Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area and in the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region. Pubic hair starts to grow during puberty (for boys it starts to grow earlier than facial hair). Patterns of pubic hair vary widely. On some people, it is thick and/or coarse, while on others it may be sparse and/or fine. Pubic hair and axillary (armpit) hair is much darker than the hair of the scalp, and is accurately comparable to the colour of the eyebrows, if not darker (in both sexes, with the exclusion of albino people). This is due to the lack of "sun bleaching" that the hair experiences. On most women, the pubic patch is triangular and lies over the mons veneris, or mound of Venus. On many men, the pubic patch tapers upwards to a line of hair pointing towards the navel. As with axillary (armpit) hair, pubic hair is associated with a concentration of sebaceous glands in the area.

Table of contents
1 Function of pubic hair
2 Culture
3 Regions
4 Men

Function of pubic hair

It is believed that the functions of pubic hair include the dissemination of pheromones, and protection from the friction of sexual intercourse.

Culture

Attitudes

In Japanese drawings pubic hair is often omitted for legal reasons, see
hentai, as the display of pubic hair is not legal.

Modification

The following paragraphs are about females. For males, please see further down.

Trimming or completely removing pubic hair is a common practice in the Arab world.

Since the 1960s it has become popular to trim or completely remove pubic hair in the western world (Europe and North America). In some regions of India and surrounding countries, this practice has been popular since before the 1960s.

Different cultures have different shaving habits as well as different reasons for why they modify or remove pubic hair, which include:

Performers in pornography often have removed some or all of their pubic hair.

For methods of how to remove hair, please see depilation.

Styles

As you can imagine, just about any style is possible, e.g., heart-shaped (to name just one). But these styles are very popular:

Regions

Females between 15 and 40 years of age keep their pubic hair according to this table:

   

Regionnot modified
[%]
trimmed
[%]
fully shaved
[%]
USA/Canada<106030
Europe> 75< 15< 10
South/Latin Americano information
Africa (w/o Arab countries)no information
Arab world<2080
Australiano information
South-East Asia85510
Indian subcontinent201070
Chinas/Koreas85510
Japan85510
Nudists251065
BDSM cultures155>80

Men

Since the 1990s more and more men also trim or remove their pubic hair. Alltogether it is seen much more rarely than in females. It is fashionable in BDSM cultures (approx. 30% shaved) or nudist cultures (approx. 10% shaved).


Like other hair, pubic hair may be infested by lice: see pubic lice.