Will the debate around women’s body hair ever end?

Barely a month goes by without reports of a new genital grooming trend. From Gwyneth Paltrow’s advice on vaginal steaming to detoxing masks for your vulva, there is truly no end to the nonsense women are peddled.

It’s easy to scorn the people who go in for such treatments. But it is little wonder we’re confused about how best to look after our bits, given the conflicting information we receive.

In 2016, a research paper by the University of California found a correlation between pubic hair removal and increased rates of STIs. This week, a new study by Ohio State University suggests that women who wax or shave off all their pubic hair are not, after all, at greater risk of contracting STIs.

The link between depilation and disease seemed to confirm what many had long suspected: that women who want sex and who wish to make themselves appealing to sexual partners are gullible and irresponsible. So it’s heartening to see that myth debunked. But this conversation is still rooted in a single truth: women cannot make choices about their own bodies without facing social repercussions.

In a 2017 survey, 30 per cent of men admitted that pubic hair would be a relationship deal-breaker. The same study found just 6 per cent of women left their pubic hair completely natural. Patriarchal beauty standards demand you make your body more feminine by removing hair, then blames you for getting infections.

The authors of the original research theorised that “micro tears” in the skin could make it easier for infections to take hold (though I am yet to see the research paper on whether men who shave their faces are more at risk of contracting STIs from oral sex). Either that, they said, or people who regularly engaged in what they called “extreme grooming” of their pubic area were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour.

Or it could be that people wax and shave more regularly when they are having more regular sex. This simply makes them statistically more likely to come into contact with STIs, and has absolutely nothing to do with the topiary of their nether regions.

That’s not to say that there are no downsides to hair removal. Research shows that 60 per cent of women have experienced health complications such as abrasion and irritation as a result of waxing. But while I am happy to take full responsibility for my ingrown hairs, I will not accept liability for matters of public health.

STI rates are rising alarmingly in the UK. When funding for sexual health services is being cut and in some places clinics are being forced to close altogether, it’s convenient to point to personal grooming habits as the culprit.

Using condoms and ensuring you’ve had the HPV vaccine, if you’re eligible for it, are far better ways to protect yourself from STIs than worrying about whether or not to wax. Furthermore, an STI cannot be contracted out of thin air, it must be caught from someone. Putting the focus on regular testing and equipping people with the information and confidence to discuss sexual health with their partners would be far more useful than shaming women for wanting to look sexy.

The very fact that removing all your pubic hair is referred to as “extreme grooming” by researchers suggests a degree of judgement. Ripping out some of your pubic hair with hot wax is fine, but don’t go overboard. You don’t want to be “extreme”. Let’s keep it tasteful shall we, ladies?

These mixed messages about how our bodies should look and behave are not just damaging to our self-esteem, they get in the way of us accessing accurate information and sexual health and pleasure.

When the creators of sexual wellness app Ferly were researching their target market, this was one of their biggest findings. “We found women lacked accurate information to make healthy and pleasurable decisions,” co-founder Billie Quinlan told me recently. “On top of that, they felt shame and stigma around their sexuality which prevented them from really exploring their desires and asking for what they needed, and this was impacting their mental and emotional wellbeing.”

Happily this latest study will go some way to setting the record straight on STIs. Unpicking the stigma around female sexuality will take longer. But refusing to shame women for choosing how to groom themselves is a really good place to start.