Scarleteen

Hello! I'll just get straight into it:

I've been shaving down there since like a year after I got puberty because I don't feel comfortable with my pubic hair (it's very coarse and thick) and I now feel used to having little to no hair (I shave about twice a week). In health class, one topic led to another and we got to talking about shaving the pubic area and I feel kinda stressed ever since I learned that pubic hair is there for a reason: protecting my genitals from sexually transmitted diseases or vaginitis. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to stop shaving but I also don't want to eventually get an std. I don't know if this is useful, but I'm a girl and I'm also a virgin (though I masterbate). What should I do?

Hi there, Emmy09!

You don't have to stop shaving if you don't want to. Pubic hair isn't the only protection your body has against infections, and keeping it is not the only strategy you can use to minimize such risks.

You can read more about this here.

Hi Emmy,

I do want add that not only is pubic hair not the main thing that keeps bacteria from entering the vagina--the coverage offered by the labia does a lot of that--it's not protection from STIs, period. The only way to protect ourselves, or our sexual partners, from STI transmission is to use barrier methods such as condoms or dental dams during sex.