The STD Perils Of Womanly Waxing
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“Thick brambles of pubic forestry do indeed serve a biological function.“
“I don’t like it,” some women might say. “It makes me feel twelve again.”
“I’m all for it,” others will quip. “I don’t like to see you choking.”
The absolute removal of curly fries from the female pubic region. A few ladies still balk at the idea, but they’re in the minority these days – and also, according to Emily Gibson, director of the health centre at Washington’s Western University, safer than the majority from marauding legions of STDs.
“The amount of time, energy, money and emotion both genders spend on abolishing hair from their genitals is astronomical,” she began, going on to argue that this long-running trend is the product of “certain hairless actors and actresses, a misguided attempt at hygiene or being more attractive to a partner.”
Here’s where Gibson gets serious: “Pubic hair removal naturally irritates and inflames the hair follicles, leaving microscopic open wounds,” she wrote on the US medical website, KevinMD.com. “Frequent hair removal is necessary to stay smooth, causing regular irritation of the shaved or waxed area. When that is combined with the warm, moist environment of the genitals, it becomes a happy culture media for some of the nastiest bacterial pathogens.”
“Bacterial pathogens” are two words that, when used together within the context of something to do with your genitals, is rarely a good thing unless your super-power is chlamydia or something. In this case, small cuts common to the act of repeated hair removal increase the risk of herpes transmission “due to the microscopic wounds being exposed to virus carried by mouth or genitals.”
What’s more, Gibson points out that thick brambles of pubic forestry do indeed serve a biological function.
“Pubic hair does have a purpose, providing a cushion against friction that can cause skin abrasion and injury, and protection from bacteria,” she said. “It is the visible result of adolescent hormones and certainly nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. It is time to declare a truce in the war on pubic hair and allow it to stay right where it belongs.”
Much has been said about instances of women actually catching STDs during waxing procedures via so-called contaminated instruments, but given the majority of sexual diseases die instantly when exposed to their mortal enemy (air), this seems incredibly spurious and more scare-tactic than fact-tastic. Of more realistic concern is that of the female psyche, says gynaecologist Dr. Elizabeth Farrell. The absence of a thick layer of hirsute concealment does lay every detail of the humble hairless beaver wide open to intense scrutiny.
“It has led to many misconceptions about what is the range of normal for women’s vulvas,” she said. “When women have pubic hair, you don’t see the labia and don’t necessarily focus on how big your labia are. There is now an increase in cosmetic vaginal and vulva surgery to make women’s labia smaller. The big issue is in relation to body image… young people today, particularly males, think that if women don’t shave or wax their pubic hair, they are unclean. We do see people developing rashes in response to the waxing. Women get ingrown hairs, which then cause skin infection. If anyone has cuts on the skin and they have sex with somebody who is infected, there is an increased risk of STIs.”