(Newser)
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Pornographers have proved prescient yet again: The industry’s obsession with shaving pubic hair has reached mainstream society, including teens, in a trend that’s puzzling experts and portraying the hirsute as freaks, Der Spiegel reports. One German poll found 50% of women and 25% of men trim or remove pubic hair, breaking with a tradition of pride in hairier nether regions.
Body hair has certain advantages: It protects the skin from chaffing, helps cool the body, and may attract mates by emitting scents. But that hasn’t stopped adults from paying for a clean-shaven look, nor men from demanding the works: “back, crack, and sack.” Females aren’t faring much better, fearing that a natural look is repulsive to men: “A woman’s private parts have become her face,” says one doctor.
