Pubic hair. Everyone has it, but not everyone agrees what to do with it. Beach season is here, and lots of teens will be answering the big question: What do I do with the hair down there? There are so many options! Should you trim, shave, wax or leave it natural?

We recently asked Sexetc.org users what they thought about grooming or not grooming pubic hair. People were pretty evenly split between those that like to shave or wax everything off and those that just trim or keep everything natural.

Some of our users think that removing pubic hair is somehow cleaner or more hygienic than having a natural bush. But there’s a reason to have hair down there. Pubic hair catches dirt and germs and keeps them away from your genitals. So although it may look “cleaner” to remove pubic hair, not having it actually makes you more vulnerable to infection. Plus, waxing or shaving pubic hair can leave the skin irritated. And watch out when it grows back. It’s super itchy, and you can get ingrown hairs. Just keep that in mind if you decide to go bare.

One user said it’s OK for guys to have pubic hair, but not OK for girls. What’s up with the double standard? Where do you think teens get the message that girls shouldn’t have pubic hair? Porn maybe? It makes sense that porn would influence our ideas about what to do with pubic hair, since the top viewers of Internet porn are 12-to 17-year-olds, according to Family Safe Media. Porn is a fantasy. But teens who watch porn think that their sex lives and bodies should resemble these made-up, manicured and hairless fantasies.

Whether you keep or get rid of your bush, just make sure you know the facts. Check out our FAQ on shaving pubic hair.

This post is a part of a national Youth Media Blog-a-Thon on violence sponsored by YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia and WireTap Magazine.

Did you know that 1 in 4 teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and that for the first time in 14 years, the teen birth rate has increased? When will we get a clue? Clearly, teens need access to health services, like clinics, and honest, accurate information, so they can take care of their sexual health.

Stopping the spread of STDs like HIV/AIDS and reducing teen pregnancy rates costs money. But here’s a major problem: Money is tight for everyone nowadays. Maybe you think budget cuts don’t have anything to do with teen sexual health. But in reality, the way Uncle Sam spends taxpayers’ money has a direct impact on YOU:

• The number of teen pregnancies and rate of STD infection would only increase if Medicaid spending is cut. Millions of low-income teens rely on Medicaid for health services, including access to birth control, like the Pills and condoms, and other services, like clinics.
• Ever been to a Planned Parenthood or other Title-X clinic? When these clinics don’t get the funding they need, teens have to pay more for confidential services, such as counseling, gynecological exams, STD testing and birth control. Sometimes, a clinic will have to stop offering certain services altogether because they don’t have enough funding.
• If knowledge is power, then why is sex education so poorly funded? Comprehensive sex education gives teens the information they need to make healthy and responsible decisions about sex, but there’s no federal funding for comprehensive sex ed. Instead, our government funds abstinence-only sex programs, even though study after study shows that these programs don’t work. Isn’t it time the government stopped pumping money into something that’s proven to be ineffective?

If we’re serious about improving teen sexual health, shouldn’t we increase funding for Medicaid and Title X and stop funding abstinence-only programs?

We won’t see the STD rate or teen birth rate decrease overnight. But in the long run, giving teens comprehensive sex education and providing access to safe, affordable and well-funded sexual and reproductive health programs will greatly reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and help stop the spread of STDs. Let’s hope that the next president keeps teens in mind when he or she thinks about how to spend taxpayer dollars.

Gardasil is a vaccine that protects you from certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), which are associated with 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer and 90 percent of cases of genital warts. So far, Gardasil has only been approved for use by girls and women ages 9 to 26, but that might change soon. By 2009, Gardasil may be available for guys.

If guys were vaccinated, they would be protected against genital warts as well as the strains of HPV that can cause cancer of the anus and penis. And you know what else is great? A guy who gets vaccinated won’t pass those strains of the virus on to his partners.

We vaccinate against lots of diseases like measles, hepatitis B and even chicken pox, so would it be so bad to vaccinate against HPV, too? Do you think guys should be able to get Gardasil? Comment below, and tell us what you think.

Saturday Night Live (SNL) created a really funny, fake commercial for a birth control pill called Annuale. It’s supposed to give women just one period a year. SNL’s skit pokes fun at commercials for Seasonale—a hormonal birth control method, which can reduce the number of periods you have to just four a year. And there’s actually a method called Lybrel that you can take and not have your period as long as you’re taking the pills.

Although many women enjoy having fewer periods, some think it’s not natural and prefer a monthly period. But current evidence suggests that regular menstruation isn’t connected to a woman’s health. But you have to wonder: What happens when a woman gets her period after going for three or more months without one? The lining of the uterus hasn’t been building up for months to give her the mother of all periods, so she gets her period just as she normally would.

Check out the SNL skit below. When these women’s periods finally come, watch out! In reality, there’s no backlog of hormones that will make you go berserk, if you’re on birth control that reduces the number of periods you have to once a year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this video!

Take a look at the cover of almost any popular women’s magazine. You’ll probably notice the bad sex tips, the list of ways to keep your man and even the awful dieting advice. Some of you also might notice a trend: using slang for sexual and reproductive body parts—like saying “va-jay-jay” instead of “vagina.”

For example, why can’t the March issue of Cosmo just have the word “vagina” printed on it? Instead, Cosmo refers to the “va-jay-jay.” Even the subtitle—“Fascinating New Facts about Your Lovely Lady Parts”—can’t spell out what the story is about. Using words like “va-jay-jay” and “lovely lady parts” makes the relationship between a woman and her body seem like it’s naughty—unspeakable.

Cosmo, why beat around the bush (no pun intended)? If you’re giving women information about their vaginas, just say “vaginas”!

Here’s a sex ed challenge: Say the word “vagina” instead of “va-jay-jay,” when you need to refer to the vagina. It feels good to say it and not be embarrassed. Now that’s a sign of a being a smart and confident woman.