But with hair removal and grooming becoming a popular personal practice, is it really the best idea to shave or wax down there or is a full bush the way to go?

隨著除毛和美容逐漸成為普遍的個人習慣，修剪或上蠟除掉下面的毛真的好嗎？還是任它雜草叢生就好？

Humans lost most of their thick body hair around 70,000 to 120,000 thousand years after the last ice age.

人類在上一次冰河時期後，約 7 萬至 12 萬年前，就失去了身上大部分濃密的毛髮。

But despite becoming mostly bare, we retained to plentiful hair in our armpits and crotches, becoming the only mammalian species in the world to have long-course pubic hair.

儘管大部份的毛髮都不在了，在腋下和胯下保有許多毛量，讓我們成為世界上唯一具有大面積陰毛的哺乳類。

Researchers hypothesized that pubic hair sprouts after puberty as a visual signal to potential partners that one is ready to mate, while the bushes itself act as protection from friction during sexual intercourse.

研究人員假設青春期後的陰毛，對能交配的潛在配偶來說，是一種視覺訊息，而陰毛本身則能在性交時，提供保護、避免摩擦的功能。

Another theory involves sweat.

另一個理論與汗水有關。

Humans have two types of sweat glands, one type secretes mostly water and salt producing no odor,

人類擁有兩種汗腺，其中一種分泌水和鹽，不會有味道，而另一種頂漿腺，專長在腋下和陰部，它會利用陰毛的毛囊，分泌充滿蛋白質、脂質及費洛蒙的液體。

while the other apocrine glands are found specifically in the armpit and the pubic areas and using the pubic hair follicles secrete fluids rich in proteins, lipids, and pheromones.

When bacteria on the skin breakdown these molecules, you get body odor.

當皮膚上的細菌分解這些分子時，你就會有體味。

We may have evolved to retain these hairs to trap pheromones to be wafted towards potential mates.

也有可能，這些毛髮是在演化中被保留下來的。這些毛髮可以留住費洛蒙，進一步讓費洛蒙飄散出去，好吸引可能的伴侶。

This is further supported by the fact that women release different pheromones during ovulation, signaling fertility in order to become more attractive to others.

這個理論也進一步被證實女性釋放出生育能力訊息的排卵期，會釋放不同的費洛蒙，好讓自己變得更誘人。

But a study of over 1,000 students in America found that 96% of females and 87% of males had either partially or completely removed pubic hair within the past month.

但美國有篇超過 1,000 位學生參與的研究發現 96% 的女性和 87% 的男性，在過去一個月曾經部分、或完全移除陰毛。

As pubic hair its course, the regrowth after any type of grooming can be irritating to the skin.

當然，陰毛在經過修剪之後，再生的過程都會對皮膚造成刺激。

In fact, 75% of people sorting out their pubes have experienced genital itching, and 40% have experienced a rash of some sort.

事實上，有 75% 的人，在整頓陰毛後有生殖器搔癢的經驗，而有 40% 的人，有類似起疹子的經驗。

Shaving and waxing can create hair that grows inward instead of out to the surface resulting in red and inflamed raised bumps.

修剪或蜜蠟除毛會形成向內生長的毛髮，而不是向外生長，這會造成紅色發炎的突起腫塊。

Interestingly, the incidents of pubic lice has actually decreased due to shaving and waxing.

有意思的是，修剪或是蜜蠟除毛會降低感染陰蝨的發生。

However, these practices can also create microscopic abrasions on the skin, which can become infected and even transmit a myriad of sexually transmitted diseases.

然而這些動作會造成皮膚微小的擦傷，這有可能會被感染甚至傳染許多性傳播疾病。

It has been theorized that pubic hair removal also correlates directly with the rise of gonorrhea, chlamydia and HPV infections.

也已經有理論推論，移除陰毛對於增加淋病、衣原體及菜花的感染，有直接關聯。

Even with infections put aside, the most common genital injuries reported in American emergency rooms are a direct consequence of pubic hair removal.

即使不談感染，據美國的急診間描述，最常發生的生殖器受傷事件是移除陰毛的直接傷害。

At the end of the day, no matter what grooming trends are currently popular, there's no harm in growing that bush the way that nature intended.

最後，不論現在美容流行什麼，讓陰毛自然生長並不會有什麼危害。

Before you go, we want to send a huge thank you to " Thought cafe " for animating this episode for us.

在你離開前，我們要特別感謝《Thought cafe》幫忙製作這集影片的動畫。

They have a fantastic channel that you should definitely check out; it's super creative and informative.

他們的頻道超棒，值得你去看一下。超有創意又有很多資訊。

Be sure to check them out and subscribe to their channel for more fun and educational content. Thanks for watching.

記得要去看看他們的頻道，要看更多寓教於樂的內容，也請訂閱。謝謝收看。