans were likely to remove body hair if they were of younger age, better educated, and with high income. Hair removal is above all a women's issue. Especially, female hair removers experience their body as an esthetic entity with the need of active reshaping. There is a “shift” from ideal of a naturally hairy body to an increased hairlessness in Germany.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…So far, only a few studies are available on the body image of people who remove their axillary and pubic hair 3. In women, Grossman and Annunziato 13 found an association between appearance concerns (measured by thin‐ideal, appearance investment, and self‐objectification) and grooming of pubic hair.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body hair removal: Prevalence, demographics, and body experience among men and women in Germany

Borkenhagen

Mirastschijski

Strauß³

et al. 2020

J of Cosmetic Dermatology

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“…This exploratory study did not collect information on pubic hair removal motivations; however, literature, albeit from outside of Africa, cite hygienic reasons, appearance, partner preference, religion and social norms as common personal motivations for grooming. 3,7,8,10,11,20,24 In a nationally representative survey of 3316 women aged 18-65 years residing in the US, women reported that they groomed for situations of sex, vacation and health care professional visits. 1 Despite the growing body of literature on pubic grooming, there has been limited research conducted outside of the US, especially in Africa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pubic hair grooming practices in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: prevalence, side effects and association with sexually transmitted infections

et al. 2020

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Pubic hair grooming is common in many countries, but little is known about this practice in Africa. Grooming has been positively associated with self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and safety of pubic hair grooming in two South African settings. In KwaZulu-Natal province, 1218 women participating in the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes Trial completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire on pubic hair grooming practices, and were tested for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Pubic hair removal was reported by 705 (58.2%) of women. Common areas for grooming were the pubis (n = 616, 99.4%), vagina/perineum (n = 529, 85.3%) and inner thigh (n = 255, 41.1%). Half (n= 361, 51.4%) removed some or all of their pubic hair at least monthly and 59 (8.4%) once a week or more often. Common side effects reported included itching (n = 439, 77.1%) and pimples and blisters (n = 249, 43.9%). A quarter (n = 173, 24.5%) of groomers had a positive result for either or both of CT and NG compared to a fifth (n = 98, 19.4%) of non-groomers (p-value < 0.033). There was no difference between the groups for HSV-2. After adjusting for age and having more than one sex partner, groomers were significantly more likely to have CT or NG than non-groomers (OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.19–1.45). Similarly, those who experienced hair removal-related complications had 1.26 times the odds of testing positive for CT or NG (95% CI: 1.03–1.54). The practice of pubic hair removal is common and reporting of side effects is high in this population. These injuries could put women at a higher risk of STIs.

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“…Since there are no standardized evidence‐based recommendations for non‐equipment‐based methods, the risk of complications is high during and after the procedure, especially in young and inexperienced users. Motivation is often generated though amateur communications within the users‘ personal circle or through social media, leading to self‐experimentation with methods that appear practicable as regards handling and require little financial expenditure 3–25 . Instructions are presented in internet forums, combined with supposed “Tips and tricks”, such as the use of shaving templates or after‐shave peelings, along with material recommendations of varying quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epilation and depilation in the genital area – motivation, methods, risks and recommendations from a dermatological point of view

Mezin-Sarbu

Wohlrab

2023

J Deutsche Derma Gesell

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Pubic hair removal is a body modification practice done worldwide for different socio-cultural reasons, which is more common in women than in men, more common in younger than in older people, and more common in sexually active people than in abstinent individuals. Since there is no medical indication for genital epilation and depilation, with a few exceptions, there is only very limited evidence in the literature about the methods used and their risks. In order to provide users with guidance from a dermatological perspective on the use of different procedures and associated risks, the existing data were collected, analyzed and evaluated in a systematic literature search. For this purpose, a total of 290 articles in the English-and German-language scientific literature were identified in databases (PubMed, Google Scholar) according to defined search strategies, and 61 publications with scientific significance were identified after assessing relevance. It became clear that depilation methods (shaving, trimming, chemical depilation) are used more frequently compared to epilation methods (waxing, sugaring, mechanical epilation, electro-epilation, laser, intense pulsed light, drug epilation). The different risks and undesirable effects were analyzed in a method-associated manner and prophylactic strategies to avoid complications were developed.

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Risky business: is pubic hair removal by women associated with body image and sexual health?

Cited by 8 publications

References 40 publications

Body hair removal: Prevalence, demographics, and body experience among men and women in Germany

Body hair removal: Prevalence, demographics, and body experience among men and women in Germany

Pubic hair grooming practices in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: prevalence, side effects and association with sexually transmitted infections

Epilation and depilation in the genital area – motivation, methods, risks and recommendations from a dermatological point of view

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