A lot of us ( at least I know I have and even at one point believed it myself) grew up believing that being fully shaved or groomed is necessary in order to stay “clean” down there. But is that really the case?

On the contrary- pubic hair actually serves as a protective barrier for your genitalia. It protects dirt and harmful bacteria from entering in your vagina or penis, in addition to skin injuries caused by friction (think when you get a paper cut, will the cut be as bad if you had a layer protecting the scar as opposed to getting a cut directly onto your bare skin?) It can also protect you from skin infections. And while it’s not 100% guaranteed, it may also protect you from some STDS that can be transmitted from skin to skin contact such as herpes. Keep in mind it doesn’t protect against public lice (aka crabs) but there's no hard scientific evidence out there to support that having no pubic hair would completely eliminate the risks of getting crabs, either. So where did this correlation that having pubic hair was unhygienic come from?

If you have poor hygiene in general, then yes, your pubes can get musty and gross. If you don't maintain good personal hygiene, bacteria and pheromones from your sweat and oils from your skin gets “trapped” in your pubic hair which can cause it to smell pungent, so I can see how many people may believe that pubic hair is directly the cause of it, but it’s not its hygiene in general. You can be fully shaved but if you have bad hygiene, that won’t protect you from smelling down there. That’s like putting deodorant on your unwashed body to mask your b.o.- it is not effective. And nasty.

I also believe that a lot of it comes down to aesthetics. There is nothing wrong with being well groomed or trimmed, or even having a brazilian (I love a good brazilian personally), but although times are changing and the preference will vary from person to person, there has been an expectation,especially for women as a society to be fully hairless or trimmed. And a common argument for that is because it’s “cleaner” when that’s not the case.There is no health reason to be fully shaved , waxed, lasered etc. And If you’re doing that, it’s purely only for cosmetic reasons. There's nothing wrong with that, it all boils down to personal preference. But the point is, having pubic hair DOESN’T make you any less hygienic than if you didn’t. Keep in mind that if you do decide to get rid of your pubic hair, be mindful that your skin is more sensitive and open to more inflammation and infections - another reason to practice clean hygiene.

Whether or not you decide to grow out your pubes or not is ultimately up to you. There is no “one look fits all” and whether you want pubes, trimmed pubes, or no pubes at all, it’s your call! There’s nothing wrong with switching it up either!