Gender, Self-Objectification and Pubic Hair Removal

Abstract

Pubic hair removal is common in college age men and women in the United States and Australia. The present research addresses two questions related to this practice: (1) Are objectification and body shape concerns related to pubic hair removal; and (2) Do these relationships differ by gender? U.S. undergraduates, 148 women and 76 men, completed questionnaires about the presence, frequency of, and reasons for pubic hair removal; self-objectification, including self-surveillance and body shame; self-consciousness in sexual situations; and drives for leanness, thinness, and muscularity. While both genders reported similar rates of pubic hair removal, women reported greater frequency and higher normative, sexiness, and cleanliness reasons for pubic hair removal. Normative and sexiness reasons were positively correlated with self-surveillance. The relationships among normative and sexiness reasons and self-objectification were significantly higher for women with women's body shame and self-surveillance scores more strongly impacted by normative and sexiness reasons. Findings are interpreted within the framework of objectification theory.

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

“…In our data, women's pubic hair removal practices matched or exceeded the levels reported in other similar studies (e.g., Herbenick et al, 2010;Smolak & Murnen, 2011;Tiggemann & Hodgson, 2008) -with almost half (48.9%) of all female respondents removing most or all of their pubic hair.…”

“…This may well be indicative of the age group surveyed, as younger women (and men) may be particularly invested in embodying a sexually liberated identity, or in being perceived as desirable (Smolak & Murnen, 2011)). It may also be indicative of some features of New Zealand culture, for instance the proximal nature of beaches, and moderate climate may make bikini line hair removal more salient for many women.…”

“…Enactments of resistance to such influence -such as women displaying leg hair -are typically more salient than practices produced in conformity to such expectations -such as leg hair removal for women (see for instance, Fahs, 2011Fahs, , 2012Fahs & Delgado, 2011). Investigating hair removal practices, which we do in this paper, can offer some insights into both existing, and changing, social meanings and bodypresentation mandates, the pressures they exert, and the impact these pressures have on individuals' feelings about their bodies and their body practices (Smolak & Murnen, 2011).…”

“…There is some indication that women in the UK and Sri Lanka identify men's body hair as attractive (Dixson, Halliwell, East, Wignarajah, & Anderson, 2003), but we know relatively little about what men themselves think about their body hair, or to what level male body hair maintains attractiveness (Smolak & Murnen, 2011). Men's hair removal practices do seem to be going through a period of rapid change, with the limited empirical evidence suggesting hair removal or reduction from multiple sites is now a common Western practice (Boroughs et al, 2005;Porche, 2007).…”

Social pressures and health consequences associated with body hair removal

“…Braun et al (2013) consider hair removal to be less of an 'unencumbered choice' for women and more of 'an enactment of culture'-the result of implicit pressures from social norms and gendered messages around attractiveness and femininity. Tiggemann and Hodgson (2008) and Toerien and Wilkinson (2004) are also concerned that pressures to remove what is a significant marker of adult female sexuality is a reflection of society's discomfort with the adult female body and veneration of the highly sexualised prepubescent body, which is arguably an example of cultural support for the sexual objectification of women (Smolak and Murnen, 2011).…”