I find short trimming preferable to shaving both in myself and partners. Keep things tidy and clean, and avoid razorburn and itchy pricklies growing in! (I find it particularly painful when a guy has crotch stubble and it rubs on your lady parts!)
This is my preference, too. I like having a bush, but for years just trimmed it - not even that short. Just so it wasn't too wild and tangly. I'd only do the bikini shave in summer time, but it's been years since I wore a bathing suit.
So, my husband was pretty hairy, never trimmed or anything, and during the last 12 years of being with him, had NO IDEA that it had become vogue for MEN to shave themselves completely. That's why I started this thread - because I met Shorty and he gets his waxed, and I was like... "HUH???? Wha? How odd! When did this happen?" In fact, Shorty told me that in one of his books, there was a character who was considered rather strange for completely shaving his pubes and balls, and it was written only five years ago! So Shorty himself never expected to wind up doing it (but he says the waxing process is very erotic). And then I was with three or four other men who shave completely. This made me realize it had become a trend.
Dreamy only trims his bush, but says he does shave his balls in the summer because he rides his bike everywhere, and it's more comfy.
So, with all this shaving going on, I started to do it too. I guess I just took the trimming down, down, down to shorter each time, then got a razor and shaved most of it except for a nice, sexy patch. Funny thing, though - if you've ever trimmed your own hair (on your head), and you are looking in the mirror and you see, "Oh, that side needs a little more," then you look at the other side, "Oh, wait this is too long, lemme just..." and before you know it, you've got a haircut wa-a-a-ay shorter than you originally wanted. Well, about two months ago, that happened with the razor on my pubes, and well, my nice little patch is hardly a patch anymore. It's only about the size of a quarter now. Totally an accident! But I can't bring myself to shave it off completely. I think totally shaved pussies look odd.
I like the feel of the area when it's all smooth, but jeez, that only lasts a day. I can't be bothered shaving every day! I hardly ever shave my legs and only ever keep up with my pits (like every three or four days - I'm not very hairy at all), but that's easy. It's hard for me to see what I'm doing when I shave my pubes, and I've been trying to keep up with it, but did get some ingrowns already. So, I think I'm going to let it grow back in, and just keep it trimmed short.
On men, I prefer at least some hair.