Body Hair Removal: The ?Mundane? Production of Normative Femininity

Mechanical epilation exerts complex biological effects on human hair follicles and perifollicular skin: An ex vivo study approach

OBJECTIVE

Electrical epilation of unwanted hair is a widely used hair removal method, but it is largely unknown how this affects the biology of human hair follicles (HF) and perifollicular skin. Here, we have begun to explore how mechanical epilation changes selected key biological read-out parameters ex vivo within and around the pilosebaceous unit.

METHODS

Human full-thickness scalp skin samples were epilated ex vivo using an electro-mechanical device, organ-cultured for up to 6 days in serum-free, supplemented medium, and assessed at different time points by quantitative (immuno-)histomorphometry for selected relevant read-out parameters in epilated and sham-epilated control samples.

RESULTS

Epilation removed most of the hair shafts, often together with fragments of the outer and inner root sheath and hair matrix. This was associated with persistent focal thinning of the HF basal membrane, decreased melanin content of the residual HF epithelium, and increased HF keratinocyte apoptosis, including in the bulge, yet without affecting the number of cytokeratin 15+ HF epithelial stem cells. Sebocyte apoptosis in the peripheral zone was increased, albeit without visibly altering sebum production. Epilation transiently perturbed HF immune privilege, and increased the expression of ICAM-1 in the bulge and bulb mesenchyme, and the number of perifollicular MHC class II+ cells as well as mast cells around the distal epithelium and promoted mast cell degranulation around the suprabulbar and bulbar area. Moreover, compared to controls, several key players of neurogenic skin inflammation, itch, and/or thermosensation (TRPV1, TRPA1, NGF, and NKR1) were differentially expressed in post-epilation skin.

CONCLUSION

These data generated in denervated, organ-cultured human scalp skin demonstrate that epilation-induced mechanical HF trauma elicits surprisingly complex biological responses. These may contribute to the delayed re-growth of thinner and lighter hair shafts post-epilation and temporary post-epilation discomfort. Our findings also provide pointers regarding the development of topically applicable agents that minimize undesirable sequelae of epilation.

Effects of pubic hair grooming on women's sexual health: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Pubic hair grooming involves the partial or complete removal of pubic hair, and it is a common practice among men and women. Grooming is more prevalent in women, who employ various methods such as shaving, waxing and laser removal. However, it is associated with variable rates of post-grooming adverse outcomes including lacerations and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis comparing women's sexual health outcomes between those who groom and those who don't.

METHODS

We followed the MOOSE guidelines and conducted a computerized-based search using (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid Medline), till June 20th, 2022, for eligible studies using the relevant keywords; (pubic hair grooming) OR (pubic hair removal OR Genital hairless OR Bikini hair removal OR pubic hair depilation). Cross-sectional studies included which compared grooming practices among women in terms of motivation and health outcomes. Women's satisfaction and incidence of STIs were pooled as standardized mean difference (SMD) and odds ratio (OR) respectively.

RESULTS

Twenty-Two cross-sectional studies were included in our review with 73,091 participant.The odds of having gram-negative gonorrheal and chlamydial infection in Pubic hair groomers were found to be statistically significant (OR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.31, 1.84], P < 0.001) (OR = 1.56, 95% CI [1.32, 1.85], P < 0.001] respectively. There was no difference between groomer and non-groomer women regarding viral infections such as genital herpes (OR = 1.40, 95% CI [0.56, 3.50], P = 0.47) and Condyloma acuminata (OR = 1.75, 95% CI [0.51, 6.01], P = 0.37). The most common grooming side effect is genital itching (prevalence = 26.9%, P < 0.001). Non-electrical razor (prevalence = 69.3%, P < 0.001) is the most common grooming method. White women (prevalence = 80.2%, P < 0.001) remove pubic hair more frequently compared to black women (prevalence = 12.2%, P < 0.001). Women practice complete grooming (50.3%, P < 0.001) of the pubic hair more frequently than partial grooming (33.1%, P < 0.001). There are no differences in women's satisfaction between the two groups (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI [-0.16, 0.40], P = 0.39).

CONCLUSION

This review aligns with previous observational studies regarding sexual health outcomes of pubic hair grooming. There is a need to raise awareness among women regarding the safe practice of pubic hair grooming, emphasizing the clarification of hazards and benefits.

Psychosocial and financial impact of facial hair among female patients of hirsutism: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Literature on psychosocial impact, financial burden, and worry in hirsute females with facial hair is limited.

OBJECTIVE

To assess psychosocial impact and financial burden, worry among females with hirsutism.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional, questionnaire based observational study, 50 females with hirsutism having facial hair were interviewed and provided with questionnaires examining the psychosocial impact and financial burden. Psychosocial impact in participants was assessed by the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire, and the financial burden was evaluated using a composite financial burden score. Self-reported financial worry was also calculated.

RESULTS

A total of 50 completed DLQI surveys and financial burden surveys were taken for analysis. The mean DLQI of 50 hirsute females was 15.98 ± 5.79. The mean value of financial burden score was 0.98 ± 1.45, and financial worry was 1.5 ± 0.90. There were 16% of total hirsute females who commonly used trimming/ shaving and Laser therapy as a treatment modality followed by 12% females who did not use any treatment modality for their facial hair. There were 10% females who used waxing and followed by 6% who used a combination of waxing, trimming, and bleaching for managing facial hair. The financial burden impact of laser therapy was significant (p = 0.013) among all treatment modalities.

CONCLUSION

The present study concludes that hirsutism poses a very large effect or psychosocial impact on hirsute females with a significant financial burden with laser therapy as compared to other treatment modalities.

A theory based examination of factors associated with male body hair removal

Male body hair removal has implications for men's mental health such as anxiety about body image. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and relevant additional constructs, this research examined factors associated with young men's upper body and pubic hair removal. Young men residing in Australia completed a pilot survey, online survey (N = 655) of predictors of intention (plans) to remove body hair and a 4-week follow up survey (n = 222) reporting body hair removal behaviour. Attitudes about body hair removal, pressure from others, perceptions of control and similarity to prototypical young men who removed body hair were associated with intention for upper body (60%) and pubic (48%) hair removal. Intention was significantly associated with body hair removal behaviours. These findings indicate social pressure was associated with young men's decisions to remove body hair, pointing to sources of potential intervention.

Attitudes and practices associated with pubic hair grooming behaviours: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Female pubic hair grooming (PHG) habits have changed in the last 20 years. Most studies present findings around female PHG attitudes, practices, and behaviours, lacking data on male attitudes and practices.

AIMS

We explored the attitudes and practices of PHG from male and female perspectives.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional convenience survey was conducted online with 1560 male and female young adult participants aged 18 to 25 years. The study was conducted over two time periods (2014 and 2021). The survey explored attitudes, practices, and behaviours around PHG. Descriptive statistics included frequencies and proportions for categorical variables and the median for continuous variables. Males and females were compared using the χ² test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. We used logistic regression to explore independent factors of PHG.

RESULTS

Seventy-two percent (n = 471/728) of females and 64.7% (n = 257/728) of males were likely to engage in PHG. Participants were more likely to groom their pubic hair for reasons associated with religion (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 9.01, 95% CI: 2.87-28.2), comfort when wearing clothing (aOR: 3.85, 95% CI: 1.52-9.71), a neater and cleaner genital appearance (aOR: 3.90, 95% CI: 1.62-9.41) and before attending a healthcare consultation (aOR: 4.79, 95% CI: 2.27-10.09). Moreover, twice as many females compared with male groomers reported watching pornography (69.7% vs 30.3%).

CONCLUSION

Several factors can influence PHG. Our findings demonstrate that the reasons participants engage in PHG practices are for hygiene, aesthetics, comfort, and sexual satisfaction.

Genital fashioning: Postfeminist discourse and mediating understandings of choice

Female genital fashioning practices, a term encompassing a range of temporary and permanent options for cosmetic genital alteration, are becoming an increasingly prominent part of contemporary beauty regimes. Drawing on a series of 11 small focus groups and 10 interviews with 34 Australian women aged 18–30, this paper explores the ways that cisgender young women negotiate a combination of social pressures, pleasures and influences in their decisions to engage with genital fashioning. These pressures are described by women to emanate from broad social norms, sexual partners, family members, and peer groups. The women in this study demonstrate a nuanced and critical awareness of the cultural context which they inhabit but deploy postfeminist narratives of self-care and enjoyment to make sense of genital fashioning practices. The paper contributes to scholarship on postfeminism by demonstrating the ways that women creatively use the discursive tools available to enable critical reflection on notions of choice. At the same time, the findings in this study constitute an empirical contribution to critiques of postfeminism to reveal the limitations of postfeminist reasoning which ultimately works to curtail or impede the identification of structural problems and constraints.

"I Like it Clean": Brazilian Waxing and Postfeminist Subjectivity Among South Asian Beauticians in London

Postfeminism is a neoliberal sensibility that locates femininity in the body, thereby imploring women to constantly labor on, monitor and discipline their bodies. This aesthetic labor is presented to women as freely chosen and empowering. Brazilian waxing is exemplary aesthetic labor directed at the self. Academic literature on aesthetic labor in general, and Brazilian waxing in particular, looks at white and middle-class women, as this category of women is considered the putative subject of postfeminism. Little attention is paid to racialized women from the global south who perform aesthetic labor on other women's bodies in the global north. In this paper, I draw on my ethnographic study of two beauty salons in London run by South Asian women to argue that these South Asian beauticians are postfeminist subjects as well. The aim of challenging the putative subject of postfeminism, using the example of Brazilian waxing, is not merely to include South Asian women in the discourse, but to advance a transnational theorization of postfeminism. Such theorization, I demonstrate, leads to a better understanding of how postfeminism is implicated in global structures of power as well as the affective qualities of postfeminism including intimacy and disgust.

"You have to be clean:" a qualitative study of pubic hair grooming behaviours among women living in Italy

The majority of pubic hair and genital self-image research describes women living in the USA, UK and Australia. This may leave attitudes and behaviours across other cultures and geographic regions ambiguous. The purpose of this study was to describe pubic hair removal attitudes and behaviours among reproductive-age women living in Italy. Individual interviews were conducted with 46 women aged 18-45 years between June and July 2017, living in Florence, Italy and currently utilising the Italian healthcare system. Pubic hair removal was popular among participants. Women mainly removed pubic hair by waxing. Sexual partners influenced removal, as did cultural norms and the desire for cleanliness. Most participants indicated pubic hair removal onset during adolescence, often upon puberty. However, most participants had never discussed removal complications with providers. Pubic hair removal often related to a more positive genital self-image because of social norms surrounding hairlessness. Removal among this sample appears to differ from the literature in other contexts, with women living in Italy engaging in more frequent and earlier waxing. Findings offer opportunities for clinicians to proactively address safe pubic hair practices and women's genital concerns during consultations.

A full Brazilian or all natural: understanding the influences on young women's decision to remove their pubic hair

BACKGROUND

Research indicates that young women are being exposed to increasing pressures to remove pubic hair from their bodies, which has the potential for both negative physical and psychological consequences. Women's personal choice and reasoning for partaking in pubic hair removal is influenced by broader social influences; however, there is little theory-based research drawing from established decision-making models investigating the underlying processes that lead young women to engage in pubic hair removal practices. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, it was hypothesised that 1) attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control would predict intention to remove pubic hair; 2) additional variables (prototype similarity and favourability) from the Prototype Willingness Model would significantly predict intention to remove pubic hair; 3) feminist values would significantly predict decreased intention to remove pubic hair; and 4) intention and perceived behavioural control would predict future self-reported removal of pubic hair.

METHOD

The current study included a sample of 270 young women (17-25 years old), who completed an online survey and a follow up survey 4 weeks later (N = 96).

RESULTS

Attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and similarity to prototypical pubic hair removers were significant predictors of intention to remove pubic hair. Intention was significantly positively associated and feminist values were significantly negatively associated with actual pubic hair removal.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings align with Theory of Planned Behaviour propositions. Furthermore, the expansion of the model highlights how broader social images impact on young women when deciding whether to engage in a behaviour that is intimately associated with their body image.

Body hair and its entanglement: Shame, choice and resistance in body hair practices among young Icelandic people

Iceland's performance on the Gender Gap Index has been outstanding in the last nine years. It now has a reputation for being one of the most gender equal countries in the world. However, local feminist activists argue that challenges to full gender equality remain. Underlying both the dominant gender equality rhetoric and feminist activism is a neoliberal, postfeminist sensibility that all are free to choose their most preferred body practices and that empowerment is a fact. There are, however, more subtle indications that young people's views of body hair practices, hinging around binaristic gender norms, are more ambivalent than that. This paper investigates how body hair practices are performed among young Icelandic people. The theoretical framework draws on feminist, poststructuralist, and affect theories. The data was collected between 2012 and 2016 and consists of semi-structured interviews with young women and men, group interviews with five young women based on co-operative inquiry, and an instrumental case study focusing on the issue of body hair practices. The analysis shows that shame and disgust remain entangled with practices around body hair among both men and women. It is gendered in that women's bodies are under more surveillance than men's. The paper concludes that, notwithstanding feminist activism and gender equality rhetoric, policing around body hair practices still exists in contemporary Icelandic society.

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

Background Body hair removal is a behaviour that has become normative among women in Westernised cultures, and is presented by the media as the feminine ideal, despite being painful and a potential cause of infection. Of concern, removal may be part of a more global pattern of appearance dissatisfaction and risky sexual behaviour. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationships among pubic hair removal, body image and sexual health indicators. Methods: Women (n = 264; Mage = 33.82, s.d. = 11.13, range = 18–66) completed self-report questionnaires assessing these constructs, including an assessment of body hair removal practices. Results: Greater appearance concerns (as measured by thin-ideal internalisation, appearance investment and self-objectification) and sexual health indicators (i.e. less condom use self-efficacy when a partner disapproves of condom use) all predicted greater importance of reasons for pubic hair removal (R2 = 0.315, F(8184) = 9.97, P < 0.001), controlling for age groups. Additionally, women who removed a greater amount of hair reported more thin-ideal internalisation and appearance investment than those who removed less hair. Conclusions: Women who express stronger reasoning for pubic hair removal, and remove a larger amount of it, may endorse problematic beliefs and behaviours particularly related to appearance concerns. It is important for practitioners to consider this practice as distinct from grooming and to be aware of its association with a broader array of risky beliefs and behaviours that can compromise women’s well-being.

Women’s genital body work: Health, hygiene and beauty practices in the production of idealized female genitalia

Women’s genitalia are constructed as a bodily site requiring ongoing surveillance, maintenance and modification to conform to social norms. Women engage in a range of genital health, hygiene and beauty practices, including the use of commercial and homemade vaginal douches, washes, wipes, sprays and pubic hair removal, to modify their bodies. Using a social constructionist framework, we draw on interviews with 49 Canadian women to examine the construction of idealized (Western) genitalia as hairless, odourless and free of discharge, and “natural” female genitalia as problematic through the mobilization of normative femininity and (hetero)sexuality discourses. Theorizing women’s genital health, hygiene and beauty practices as a form of body work, we examine how women’s genital body work is constructed as a necessary and thus normative practice of femininity undertaken in the pursuit of idealized genitalia. A minority perspective that drew on alternative discourses to construct female genitalia as acceptable irrespective of genital body work is examined. Throughout our analysis, we examine the ways in which women negotiate issues of agency and choice in relation to their genital body work. Implications for women’s health in the context of the vaginal microbiome are explored.

Pubic hair and its removal: A practice beyond the personal

Pubic hair removal, now common among women in Anglo/western cultures, has been theorised as a disciplinary practice. As many other feminine bodily practices, it is characterised by removal or alteration of aspects of women's material body (i.e., pubic hair) considered unattractive but otherwise “natural.” Emerging against this theorisation is a discourse of personal agency and choice, wherein women assert autonomy and self-mastery of their own bodies and body practices. In this paper, we use a thematic analysis to examine the interview talk about pubic hair from 11 sexually and ethnically diverse young women in New Zealand. One overarching theme – pubic hair is undesirable; its removal is desirable – encapsulates four themes we discuss in depth, which illustrate the personal, interpersonal and sociocultural influences intersecting the practice: (a) pubic hair removal is a personal choice; (b) media promote pubic hair removal; (c) friends and family influence pubic hair removal; and (d) the (imagined) intimate influences pubic hair removal. Despite minor variations among queer women, a perceived norm of genital hairlessness was compelling among the participants. Despite the articulated freedom to practise pubic hair removal, any freedom from participating in this practice appeared limited, rendering the suggestion that it is just a “choice” problematic.

"It's not very feminine to have a mustache": Experiences of Danish women with polycystic ovary syndrome

This article explores women's lived experiences with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on the basis of semistructured interviews with 21 Danish women. It provides insights about the problems that they experienced and how they coped with PCOS. The interviews revealed that they were highly influenced by society's femininity norms. Many of them perceived their bodies as "different" because of the symptoms of PCOS, namely, hirsutism. They used different strategies to live up to body ideals and cope with the symptoms. However, hirsutism had a decisive negative influence on the women's everyday lives, particularly with regard to male partners and sexual relations.

II. Emotional Labour in the Beauty Salon

Research on emotional labour in the workplace — including beauty salons — has relied on workers' reports of emotional labour; few researchers have examined workers' moment-by-moment workday experience to explicate the practices of emotional labour in action. Using conversation analysis (CA) of a single interaction between a client and a beauty therapist, we show how task-directed talk, and even aspects of the physical work itself, may be designed to perform a dual function: to complete, satisfactorily, the procedure for which the client is paying, and to perform some of those actions that researchers have dubbed `emotional labour'. In our data, the therapist gives precedence to performing the emotional labour over the immediate accomplishment of the institutionally defined goal (hair removal), thereby providing concrete, recorded evidence for the claim that emotional labour is a job requirement for beauty therapy.

"I think gorilla-like back effusions of hair are rather a turn-off": 'Excessive hair' and male body hair (removal) discourse

Men's hair removal practices are becoming mainstream, seen as a consequence of changing masculine norms and men's relationships to their bodies. This is often presented as a straightforward 'shift' from men's ideal bodies as naturally hairy, to increased hairlessness, and the consequence on men's body concerns as inevitable. This paper analyses qualitative survey data from Aotearoa/New Zealand using critical thematic analysis, and describes three themes. Two themes capture contradictory ideas: that men's body hair is natural, and that men's body hair is unpleasant. A third theme introduces the concept of 'excess' hair, which allowed sense-making of this contradiction, mandating men's grooming of 'excessive' hair. However its vagueness as a concept may provoke anxiety for men resulting in hair removal. This paper adds to a body of research demonstrating a cultural transition: the ways changing masculinities, increased commodification of male bodies, and shifting gender roles impact on men's hair removal practices.

The Role of Facial and Body Hair Distribution in Women's Judgments of Men's Sexual Attractiveness

Facial and body hair are some of the most visually conspicuous and sexually dimorphic of all men's secondary sexual traits. Both are androgen dependent, requiring the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone via the enzyme 5α reductase 2 for their expression. While previous studies on the attractiveness of facial and body hair are equivocal, none have accounted as to how natural variation in their distribution may influence male sexual attractiveness. In the present study, we quantified men's facial and body hair distribution as either very light, light, medium, or heavy using natural photographs. We also tested whether women's fertility influenced their preferences for beards and body hair by comparing preferences among heterosexual women grouped according their fertility (high fertility, low fertility, and contraceptive use). Results showed that men with more evenly and continuously distributed facial hair from the lower jaw connecting to the mustache and covering the cheeks were judged as more sexually attractive than individuals with more patchy facial hair. Men with body hair were less attractive than when clean shaven, with the exception of images depicting some hair around the areolae, pectoral region, and the sternum that were significantly more attractive than clean-shaven bodies. However, there was no effect of fertility on women's preferences for men's beard or body hair distribution. These results suggest that the distribution of facial and body hair influences male attractiveness to women, possibly as an indication of masculine development and the synthesis of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone via 5α reductase.

When Sex and Power Collide: An Argument for Critical Sexuality Studies

Attentive to the collision of sex and power, we add momentum to the ongoing development of the subfield of critical sexuality studies. We argue that this body of work is defined by its critical orientation toward the study of sexuality, along with a clear allegiance to critical modalities of thought, particularly feminist thought. Critical sexuality studies takes its cues from several other critical moments in related fields, including critical psychology, critical race theory, critical public health, and critical youth studies. Across these varied critical stances is a shared investment in examining how power and privilege operate, understanding the role of historical and epistemological violence in research, and generating new models and paradigms to guide empirical and theoretical research. With this guiding framework, we propose three central characteristics of critical sexuality studies: (a) conceptual analysis, with particular attention to how we define key terms and conceptually organize our research (e.g., attraction, sexually active, consent, agency, embodiment, sexual subjectivity); (b) attention to the material qualities of abject bodies, particularly bodies that are ignored, overlooked, or pushed out of bounds (e.g., viscous bodies, fat bodies, bodies in pain); and (c) heteronormativity and heterosexual privilege, particularly how assumptions about heterosexuality and heteronormativity circulate in sexuality research. Through these three critical practices, we argue that critical sexuality studies showcases how sex and power collide and recognizes (and tries to subvert) the various power imbalances that are deployed and replicated in sex research.

Men's body depilation: an exploratory study of United States college students' preferences, attitudes, and practices

Young men in Western cultures frequently engage in body depilation practices, but little is known regarding how such bodies are perceived. This exploratory study asked United States college students (N=238) to view six pictures of the same male body with different amounts of visible body hair and to indicate which body was most sexually attractive to themselves, to most men, and to most women. Both men and women chose a relatively hairless male body as the most sexually attractive. Women, however, thought men would choose a hairier body than men actually did. Most of the men reduced or removed body hair, especially from the pubic area. Questionnaire responses indicated that men and women had similar attitudes toward men's body hair, with both hair reduction and hair retention being socially acceptable. Men's body depilation, while still optional, may be becoming normative, at least among United States college students.

From flint razors to lasers: a timeline of hair removal methods

Today, most do not go a day without practicing or hearing about new hair removal methods. However, little is discussed about the history of hair removal and the development of most hair removal methods since the period of cavemen. Avoiding decapitation and fitting in with society are two of many reasons for the development of this now normative practice. Knowledge of the hair growth cycle is vital in understanding the efficacy of various hair removal methods as well as the difference between epilation and depilation. While laser hair removal (LHR) is one of the most common cosmetic procedures practiced in the world, according to the FDA, the only current permanent form of hair removal is electrolysis. These two methods as well as various other ones are discussed in this article. Further developments are being made every day to better treat the removal of blonde and white hair as well as to diminish the pain of hair removal. With these developments, dermatologists will better understand the advancement of hair removal methods and the reasons why patients may seek treatment.

Correlates of Body Depilation

Recent studies suggest that body hair may be of increasing importance in men’s overall body image. Body depilation is a relatively new area of clinical and research inquiry among men with much of the documented evidence of the phenomenon split between mass media accounts and descriptive scientific investigations. This study was undertaken to further our understanding of this behavior by examining the relationship between depilation and other dimensions of body image in a nonclinical sample. A total of 364 men completed measures assessing self-reported hair growth, body depilation, drive for muscularity, gender role conflict, body dysmorphia, and social comparison. The correlates of body depilation included a drive for muscularity, gender role conflict, and physical appearance social comparison. Significant differences were identified among men who depilate, compared with those who do not, on measures of social comparison and a drive for muscularity. These findings lend support for the idea that body hair, and its reduction or removal, is a key aspect of men’s body image that translates into some challenges in assessment and prevention among health care practitioners.

To let hair be, or to not let hair be? Gender and body hair removal practices in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Research and anecdotal evidence suggest women continue to remove body hair, and there is some evidence for cultural changes in men's hair removal practices. This paper reports on data collected using an online mix-methods survey from 584 New Zealanders between the ages of 18-35 (mean age 26, 48.9% male, 50.6% female). The data demonstrated that substantial proportions of both women and men in Aotearoa/New Zealand remove body hair from many sites. However, gendered differences remain, and a key dimension of gendered difference appears in the concept of flexible choice around body hair removal or retention. This was seen in the difference between perceived acceptability of having body hair (81% for men, 11% for women). These findings suggest that although men, like women, are now coming under some pressure to remove body hair, there is still a great difference in men and women's capacity to choose whether to bow to it.

Perilous Patches and Pitstaches

Although some research has examined men and women’s general attitudes toward women growing body hair, little research has engaged in a side-by-side examination of women’s imagined experiences of growing body hair with an experiential component of growing their own body hair. In the first of two studies, I asked a diverse community sample of women aged 18 to 59 to assess their impressions of women who grew body hair and to imagine their own, and others’, reactions to their hypothetical body hair growth. For the second study, I utilized response papers from 62 women from diverse backgrounds in an undergraduate women’s studies course, who grew their body hair for an assignment. Results showed overwhelming negativity toward women growing body hair in both studies, but they differed in perceptions of social control and individual agency. Women in Study 1, who merely imagined body hair growth, described it more nonchalantly and individualistically, citing personal choice and rarely acknowledging social pressures placed upon women even disgusted by other women’s body hair. Women in Study 2 regularly discussed unanticipated social pressures and norms, rarely discussed personal choice, and reported a constellation of difficulties, including homophobia, family and partner anger, and internalized disgust and “dirtiness.” These results on a seemingly “trivial” subject nuance the “rhetoric of choice” debate within feminist theories of the body while also illustrating a vivid experiential assignment that delves into women’s personal values, relationships, and social norms. Implications for assessing and changing attitudes about women’s bodies—particularly “abject” or “othered” bodies—are discussed.

“It Shouldn’t Stick Out from Your Bikini at the Beach”

Women’s and men’s bodies and sexuality can be understood as socially situated and socially produced. This means they are affected by, and developed in relation to, patterned sociocultural meanings and representations. We aim here to understand a recently emergent, and potentially gendered, body practice—pubic hair removal—by examining the meanings people ascribe to pubic hair and its removal. Extending the widespread hairless bodily norm for Anglo/Western women, pubic hair removal is an apparently rapidly growing phenomenon. Men, too, are seemingly practicing pubic hair removal in significant numbers, raising the question of to what extent pubic hair removal should be understood as a gendered phenomenon. What we do not yet know is what people’s understandings and perceptions of pubic hair are, and how they make sense of its removal. Using a qualitative survey, the current study asked a series of questions about pubic hair and its removal, both in general and related to men’s and women’s bodies. In total, 67 participants (100% response rate; 50 female; mean age 29, diverse ethnically, predominantly heterosexual) completed the survey. Thematic analysis identified five key themes in the way people made sense of pubic hair and pubic hair removal that related to choice, privacy, physical attractiveness, sexual impacts, and cleanliness. Meanings around pubic hair and its removal were not consistently gendered, but it was still situated as more of an issue for women. With potential impacts on sexual and psychological well-being, sexuality education provides an important venue for discussing, and questioning, normative ideas about pubic hair.

Pubic hair grooming injuries presenting to U.S. emergency departments

OBJECTIVE

To describe the demographics and mechanism of genitourinary (GU) injuries related to pubic hair grooming in patients who present to U.S. emergency departments (EDs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System contains prospectively collected data from patients who present to EDs with consumer product-related injuries. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System is a stratified probability sample, validated to provide national estimates of all patients who present to U.S. EDs with an injury. We reviewed the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to identify incidents of GU injury related to pubic hair grooming for 2002-2010. The variables reviewed included age, race, gender, injury type, location (organ) of injury, hospital disposition, and grooming product.

RESULTS

From 2002 to 2010, an observed 335 actual ED visits for GU injury related to grooming products provided an estimated 11,704 incidents (95% confidence interval 8430-15,004). The number of incidents increased fivefold during that period, amounting to an estimated increase of 247 incidents annually (95% confidence interval 110-384, P = .001). Of the cohort, 56.7% were women. The mean age was 30.8 years (95% confidence interval 28.8-32.9). Shaving razors were implicated in 83% of the injuries. Laceration was the most common type of injury (36.6%). The most common site of injury was the external female genitalia (36.0%). Most injuries (97.3%) were treated within the ED, with subsequent patient discharge.

CONCLUSION

Most GU injuries that result from the use of grooming products are minor and involve the use of razors. The demographics of patients with GU injuries from grooming products largely paralleled observations about cultural grooming trends in the United States.

Breaking body hair boundaries: Classroom exercises for challenging social constructions of the body and sexuality

Courses in women’s studies and gender studies within US contexts have long prioritized content that critically examines the social construction of bodies and sexualities, consciousness-raising about how social identities interface with disciplinary and institutional practices, and the notion that ‘the personal is political.’ This article examines the social and pedagogical implications of an extra-credit assignment where I asked women to grow out their body hair and men to remove their body hair for 10 weeks in several upper-division women’s studies courses. Students’ response papers and weekly logs from 87 students over four semesters highlighted the social policing of gender and sexual identity, pervasive disgust and misinformation about body hair, raced and classed dimensions of students’ experiences, configurations of masculinity as agentic and powerful, and postexperiential reflections on challenging social norms. This assignment showed how temporary excursions into rebelling against body norms can generate sociopolitical awareness, particularly for living as Other (e.g. queerness, fatness, disability). I also consider implications for ‘ripple effect pedagogy’ and ‘peer generated pedagogy,’ along with pedagogical reflections about using the assignment as a consciousness-raising tool in feminist classrooms.

Hormones, context, and "brain gender": a review of evidence from congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Brain organization theory suggests that steroid hormones during fetal development permanently organize the brain for gender, including patterns of sexuality, cognition, temperament, and interests that differ by sex. This widely-accepted theory has important implications for health, ranging from medical management of infants with intersex conditions to suggested etiologies for sex differences in autism, depression, and other mental health problems. Studies of genetic females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), in which high prenatal androgens have been linked to both atypical genitals and "masculine" patterns of gender and sexuality, are particularly important. Based on a comprehensive review of research on CAH, this article demonstrates that such studies have neglected four broad categories of variables that plausibly affect psychosexual development: (1) physiological effects of CAH, including complex disruption of steroid hormones from early development onwards; (2) intensive medical intervention and surveillance, which many women with CAH describe as traumatic; (3) direct effects of genital morphology on sexuality (versus indirect effects that "masculine" genitals may have on gender socialization); and (4) expectations of masculinization that likely affect both the development and evaluation of gender and sexuality in CAH. Complex and iterative interactions among postnatal biological variables, medical interventions, and social context provide a more plausible explanation for atypicalities in psychology and behavior that have been reported for genetic females with CAH than the conventional explanation that early androgens have "masculinized" their brains.

Women living with facial hair: the psychological and behavioral burden

OBJECTIVE

While unwanted facial hair is clearly distressing for women, relatively little is known about its psychological impact. This study reports on the psychological and behavioral burden of facial hair in women with suspected polycystic ovary syndrome.

METHODS

Eighty-eight women (90% participation rate) completed a self-administered questionnaire concerning hair removal practices; the impact of facial hair on social and emotional domains; relationships and daily life; anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale); self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale); and quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF).

RESULTS

Women spent considerable time on the management of their facial hair (mean, 104 min/week). Two thirds (67%) reported continually checking in mirrors and 76% by touch. Forty percent felt uncomfortable in social situations. High levels of emotional distress and psychological morbidity were detected; 30% had levels of depression above the clinical cut off point, while 75% reported clinical levels of anxiety; 29% reported both. Although overall quality of life was good, scores were low in social and relationship domains--reflecting the impact of unwanted facial hair.

CONCLUSION

Unwanted facial hair carries a high psychological burden for women and represents a significant intrusion into their daily lives. Psychological support is a neglected element of care for these women.