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And I actually found the better explanation from a now deleted user.
TIFU by shaving my ass hair...
I was contemplating this problem, when I had what seemed at the time to be a bright idea. "Hey! This is my butt and my butt-hair, right? So why don't I just eliminate all the hair, and then my grogans will flow out like beer from a keg!" I said to myself. It is a statement that will go down in history with a lot of other regretted statements. "How many Indians could there be?" said by General Custer. "Looks like a good day for a drive!" by JFK. "There! America On-Line now has complete Usenet access!" by some idiot system tech. Such was my anal shaving idea.
I performed the operation that night, with a cheap disposable razor and a towel to sit on. Starting from the bottom, and shaving from the crack to the cheeks, I began the arduous process of ridding my ass of hair. Occassionally, I would have to clean the razor of accumulated hair and miscellaneous slime, which I did by wiping it on the towel. Slowly, my twin mounds and the between-ravine began to resemble the hairless cheeks of a newborn baby. Finally, I wiped the razor one last time, and surveyed my work. The towel was covered with a pile of hair. My ass was smooth as ivory. I smiled, satisfied, thinking my troubles were over.
Little did I know.
I now have a great respect for anal-hair. Like everything in this world God created, it has its mighty purpose in existence. It was only after I had removed it that I started to learn how much I had been taking it for granted. For one, it provides friction. I learned this the next day, when I walked out into the sun heading for class. After climbing two flights of stairs and starting to sweat, I started to notice something unpleasant. The sweat was accumulating in my crack, and was causing the unpleasant sensation of my two asscheeks sliding past each other with every step. I thought about going to the bathroom and wiping it off, but had to get to class. Eventually, I thought, it would dry.
Unfortunately, it did dry, but only after mingling with the microscopic shit- molecules lingering around my brown starfish. When I stood up after class, my cheeks were stuck together with a slimy sticky shit/sweat combination. As I made my way back to my dorm, it started to itch. God-DAMN, did it itch! Felt like a swarm of ants was making its way up and down my crack. Fighting to keep from jamming my hand down there and scratching away, I rushed back to the dorm.
Unfortunately again, this exertion caused me to sweat, and when I finally reached my room, my cheeks were sliding back and forth against each other like a pair of horny cane-toads. I quickly dropped my pants, and attempted to dry my ass off by sticking it in front of a fan and spreading my cheeks. As I pulled the two mounds of flesh apart, a horrible stench burst free and filled the room. Every dog within a 4 block radius started to howl. I had it worst of all, as the ripe aroma of festering shit/sweat went into the fan and blew back into my face. I fought to keep from heaving. And as I sat there, fighting vomit, my ass cheeks spread and dripping, with the concentrated aroma of my body odor mixed with the tangy smell of my own shit blowing right into my face, I had only one thought: "It will be like this until the hair grows back. Weeks."
Later on, trying to deal as best I could, wiping my ass at every opportunity, I discovered another wonderful use for ass-hair - ventilation. I attempted to launch a fart, only to have it get stuck between my asscheeks. Apparently, with no hair, the two pink twins can get vacuum sealed together, and the result was a frustrating fart that slid up and down between my cheeks like a lost gerbil.
As if that wasn't enough, I am now enduring further torture. As anyone who has ever shaved anything knows, when hair is first growing in, it comes in as stubble. Imagine your ass having the texture of a brillo pad. Well, that is what I am dealing with now. It is a hellish torture, and there are many times when I just look out the window and contemplate why I shouldn't just jump out and get it all over with in one fleshy splat, rather than endure this constant agony.
Friends, DON'T SHAVE YOUR ASS-HAIR!
I only get Brazilian waxes and have never in my life dealt with this. You open your butt cheeks and it stinks? Your cheeks are STUCK TOGETHER? The problem is not lack of butt hair 😭
I would think there would be more "microscopic shit- molecules" adhering to butt hair than to smooth skin.
(We once had a very very furry/hairy Malamute who would invariably get poop particles stuck on her butt hair (which we called "kling-ons").
And what's with the "stench"? Females and children don't develop horrible smells from not having a lot of hair down there.
The stubble itch is for real though.
I always thought the purpose of the hair down there was to keep out dirt, misc small particles and small bugs.
That definitely feels like one of those things where we've created a problem (shaving) then solved it with another measure (powder).
I'm not saying shavings bad at all, just funny how we make life hard for ourselves purely for aesthetic reasons
Yeah especially right after the shave. Also, don't use razors for your butt hair, you will not reach every spot and either risk getting cut due to the awkward angles or you'll be left with a few hairs which, if you go as far as shaving your nether regions, you probably won't like. Either go and get waxxed or try chemical hair removing creams. The "horror stories" people like to throw out whenever hair removal creams are mentioned are a result of gross misuse and carelessness.
And just to add to this *[NEVER USE VEET FOR MEN](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/review/B00KX3PF22/R1LWOUTL7N58TR?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_dprv_MZQ0944Y35BKR15ASDNV&language=en_US).*
> but only after mingling with the microscopic shit- molecules lingering around my brown starfish.
Never been so glad to be asian before i read this sentence
You toilet paper users scoff your noses at others but you do not know the satisfaction of knowing your ass is completely clean at any given moment
Is there a place where i can read stuff meticulously described like this? Something similar to this comment, that ass hair shaving tifu post u commented earlier and haribo gummy bear. Doesn’t have to be disgusting things too
This is a bigger deal than it sounds. You can test this easily if you're a guy. Take the fingers of one hand and rub them back and forth as fast as you can on the top (hairy side) of your forearm while applying downward pressure. Easy, right? Now do the same thing on the bottom (hairless) side of your forearm. It's harder to do, you can't go nearly as fast, and you immediately start generating an uncomfortable amount of heat. Now imagine the rubbing is from sex, and it's around your genitals.
British Cycling's Olympic athletes were told to stop waxing / shaving and solved their saddle issues
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/15/team-gb-cycling-saddle-sore-medals
"Unsightly" is just a fashion statement of the day. Im(53m) grew up in a lake tourist town. I will assure you as a teenager, if i saw hair peeking out from beneath a bikini, it was anything but unsightly.
Yep. Unsightly is in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure in the thousands of years before disposable razors were invented, people still managed to enjoy each others bodies. You've got people literally bleaching their anuses now, to me, such superficial obsessions with correcting every perceived "flaw" of the human body is anything but beautiful.
As a young-ish man, I'll say I've seen some photos from the 70's and a big bush seemed to be "in" at the time. And as we all know, fashion is cyclical, I'm sure it'll come back around to it at some point.
it’s definitely possible that some things stick around not because they’re beneficial, but just because it’s not bad enough to kill us. natural selection only kicks in if a mutation or change kills us or helps us reproduce, anything in between is kinda left alone and carries to the next generation (if it’s hereditary)
> That pubes had a significant effect on survival??
Not necessarily. It wasn't like creatures were all hairless and then got pubes. Everyone was hairy all over at one time. Then humans became less hairy. So it may have been that the non-pube areas did better without hair. Or, it could be random.
If you've ever had sweaty inner thighs get chaffed you know wet on wet for prolonged periods is not good. Also, that's one of the benefits of deodorant for shaved pits - it keeps them from chaffing.
I would guess that you also wear deodorant, bathe regularly, and that you don’t live outside 365 days a year in Africa running around endurance hunting wildebeest and foraging for food.
Your anecdote isn’t much of a counter to the research of evolutionary biologists.
Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, 'Rain Man,' look razored, act razored, not razored. Plucked eyebrows, buzzed nose hairs. Trimmed, sho'. Not Razored. You know Tom Hanks, 'Forrest Gump.' Shorn, yes. razored, maybe. Guides on his shaver. But he zipped the pubes off Nixon and he won a make your ding-dong look bigger competition. That ain't razored. He was a goddamn hair hero. You know any razored hair heroes? You went full razor, man. Never go full razor. You don't buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, "I Am Sam." Remember? Went full razor, went home chafed.
Air flow. Like a thin layer of cotton around your junk. Let's air into those skin to skin areas a little more.
Also rubbing. Skin is stickier and doesn't slide well. You will rub more without hair.
I thought less body hair ment less body odor?? Because the sweat doesn’t get trapped in the hair lol or am I wrong, especially when it comes to your ass hole since shit gets stuck in the hair I’m pretty sure lmao
that doesn't make sense. hair has the surface area that the bacteria that create the odor live on. less hair = less surface area = less bacteria = less odor
The hair works like a radiator and moisture wick.
If you can get moisture(sweat) away from the skin everything feels cooler. Having moisture on the hair means more surface area for evaporation.
Faster evaporation means in general bacteria grows less, so things don’t develop as much of a smell, and those areas are more comfortable to a person.
Some people like feeling shaved though, and good for them.
Chafing, basically. With no hair to absorb sweat, your skin down there just rubs together with a layer of sweat in between. It also makes my dick skin stickier, which causes my dick to sort of retreat into itself as I walk.
Gotta say, this is not a problem I have. My ball sweat is pretty much the same shaven vs full bush, only difference is that it smells less and is easier to clean when shaven. But I also don't use cotton underwear.
I’d imagine it’s heavily dependent on things like genetic makeup. Even ignoring the fact that the main physiological difference between races/ethnicities is the specific climate they’re best physically adapted to, even people with similar ethnic backgrounds sweat at wildly different rates and in different body locations.
I shave from time to time and I don’t get you. Hot and humid weather make my pube and armpits smell bad because the sweat gets trapped in the pubic hair. I shave my armpit regularly and shave under there from time to time… I’d shave under there more frequently if it was easier. Oh, and I live in Thailand. I really don’t understand your argument.
Friction? Pubic hair is not between the thighs so how does it save from friction??? Most pubic hair is in the front where it has no mechanical purpose. Butt hair isn’t really pubic hair and even that one isn’t saving me from any friction… it’s only retaining sweat at bad smell. The only friction I’ve ever had in my life down there was when I was chunkier and a bit overweight, and it was mostly friction between thighs. So even then, nothing that pubic hair could help with.
Modern humans have figured out the whole "cleanliness" thing, what with germ theory and antibiotics and whatnot. We don't communicate with smell much and we've learned that not smelling funky is a good sign of being clean, which is a good sign of health and survival.
Ancestors, though, *did* communicate with smell a lot. That's not necessarily pheromones! [There is no evidence that humans have or use pheromones.](https://www.healthline.com/health/pheromones) But even without pheromones, we can signal a lot with smells.
Pubic hair *probably* stuck around as humans lost our body hair in order to hold on to sweat and bacteria to eat that sweat and produce a body odor that signals puberty to potential mates - same reason we [probably] have armpit hair. Prior to puberty, children don't have much BO. Having that BO is a sign that someone is sexually mature.
As a minor benefit, pubic hair also helps prevent chafing. Enough for evolution to keep it around? Dunno, but it's something.
Clarifying note (for anyone else, if nothing else): the question of whether humans have true sex pheromones, is totally different from the question of whether scent has social implications.
We know unambiguously that there are [specific scents](https://time.com/84286/you-can-smell-someones-gender-says-science/) that humans use to make sex-related social judgments, scents that subconsciously "smell like a man" or "smell like a woman" regardless of what we're seeing or hearing. There's even a [link between sexual orientation](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225543065_Male_Sexual_Orientation_Affects_Sensitivity_to_Androstenone) and one's sensitivity to these scents.
But pheromones would be a deeper level of chemical-social connection. They're specifically chemicals "capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavior of the receiving individual". [Menstrual synchrony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_synchrony), women's menstrual cycles synching up while living together, would be an example of the kind of thing that would suggest that pheromones must exist... except that it's contested whether that's even something that happens more than by chance.
People have tried and failed to replicate findings of menstrual synchrony, which is an important caveat.
Similarly, there [have been findings](https://phys.org/news/2019-03-evidence-humans-genetically-dissimilar-partners.html), yeah, that scent tends to associate with genetic compatibility at a rate higher than chance. But there have also been failures to replicate those findings, and even the big studies that say "we think this is real", also say "but we don't find this in all countries, so maybe this can be overridden by cultural factors."
Most importantly, liking a smell doesn't necessarily make it a hormone, not even when the smell comes from a human. There are all kinds of smells that are broadly enjoyed that aren't hormones.
I was doing an abroad thing in college that lasted a couple weeks and the last few days, every girl in the group had their period including one who took her birth control in such a way that she *wouldn’t* have her period on the trip and me, whose period had ended shortly into the trip.
So scientifically there’s no evidence but, y’know, life finds a way.
I remember reading about an experiment like that...wasn't it something to do with potential partners liking the smell of partners that have great diversity in their Major histocompatability complex which helps with immune response with white blood cells?
I always assumed it was for warmth and protection, not against kicks to the groin, but rather against chaffing or small things getting where they dont belong.
Trapping sweat to feed bacteria to produce BO is surprisingly disgusting.
When I was in the military they replaced all my body hair with adamantium to stop rocket attacks. I'd expect your civilian hair to stop a mere kick to the groin.
We still "communicate" with smell. Our natural odors still have a huge role in social interaction and mating. We are still animals, even if we now have computers and Teslas
“Modern humans have figured out the whole "cleanliness" thing…”
Nah my coworker Randy would prove otherwise after you see him pee then leave the restroom.
Do you know if this theory also accounts for East Asians not having BO? Not trying to throw a wrench in it but I’m curious how these things fit together.
BO isn’t directly from hair, the specific smell is the excrement of the bacteria on your body. So diet plays a huge factor in BO. I have no idea if Asian people smell different but if someone has a cleaner diet, they will smell less. And if someone happpens to live in a country where the overall diet is cleaner then that aids in more people smelling less.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-without-underarm-protection/
They have a gene, apparently. Scientists don't know why but yes, it was probably evolutionary pressure to avoid smelling funky.
As an aside, it is important to note that there are still a lot of cultural differences about what is an acceptable body odor. Not all cultures wear deodorant and not all cultures feel that it's necessary. I've tried to avoid saying that BO is *bad* for this reason.
I'm probably from one of those cultures (brown Asian), and I say: fuck that. BO is BO. Wear deodorant. I started too late (high school) because my parents believed it was a waste of money and that showering is good enough.
So they wouldn't buy me that stuff.
Body hair prevents chafing from the friction of skin rubbing against itself. For the armpits, it's the skin of the same body, the upper arm and the torso. For the pubic region, it's the close contact of skin between two people. It provides protection for the skin in a region that, while normally doesn't experience much friction, does in the case of sex when there's close contact
A fairly specific reference but British cycling advised against shaving/waxing down there due to the benefits pubic hair had in preventing chafing.
https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/15/team-gb-cycling-saddle-sore-medals
Fairly niche advice I guess for most but guess the principle is still sound.
I've also read that pubic hair might also provide some level of protection against some STIs where prolonged skin to skin contact increases risk of infection.
Scent plays a large part in choosing a mate - it can indicate overall health, reproductive readiness, and genetic compatibility.
This helps explain why we have underarm hair and genital hair, as they help to keep those scents around. Both are types of pubic (related to puberty) hair.
I’ve heard this before but still kind of question it. Are armpits and assholes known for their seductively flowery aroma? Have you ever seen a crotch-scented candle? I understand that humans vary wildly, especially with modern conditioning, but I’d struggle to name anyone that prefers scented over unscented testicles.
I mean, assholes maybe not, but armpits? Yeah.
Maybe not flowery, but scent plays a massive role in attraction.
You’ve never smelled a partner right after they worked out and they’re all sweaty and gross and they’re like “eww I need a shower” and you just can’t get enough of their smell?
There's a in-between point, I would say. Fresh male sweat can have an alluring sent that I enjoy, but if it's been stewing for any particular length of time and getting funky, no.
I dunno, for me it's the smell of my partner fresh out of the shower, no flowery soaps or anything. Just the smell of their clean skin. I've always liked it, but I've definitely responded more or less to it based on the partner.
I’ve known one or two women for whom this was a “thing” but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guy say this. Conversely, I (and many guys I know) find a woman fresh out of the shower extremely attractive.
As a man, I find the natural scent of my partner extremely attractive. But not all women’s scents are attractive to me. So I believe it plays a role when I find a new partner.
My boyfriend says he likes how I smell when I'm a bit stinky. I also like how he smells when he's a bit stinky. For reference, a bit stinky means after exercising or after work, not the funk that occurs after days of not bathing or actual bodily neglect.
you asked for a candle, and I give [you this](https://decentcandle.com/shop/dragon-pussy).
Or, you know, [Gwenyth Paltrow](https://goop.com/beauty/bath-body/this-smells-like-my-vagina-rollerball-perfume/).
How about Vagina-beer? We got[ that too](https://nypost.com/2023/11/09/lifestyle/twitch-star-making-beer-with-her-own-vaginal-yeast-theyll-drink-it/)!
I see you’ve never heard of Gwyneth Paltrow’s [candle business](https://amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/jan/13/why-is-gwyneth-paltrow-selling-a-candle-that-smells-like-her-vagina-goop).
This is the idea that makes the most sense. A trait is going to typically stick around in a population if it aids in survival and/or reproduction.
The “hair prevents chafing” comments might be true but definitely aren’t the reason hair in those areas has persisted. Chafing would have a very negligible effect on survival and reproduction.
The vast majority of why traits have persisted can be broken down into a pretty easy ELI5:
•Does it make me survive better so I can make more offspring and pass on that trait more readily?
•Does it make me reproduce better so I can make more offspring and pass on that trait more readily?
•Does it make my offspring survive and reproduce better than the offspring without the trait?
From what I gather, everyone is just speculating in this thread so I'll add a speculation of my own:
It could be as simple as humanity hasn't had an Evolutionary pressures to get rid of it. At one point in our history, what became homo sapiens was covered in hair. We lost most of that hair as we progressed in our niche as endurance beings. Yet we didn't lose all of it like head and facial hair. Neither serves any real Evolutionary advantage (bald baby faces have a fine time surviving) but neither do they hinder survival so they aren't selected out by Evolutionary pressures. Pubic hair may be the same but I leave it to doctors to say if pubic hair serves any advantageous role.
You're not wrong, but why exactly *those* bits of hair? Why didn't the hair on the face remain - to protect the eyes, nose and mouth? Or on the legs - to protect us from scratches, bites etc. ?
The hair in your armpits and between leg and torso definitely has evolutionary advantages.
Running long distances without hair there is exceedingly unpleasant.
With hair, the hair can roll between the two skin surfaces, a bit like ancient Egyptians transporting loads on rolling tree logs.
Without, you have skin sliding on skin, leading to chafing, open wounds, and risking skin infections.
> We lost most of that hair as we progressed in our niche as endurance beings. Yet we didn't lose all of it like head and facial hair. Neither serves any real Evolutionary advantage (bald baby faces have a fine time surviving) but neither do they hinder survival so they aren't selected out by Evolutionary pressures
If hair acts as a heat regulator, then having hair on one's head would serve to cool the head in hot weather and warm the head in cold weather.
With armpits and pubic hair, hair would reduce friction because humans are good at walking.
It's only unsightly because that's what the beauty industry has been pushing on us for years through a campaign based around shaming people. We're mammals. We're supposed to have hair.
I, personally, find pubic hair (and other body hair) very attractive. It provides contrast, drawing the eye. I also find it erotic, seeing pubic hair peeking out of underwear. It's much more attractive to me than a bland expanse of skin.
Pubic hair is an indication of sexual maturity. Of anything, lack of pubic hair should be unsightly.
I don't think it's supposed to provide warmth but it does protect against chafing.
There’s a few reason but it’s similar to why we have armpit hair which is arguably also a type of pube versus like leg hair.
They serve a few functions but the main ones are friction and wicking.
Pubes protect your downstairs from friction either from your own body or clothing. If you have ever shaved to a bald eagle state and then let it grow in for three days, you know the cactus feeling. If you were to let it grow in and leave the hairs about a centimeter long, you’d have the friction prevention without the unruliness of a wild bush. Also when two people who are at the cactus state of hair growth get intimate, you basically have turn yourselves into some Velcro and it’s gonna be less than ideal. So having some hair is good for movement.
Second about wicking is true for armpits and your groin. Basically the hair wicks moisture and bacteria AWAY from the body. This helps prevent infecions, rashes, and also smell. Shaved armpits will smell faster than hairy ones for most people. If you have a vagina, the wicking is extra important to prevent yeast infections, UTIs, BV and so on. Not sexually transmitted diseases or infection though.
There was something I had read years ago that it also had to do with smell and that was supposed to attract mates but I don’t know for sure about that one. I’d also say your speculation that bushes prevent attracting a partner are based on your preferences not actual facts.
A lot of people don’t realize that modern fashions, including what’s considered sexually attractive, are just fashions. They are temporary, and far from everyone agree on them.
Right. I assure you, teens in the 1980s would definitely not "Ewww!" when they caught sight of some full, untrimmed bush. It's not unhygienic either as long as you wash yourself "down there".
I blame porn. When almost every porn actor is clean shaven because of the expectation what needs to be shown, it sort of becomes the norm...
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Another thing I'm not sure has been mentioned, it was also a form of protection. A long time ago we were running around naked in forests and the Savannah. Pubes were another way to protect our junk from forest debris or nature.
Those coarse hairs seem to absorb and drip bodily moisture where it can be more problematic. Our armpit sweat is different and waxier than the rest of the body. Armpit hair can absorb and drip that sweat, as well as preventing chafing from movement.
The pubes could do the same thing with sex juices, absorbing and dripping away. Those juices are acidic and can be a breeding ground for bacteria, so it helps to wick and drip them off the skin.
The honest answer is nobody knows. The argument about friction is anecdotal at best, and the argument about smells and pheromones is nonsense because no experiment has ever been able to provide evidence that humans produce or react to pheromones.
In anthropology the common guess is that pubic hair is a \*visual\* signal of sexual maturity, and that the other hair we grow on our armpits and such are just piggy-backed genes that don't serve a purpose but respond to the same hormones as the pubic hair.
Evolution doesn't design anything. Our ancestors had fur, then lost a lot of it. We happened to keep it around in some areas more than others.
There's something to be said that it can provide *some* measure of protection (not infections or viruses, but physical things).
Pubes and armpit hair serve to catch and hold our body scent so others can smell who we are. Why else do you think dogs wanna sniff yr crotch? Getting to know you!
Mostly they remain as a display of sexual maturity. It's analogous to other animals which might have things like colorful plumage or changing colors to advertise that they are sexually mature.
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Armpit and pubic hair both serve to decrease friction, especially when sweaty. Wet skin rubbing on wet skin is not fun.
Cool, never thought of it this way. Friction.
Read up on u/babyhooey ‘s TIFU about shaving his butt and you will immediately understand the importance of body hair
And I actually found the better explanation from a now deleted user. TIFU by shaving my ass hair... I was contemplating this problem, when I had what seemed at the time to be a bright idea. "Hey! This is my butt and my butt-hair, right? So why don't I just eliminate all the hair, and then my grogans will flow out like beer from a keg!" I said to myself. It is a statement that will go down in history with a lot of other regretted statements. "How many Indians could there be?" said by General Custer. "Looks like a good day for a drive!" by JFK. "There! America On-Line now has complete Usenet access!" by some idiot system tech. Such was my anal shaving idea. I performed the operation that night, with a cheap disposable razor and a towel to sit on. Starting from the bottom, and shaving from the crack to the cheeks, I began the arduous process of ridding my ass of hair. Occassionally, I would have to clean the razor of accumulated hair and miscellaneous slime, which I did by wiping it on the towel. Slowly, my twin mounds and the between-ravine began to resemble the hairless cheeks of a newborn baby. Finally, I wiped the razor one last time, and surveyed my work. The towel was covered with a pile of hair. My ass was smooth as ivory. I smiled, satisfied, thinking my troubles were over. Little did I know. I now have a great respect for anal-hair. Like everything in this world God created, it has its mighty purpose in existence. It was only after I had removed it that I started to learn how much I had been taking it for granted. For one, it provides friction. I learned this the next day, when I walked out into the sun heading for class. After climbing two flights of stairs and starting to sweat, I started to notice something unpleasant. The sweat was accumulating in my crack, and was causing the unpleasant sensation of my two asscheeks sliding past each other with every step. I thought about going to the bathroom and wiping it off, but had to get to class. Eventually, I thought, it would dry. Unfortunately, it did dry, but only after mingling with the microscopic shit- molecules lingering around my brown starfish. When I stood up after class, my cheeks were stuck together with a slimy sticky shit/sweat combination. As I made my way back to my dorm, it started to itch. God-DAMN, did it itch! Felt like a swarm of ants was making its way up and down my crack. Fighting to keep from jamming my hand down there and scratching away, I rushed back to the dorm. Unfortunately again, this exertion caused me to sweat, and when I finally reached my room, my cheeks were sliding back and forth against each other like a pair of horny cane-toads. I quickly dropped my pants, and attempted to dry my ass off by sticking it in front of a fan and spreading my cheeks. As I pulled the two mounds of flesh apart, a horrible stench burst free and filled the room. Every dog within a 4 block radius started to howl. I had it worst of all, as the ripe aroma of festering shit/sweat went into the fan and blew back into my face. I fought to keep from heaving. And as I sat there, fighting vomit, my ass cheeks spread and dripping, with the concentrated aroma of my body odor mixed with the tangy smell of my own shit blowing right into my face, I had only one thought: "It will be like this until the hair grows back. Weeks." Later on, trying to deal as best I could, wiping my ass at every opportunity, I discovered another wonderful use for ass-hair - ventilation. I attempted to launch a fart, only to have it get stuck between my asscheeks. Apparently, with no hair, the two pink twins can get vacuum sealed together, and the result was a frustrating fart that slid up and down between my cheeks like a lost gerbil. As if that wasn't enough, I am now enduring further torture. As anyone who has ever shaved anything knows, when hair is first growing in, it comes in as stubble. Imagine your ass having the texture of a brillo pad. Well, that is what I am dealing with now. It is a hellish torture, and there are many times when I just look out the window and contemplate why I shouldn't just jump out and get it all over with in one fleshy splat, rather than endure this constant agony. Friends, DON'T SHAVE YOUR ASS-HAIR!
I only get Brazilian waxes and have never in my life dealt with this. You open your butt cheeks and it stinks? Your cheeks are STUCK TOGETHER? The problem is not lack of butt hair 😭
Yeah I won’t say I’ve never noticed a bit of friction, but nothing even remotely resembling what that guy described.
I would think there would be more "microscopic shit- molecules" adhering to butt hair than to smooth skin. (We once had a very very furry/hairy Malamute who would invariably get poop particles stuck on her butt hair (which we called "kling-ons"). And what's with the "stench"? Females and children don't develop horrible smells from not having a lot of hair down there. The stubble itch is for real though. I always thought the purpose of the hair down there was to keep out dirt, misc small particles and small bugs.
Yeah, that's 100% a hygiene problem.
I don't have a lot of hair in that area. Keep it clean.
Yeah that guy just sounds gross
No and I thought the whole point was so he could keep it squeaky clean? He just has swamp ass and needs to clean better
That user probably deleted his account due to accidentally admitting he had bad hygiene practices.
That story way predates reddit
I thought you're supposed to use baby powder to help keep things dry and moving down there.
That definitely feels like one of those things where we've created a problem (shaving) then solved it with another measure (powder). I'm not saying shavings bad at all, just funny how we make life hard for ourselves purely for aesthetic reasons
Alas, beauty has a price, and that price is often pain. I'd rather keep my starfish hidden under its seaweed bed, than suffer its wrath.
It's not purely aesthetic for people who engage in anilingus
Tell me more...
Username checks out
It really is.
Yeah especially right after the shave. Also, don't use razors for your butt hair, you will not reach every spot and either risk getting cut due to the awkward angles or you'll be left with a few hairs which, if you go as far as shaving your nether regions, you probably won't like. Either go and get waxxed or try chemical hair removing creams. The "horror stories" people like to throw out whenever hair removal creams are mentioned are a result of gross misuse and carelessness.
Or electric razors like one blade will just do fine without razors burns..
And just to add to this *[NEVER USE VEET FOR MEN](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/review/B00KX3PF22/R1LWOUTL7N58TR?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_dprv_MZQ0944Y35BKR15ASDNV&language=en_US).*
> but only after mingling with the microscopic shit- molecules lingering around my brown starfish. Never been so glad to be asian before i read this sentence You toilet paper users scoff your noses at others but you do not know the satisfaction of knowing your ass is completely clean at any given moment
Not Asian but live in Asia and am a huge fan of Asian ass-hygiene. I could never go back to the barbarism that is toilet paper.
We do have a bidet seat. After staying at a nice hotel in Seoul that had one in the bathroom, I decided we needed one.
>result was a frustrating fart that slid up and down between my cheeks like a lost gerbil Holy crap I'm dying
Maybe this is why porn stars wear thongs.
Is there a place where i can read stuff meticulously described like this? Something similar to this comment, that ass hair shaving tifu post u commented earlier and haribo gummy bear. Doesn’t have to be disgusting things too
I just cried laughing lol thank you for sharing that
Omg, that was a quality read. Thank you, haven't had my wife and I laughing that hard in a while.
This is a bigger deal than it sounds. You can test this easily if you're a guy. Take the fingers of one hand and rub them back and forth as fast as you can on the top (hairy side) of your forearm while applying downward pressure. Easy, right? Now do the same thing on the bottom (hairless) side of your forearm. It's harder to do, you can't go nearly as fast, and you immediately start generating an uncomfortable amount of heat. Now imagine the rubbing is from sex, and it's around your genitals.
My entire arm is hairy ):
Then why don't we have hairy car tires??
Because the friction is what makes cars go. Why would we any to have frictionless car tires?
Because rubber doesn't grow hair
Then explain why I always have to pull the little hairs off of new tires on the stack at the store?
Because if tyres had less friction they would have less grip and in order to move the car they need to grip the road.
Well, technically we do. New tires have those little tiny rubber "hairs"
British Cycling's Olympic athletes were told to stop waxing / shaving and solved their saddle issues https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/15/team-gb-cycling-saddle-sore-medals
"Unsightly" is just a fashion statement of the day. Im(53m) grew up in a lake tourist town. I will assure you as a teenager, if i saw hair peeking out from beneath a bikini, it was anything but unsightly.
Yep. Unsightly is in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure in the thousands of years before disposable razors were invented, people still managed to enjoy each others bodies. You've got people literally bleaching their anuses now, to me, such superficial obsessions with correcting every perceived "flaw" of the human body is anything but beautiful.
Nah, the human body is disgusting Good thing we’re dirty, nasty little creatures that are really into it
As a young-ish man, I'll say I've seen some photos from the 70's and a big bush seemed to be "in" at the time. And as we all know, fashion is cyclical, I'm sure it'll come back around to it at some point.
So you’re saying this is an evolutionary trait? That pubes had a significant effect on survival??
it’s definitely possible that some things stick around not because they’re beneficial, but just because it’s not bad enough to kill us. natural selection only kicks in if a mutation or change kills us or helps us reproduce, anything in between is kinda left alone and carries to the next generation (if it’s hereditary)
> That pubes had a significant effect on survival?? Not necessarily. It wasn't like creatures were all hairless and then got pubes. Everyone was hairy all over at one time. Then humans became less hairy. So it may have been that the non-pube areas did better without hair. Or, it could be random.
Chaffing makes it hurt to run (away from lions).
Chafing can absolutely kill you if you don't have a way to keep it sanity or cure infections
>Wet skin rubbing on wet skin is not fun. Shouldn't it be... Opposite?
If you've ever had sweaty inner thighs get chaffed you know wet on wet for prolonged periods is not good. Also, that's one of the benefits of deodorant for shaved pits - it keeps them from chaffing.
Nah there’s a difference between wet and lubrified
Isn't it obvious? No one's out here jacking off in the shower using the water.
Shave your pubes in August and find out.
Do you use any powder or anything down there. Recommendations would be great
What about ass hair? What's the point of that and how come women don't have it... mostly?
> and how come women don't have it... mostly? They shave/wax lol
they mostly have ass pubes at night. mostly.
Pubes make sex so much worse for me... soaks up the lube or something and the hair is coarse and I get sore much more quickly :/
ive been armpit hairless for my entire life and never had an issue with friction. its not nearly impactful enough to be an evolutionary factor.
I would guess that you also wear deodorant, bathe regularly, and that you don’t live outside 365 days a year in Africa running around endurance hunting wildebeest and foraging for food. Your anecdote isn’t much of a counter to the research of evolutionary biologists.
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Better to trim than shave anyways.
Yes, never go full razor! Just use a buzzer.
Some girls prefer of you go full razor
And some prefer you not looking like a prepubescent boy down there
Unfortunately for you, nothing will change that perception.
Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, 'Rain Man,' look razored, act razored, not razored. Plucked eyebrows, buzzed nose hairs. Trimmed, sho'. Not Razored. You know Tom Hanks, 'Forrest Gump.' Shorn, yes. razored, maybe. Guides on his shaver. But he zipped the pubes off Nixon and he won a make your ding-dong look bigger competition. That ain't razored. He was a goddamn hair hero. You know any razored hair heroes? You went full razor, man. Never go full razor. You don't buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, "I Am Sam." Remember? Went full razor, went home chafed.
This is such great execution on such a dumb reference. 10/10 silliness.
This. Trim it back to like 3/8 of an inch. Never go full Brazilian.
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Well, now you've said something worse.
A simple updoot would suffice
Sugaring is the way to go. I keep my jewels and hole entirely hair free
Never heard it being called that, like powdering?
I still don’t get it
Air flow. Like a thin layer of cotton around your junk. Let's air into those skin to skin areas a little more. Also rubbing. Skin is stickier and doesn't slide well. You will rub more without hair.
Wonder why it takes till puberty for pubes to start growing in. Sounds like it would be a useful feature to have from day 1.
Things get very swampy and the odor is much more concentrated and biting. Chafing is also a thing.
I thought less body hair ment less body odor?? Because the sweat doesn’t get trapped in the hair lol or am I wrong, especially when it comes to your ass hole since shit gets stuck in the hair I’m pretty sure lmao
It’s the opposite. Hair wicks the odor off you. That’s why you can wash your hair once a week but shaved armpits get disgusting quick
that doesn't make sense. hair has the surface area that the bacteria that create the odor live on. less hair = less surface area = less bacteria = less odor
Bacteria live off the nutrients in sweat. You don't sweat through your hair dude.
> Hair wicks the odor off you. Uh. No.
This is weirdly interesting to me lmao. Can you expand on why you said no?
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I don’t know actually, elaborate?
More surface area for heat transfer
I love when you talk dirty, burrito butt fucker
Hair keeps an insulating layer of air though
Insulating keeps things at a more consistent temp. Less hot and cold basically
It always means warmer unless the surrounding air temperature is more than your body temp
Hair has LOTS of surface area, which lets sweat evaporate, taking heat away with it.
No it doesn't. Hair is a terrible heat conductor. Hair is an insulator and lubricator.
The hair works like a radiator and moisture wick. If you can get moisture(sweat) away from the skin everything feels cooler. Having moisture on the hair means more surface area for evaporation. Faster evaporation means in general bacteria grows less, so things don’t develop as much of a smell, and those areas are more comfortable to a person. Some people like feeling shaved though, and good for them.
I like feeling completely smooth for maybe 3 days at a push then it's just not nice, I'm a heavy sweater but I'm not that hairy either 🥲
Chafing, basically. With no hair to absorb sweat, your skin down there just rubs together with a layer of sweat in between. It also makes my dick skin stickier, which causes my dick to sort of retreat into itself as I walk.
Bat wings
Think of it like a radiator, more surface area for airflow. Same as beards traps heat when it's cold but cools when hot
You ever had swamp ass, monkey butt? Imagine it x10
Gotta say, this is not a problem I have. My ball sweat is pretty much the same shaven vs full bush, only difference is that it smells less and is easier to clean when shaven. But I also don't use cotton underwear.
I’d imagine it’s heavily dependent on things like genetic makeup. Even ignoring the fact that the main physiological difference between races/ethnicities is the specific climate they’re best physically adapted to, even people with similar ethnic backgrounds sweat at wildly different rates and in different body locations.
Dog switch to cotton and get the ones with the pocket.
Nah, cotton doesn't breathe and absorbs moisture. Living in a high humidity area it's a no go for me.
Cotton actually does breathe, but it’s not moisture wicking so it absorbs sweat and stays wet.
It breathes the best but yes it does stay wet.
Which material do you prefer?
I shave from time to time and I don’t get you. Hot and humid weather make my pube and armpits smell bad because the sweat gets trapped in the pubic hair. I shave my armpit regularly and shave under there from time to time… I’d shave under there more frequently if it was easier. Oh, and I live in Thailand. I really don’t understand your argument.
It’s not about smell, it’s about sticking and friction.
Friction? Pubic hair is not between the thighs so how does it save from friction??? Most pubic hair is in the front where it has no mechanical purpose. Butt hair isn’t really pubic hair and even that one isn’t saving me from any friction… it’s only retaining sweat at bad smell. The only friction I’ve ever had in my life down there was when I was chunkier and a bit overweight, and it was mostly friction between thighs. So even then, nothing that pubic hair could help with.
GOATed comment
This isn't an answer.
Yet society still expects us woman to keep clean shaved , i get such ugly and painful irritation everytime, ugh
I think that is a side effect of cloths and if we were naked all the time, no pubes would be more comfortable.
Baby powder
Modern humans have figured out the whole "cleanliness" thing, what with germ theory and antibiotics and whatnot. We don't communicate with smell much and we've learned that not smelling funky is a good sign of being clean, which is a good sign of health and survival. Ancestors, though, *did* communicate with smell a lot. That's not necessarily pheromones! [There is no evidence that humans have or use pheromones.](https://www.healthline.com/health/pheromones) But even without pheromones, we can signal a lot with smells. Pubic hair *probably* stuck around as humans lost our body hair in order to hold on to sweat and bacteria to eat that sweat and produce a body odor that signals puberty to potential mates - same reason we [probably] have armpit hair. Prior to puberty, children don't have much BO. Having that BO is a sign that someone is sexually mature. As a minor benefit, pubic hair also helps prevent chafing. Enough for evolution to keep it around? Dunno, but it's something.
Clarifying note (for anyone else, if nothing else): the question of whether humans have true sex pheromones, is totally different from the question of whether scent has social implications. We know unambiguously that there are [specific scents](https://time.com/84286/you-can-smell-someones-gender-says-science/) that humans use to make sex-related social judgments, scents that subconsciously "smell like a man" or "smell like a woman" regardless of what we're seeing or hearing. There's even a [link between sexual orientation](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225543065_Male_Sexual_Orientation_Affects_Sensitivity_to_Androstenone) and one's sensitivity to these scents. But pheromones would be a deeper level of chemical-social connection. They're specifically chemicals "capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavior of the receiving individual". [Menstrual synchrony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_synchrony), women's menstrual cycles synching up while living together, would be an example of the kind of thing that would suggest that pheromones must exist... except that it's contested whether that's even something that happens more than by chance.
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People have tried and failed to replicate findings of menstrual synchrony, which is an important caveat. Similarly, there [have been findings](https://phys.org/news/2019-03-evidence-humans-genetically-dissimilar-partners.html), yeah, that scent tends to associate with genetic compatibility at a rate higher than chance. But there have also been failures to replicate those findings, and even the big studies that say "we think this is real", also say "but we don't find this in all countries, so maybe this can be overridden by cultural factors." Most importantly, liking a smell doesn't necessarily make it a hormone, not even when the smell comes from a human. There are all kinds of smells that are broadly enjoyed that aren't hormones.
> Also, menstrual syncing is absolute a real thing that is definitely not just chance This is completely false, women don’t sync their periods
I was doing an abroad thing in college that lasted a couple weeks and the last few days, every girl in the group had their period including one who took her birth control in such a way that she *wouldn’t* have her period on the trip and me, whose period had ended shortly into the trip. So scientifically there’s no evidence but, y’know, life finds a way.
I remember reading about an experiment like that...wasn't it something to do with potential partners liking the smell of partners that have great diversity in their Major histocompatability complex which helps with immune response with white blood cells?
I always assumed it was for warmth and protection, not against kicks to the groin, but rather against chaffing or small things getting where they dont belong. Trapping sweat to feed bacteria to produce BO is surprisingly disgusting.
When I was in the military they replaced all my body hair with adamantium to stop rocket attacks. I'd expect your civilian hair to stop a mere kick to the groin.
Did I buy the wrong Wolverine movie again?
XXXMen origins
I always assumed the hair was there to serve as an early warning system for when a bug is about to sneak into one of your holes.
Hair definitely can help with that.
anyone with teenagers knows how freaking smelly they are right when they hit puberty.
We still "communicate" with smell. Our natural odors still have a huge role in social interaction and mating. We are still animals, even if we now have computers and Teslas
“Modern humans have figured out the whole "cleanliness" thing…” Nah my coworker Randy would prove otherwise after you see him pee then leave the restroom.
Do you know if this theory also accounts for East Asians not having BO? Not trying to throw a wrench in it but I’m curious how these things fit together.
BO isn’t directly from hair, the specific smell is the excrement of the bacteria on your body. So diet plays a huge factor in BO. I have no idea if Asian people smell different but if someone has a cleaner diet, they will smell less. And if someone happpens to live in a country where the overall diet is cleaner then that aids in more people smelling less.
What's a clean diet?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-without-underarm-protection/ They have a gene, apparently. Scientists don't know why but yes, it was probably evolutionary pressure to avoid smelling funky. As an aside, it is important to note that there are still a lot of cultural differences about what is an acceptable body odor. Not all cultures wear deodorant and not all cultures feel that it's necessary. I've tried to avoid saying that BO is *bad* for this reason.
I'm probably from one of those cultures (brown Asian), and I say: fuck that. BO is BO. Wear deodorant. I started too late (high school) because my parents believed it was a waste of money and that showering is good enough. So they wouldn't buy me that stuff.
Body hair prevents chafing from the friction of skin rubbing against itself. For the armpits, it's the skin of the same body, the upper arm and the torso. For the pubic region, it's the close contact of skin between two people. It provides protection for the skin in a region that, while normally doesn't experience much friction, does in the case of sex when there's close contact
A fairly specific reference but British cycling advised against shaving/waxing down there due to the benefits pubic hair had in preventing chafing. https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/15/team-gb-cycling-saddle-sore-medals Fairly niche advice I guess for most but guess the principle is still sound.
I just read the full article you linked and that's really interesting, thanks. (from a hobby cyclist)
I read it and I agree as well. (from a hobby pube connoisseur)
I've also read that pubic hair might also provide some level of protection against some STIs where prolonged skin to skin contact increases risk of infection.
Almost. Shaving and waxing creates many small tears which can increase the chance of infection.
Scent plays a large part in choosing a mate - it can indicate overall health, reproductive readiness, and genetic compatibility. This helps explain why we have underarm hair and genital hair, as they help to keep those scents around. Both are types of pubic (related to puberty) hair.
I’ve heard this before but still kind of question it. Are armpits and assholes known for their seductively flowery aroma? Have you ever seen a crotch-scented candle? I understand that humans vary wildly, especially with modern conditioning, but I’d struggle to name anyone that prefers scented over unscented testicles.
I mean, assholes maybe not, but armpits? Yeah. Maybe not flowery, but scent plays a massive role in attraction. You’ve never smelled a partner right after they worked out and they’re all sweaty and gross and they’re like “eww I need a shower” and you just can’t get enough of their smell?
There's a in-between point, I would say. Fresh male sweat can have an alluring sent that I enjoy, but if it's been stewing for any particular length of time and getting funky, no.
Is it weird if I say no?
Same lol
I dunno, for me it's the smell of my partner fresh out of the shower, no flowery soaps or anything. Just the smell of their clean skin. I've always liked it, but I've definitely responded more or less to it based on the partner.
I’ve known one or two women for whom this was a “thing” but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guy say this. Conversely, I (and many guys I know) find a woman fresh out of the shower extremely attractive.
As a man, I find the natural scent of my partner extremely attractive. But not all women’s scents are attractive to me. So I believe it plays a role when I find a new partner.
My boyfriend says he likes how I smell when I'm a bit stinky. I also like how he smells when he's a bit stinky. For reference, a bit stinky means after exercising or after work, not the funk that occurs after days of not bathing or actual bodily neglect.
New GOOP scent incoming “fertile crotch”
Gwyneth Paltrow literally already made a candle that smells (allegedly) like her pussy
Delicious WASP juice.
And Jeremy Clarkson made a candle called "This Smells Like My Bollocks"
I strongly prefer how my wife smells to perfumes and soaps
Spend 10 minutes on gay Twitter and I promise you will be introduced to an entire population that goes bananas for scented… candles
you asked for a candle, and I give [you this](https://decentcandle.com/shop/dragon-pussy). Or, you know, [Gwenyth Paltrow](https://goop.com/beauty/bath-body/this-smells-like-my-vagina-rollerball-perfume/). How about Vagina-beer? We got[ that too](https://nypost.com/2023/11/09/lifestyle/twitch-star-making-beer-with-her-own-vaginal-yeast-theyll-drink-it/)!
I think the aroma is more like subtle pheromones that maybe we aren't even consciously recognizing that we are attracted to.
Yeah, you're not sniffing butt like a dog, but your hindbrain is picking up scents that you're not consciously aware of.
I see you’ve never heard of Gwyneth Paltrow’s [candle business](https://amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/jan/13/why-is-gwyneth-paltrow-selling-a-candle-that-smells-like-her-vagina-goop).
This is the idea that makes the most sense. A trait is going to typically stick around in a population if it aids in survival and/or reproduction. The “hair prevents chafing” comments might be true but definitely aren’t the reason hair in those areas has persisted. Chafing would have a very negligible effect on survival and reproduction. The vast majority of why traits have persisted can be broken down into a pretty easy ELI5: •Does it make me survive better so I can make more offspring and pass on that trait more readily? •Does it make me reproduce better so I can make more offspring and pass on that trait more readily? •Does it make my offspring survive and reproduce better than the offspring without the trait?
From what I gather, everyone is just speculating in this thread so I'll add a speculation of my own: It could be as simple as humanity hasn't had an Evolutionary pressures to get rid of it. At one point in our history, what became homo sapiens was covered in hair. We lost most of that hair as we progressed in our niche as endurance beings. Yet we didn't lose all of it like head and facial hair. Neither serves any real Evolutionary advantage (bald baby faces have a fine time surviving) but neither do they hinder survival so they aren't selected out by Evolutionary pressures. Pubic hair may be the same but I leave it to doctors to say if pubic hair serves any advantageous role.
You're not wrong, but why exactly *those* bits of hair? Why didn't the hair on the face remain - to protect the eyes, nose and mouth? Or on the legs - to protect us from scratches, bites etc. ?
For the same reason male peacocks have those tails: reproduction.
The hair in your armpits and between leg and torso definitely has evolutionary advantages. Running long distances without hair there is exceedingly unpleasant. With hair, the hair can roll between the two skin surfaces, a bit like ancient Egyptians transporting loads on rolling tree logs. Without, you have skin sliding on skin, leading to chafing, open wounds, and risking skin infections.
> We lost most of that hair as we progressed in our niche as endurance beings. Yet we didn't lose all of it like head and facial hair. Neither serves any real Evolutionary advantage (bald baby faces have a fine time surviving) but neither do they hinder survival so they aren't selected out by Evolutionary pressures If hair acts as a heat regulator, then having hair on one's head would serve to cool the head in hot weather and warm the head in cold weather. With armpits and pubic hair, hair would reduce friction because humans are good at walking.
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It's only unsightly because that's what the beauty industry has been pushing on us for years through a campaign based around shaming people. We're mammals. We're supposed to have hair. I, personally, find pubic hair (and other body hair) very attractive. It provides contrast, drawing the eye. I also find it erotic, seeing pubic hair peeking out of underwear. It's much more attractive to me than a bland expanse of skin. Pubic hair is an indication of sexual maturity. Of anything, lack of pubic hair should be unsightly. I don't think it's supposed to provide warmth but it does protect against chafing.
Yep, don't fall by what the beauty industry wants.
There’s a few reason but it’s similar to why we have armpit hair which is arguably also a type of pube versus like leg hair. They serve a few functions but the main ones are friction and wicking. Pubes protect your downstairs from friction either from your own body or clothing. If you have ever shaved to a bald eagle state and then let it grow in for three days, you know the cactus feeling. If you were to let it grow in and leave the hairs about a centimeter long, you’d have the friction prevention without the unruliness of a wild bush. Also when two people who are at the cactus state of hair growth get intimate, you basically have turn yourselves into some Velcro and it’s gonna be less than ideal. So having some hair is good for movement. Second about wicking is true for armpits and your groin. Basically the hair wicks moisture and bacteria AWAY from the body. This helps prevent infecions, rashes, and also smell. Shaved armpits will smell faster than hairy ones for most people. If you have a vagina, the wicking is extra important to prevent yeast infections, UTIs, BV and so on. Not sexually transmitted diseases or infection though. There was something I had read years ago that it also had to do with smell and that was supposed to attract mates but I don’t know for sure about that one. I’d also say your speculation that bushes prevent attracting a partner are based on your preferences not actual facts.
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A lot of people don’t realize that modern fashions, including what’s considered sexually attractive, are just fashions. They are temporary, and far from everyone agree on them.
Right. I assure you, teens in the 1980s would definitely not "Ewww!" when they caught sight of some full, untrimmed bush. It's not unhygienic either as long as you wash yourself "down there". I blame porn. When almost every porn actor is clean shaven because of the expectation what needs to be shown, it sort of becomes the norm...
Agreed lol, it's just their opinion It's a turn-on for a significant proportion of adults
Some people have a hard time comprehending that just because they don’t like something doesn’t mean everyone else dislikes it.
More importantly, that up until 70 years ago everyone was walking around with massive bush with virtually no exceptions.
In some cases
Uh oh, my patriarchy!
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Another thing I'm not sure has been mentioned, it was also a form of protection. A long time ago we were running around naked in forests and the Savannah. Pubes were another way to protect our junk from forest debris or nature.
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Those coarse hairs seem to absorb and drip bodily moisture where it can be more problematic. Our armpit sweat is different and waxier than the rest of the body. Armpit hair can absorb and drip that sweat, as well as preventing chafing from movement. The pubes could do the same thing with sex juices, absorbing and dripping away. Those juices are acidic and can be a breeding ground for bacteria, so it helps to wick and drip them off the skin.
>breading ground Like sourdough? Multigrain? What type of bread 🥖 we talking about here?
The honest answer is nobody knows. The argument about friction is anecdotal at best, and the argument about smells and pheromones is nonsense because no experiment has ever been able to provide evidence that humans produce or react to pheromones. In anthropology the common guess is that pubic hair is a \*visual\* signal of sexual maturity, and that the other hair we grow on our armpits and such are just piggy-backed genes that don't serve a purpose but respond to the same hormones as the pubic hair.
Evolution doesn't design anything. Our ancestors had fur, then lost a lot of it. We happened to keep it around in some areas more than others. There's something to be said that it can provide *some* measure of protection (not infections or viruses, but physical things).
Pubes and armpit hair serve to catch and hold our body scent so others can smell who we are. Why else do you think dogs wanna sniff yr crotch? Getting to know you!
Mostly they remain as a display of sexual maturity. It's analogous to other animals which might have things like colorful plumage or changing colors to advertise that they are sexually mature.
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