Women of CS, I Have a Question

[Jester]

For decades many athletes (swimmers, bicyclists, bodybuilders) have shaved their body hair for practical and/or aesthetic purposes. And these days, for both men and women, it is becoming more the norm to trim that which they did not trim before. And if you think I'm kidding about the "women" part of that, check out some Seventies porn. Trust me, women ARE trimming a lot more these days!

Myself, I am the son of a man who was a hairy bear of a man. I mean "is he wearing a wristwatch, I can't tell" hairy. The kind of guy who was like Nixon in the sense he often shaved more than once a day. Full beard, the whole thing.

I got part of that from him. I am not a very hairy guy, but I did inherit certain aspects. I can't grow a full beard and I don't have to shave twice a day--hell, it takes me five days to go from cleanshaven to a decent goatee--but I do have a full thick head of hair, with no signs of any receding hairline or balding spots. (Knock on wood!) I have a virtually hairless back (yay!), and my legs and arms have the "normal" amount of hair for a guy. I have a somewhat (but not overly) hairy chest, and my torso gets furrier as you go down.....to the logical conclusion.

And no, I am not shaving down there. Period. Nor waxing. I know I'm a cyclist, but I am not nearly on the level where I have to worry about shaving my legs, and lord knows THAT area is not going to have any aerodynamic advantage or disadvantage for me while bicycling! But that is my choice not to trim or shave.

Is it more "acceptable"? Sure. Will some of your friends still mock you mercilessly if you do it? I am sure. Should you do it?

You are the only one who can answer that. If you want to, do it. If you don't, don't.

Just don't do it in MY bathroom if you do. My roommate and I make enough of a mess there as it is!

[fireheart]

History of shaving the crotch region summed up in porn:
Certain Asian countries banned the exposing of pubic hair. It was legal to show nether bits, just not pubes. So Asian porn stars started shaving their money makers and American porn stars were like "oooo!! That looks nice!" and started doing it too. Then guys watching porn told their women to shave their cat and the girls were like only if you do it too!! Thus a trend was born.

Besides, guys are supposed to be furry.

Thanks for that rather intersting summary

The culture is changing right now, it's becoming more acceptable for men to engage in modern beautification rituals, just as women have done for most of the twentieth century. of course it takes time for a cultural norm to change completely, so it's not completely the norm yet, to the point where men who don't do it are considered weird.

But yeah, it is becoming more and more common for men to get manicures, pedicures, nose jobs, waxes, facials, the works. Shaving parts of the body smooth, like women do, is part of that.

Do what you feel comfortable with.

True. There were a few articles in the paper about how men in Australia were becoming less and less "blokey" so to speak. Then girls said they wanted blokey I get both ends at work.

[Kittish]

Just my two cents here. On guys, I prefer SOME hair on the chest, but not to the point where it could legitimately be called a pelt. I don't mind hair 'down there', but do prefer it be kept neat and not too bushy. Hmm, don't really have much opinion about hair on backs, except to note that too much can interfere with back massages as long and/or thick hair on a back tends to pull and get knotted up during a massage.

[Anriana]

From what I gather from my sister, guys shaving their chests and stomachs and junk is becoming the norm or has already become the norm. This is news to me. I mean, for the junk, I could understand that. But chests? That sounds so...unmanly to me. Girls actually like that?

sexuality is a specturm. not every woman wants every man they date to have hyper masculine attributes such as body hair if i am going to remove my body hari on a regular basis so is he

[Ghel]

Now, my experience with guys is limited to one man and, erm, videos. My guy has sparse hair, but it's pretty evenly spread across his body. I prefer him to trim, but not shave. The reason is, hair does get in the way when we're being intimate. But if he shaves, then the stubble really hurts, especially since he has hair halfway down his little fella.

As for the hair on his torso, he will shave his pits sometimes, to reduce sweat and odor. And he jokes about shaving his back. He's got thicker hair in "kidney patches" like a poodle. It bothers him, but not enough to actually shave it.

[Thuringwethyl]

My boyfriend is asian and he's nearly hairless except for his scalp, pubic region, and lower legs. I actually started shaving my arms because I felt positively barbaric next to him. My viewpoint: if I'm shaving practically my whole body (not including torso, back, scalp, or face) then he can suck it up and shave *down there*.

[MadMike]

After seeing "The 40-Year-Old-Virgin", I don't think I'd ever wax my chest. Those who don't know what I'm talking about can check this. (Warning -- language)

[McGoddess09]

I like smooth, pure and simple. However,I'm not going to force a guy to do it,unless it's his face and he just DOES NOT look good with facial hair.

I really prefer a smooth body, but a bit of facial hair (if it looks good on that person) is fine.

Let's take Plaidman for example. He does not look good with facial hair. He looks so much better cleanshaven, so i told him so. On the days he felt too lazy and I felt the stubble, I did it for him.

[Custard Chick]

Completely shaving/waxing everything would be very unsettling, definitely big turn off. I don't even do that, so I don't want my man doing it!

A little trimming here and there and some "maintenance" is nice though. My man doesn't have much chest/back hair, but can grown a full beard in 24 hours and is pretty hairy everywhere else, so he's pretty good about trimming and making sure nothing gets out of control.

I don't think the average American man is into waxing and shaving chest/back/"junk"/etc though.

I am trying to get my brother to start doing something with his back, it's starting to creep out of his collar and is getting out of control! If it's something like that, I think a weekly wax would be prudent.

[NightAngel]

I blame the modeling industry. Pretty much all male models you see have hairless chests.

Now, I did know one couple that the wife made her hubby shave his armpits in the summer time. Because they were very, exceptionally hairy and the hair trapped sweat- which made him stink. It was either that or shower and reapply deodorant 5-6 times a day so, he shaved.

I don't actually think he cared either way anyhow.

[Kusanagi]

I'm half scottish, and by that, I mean the lower half. I manscape just for hygiene reasons as I'm single and never really get it on spur of the moment.

I had a costume at comic con that was practically shirtless so instead of shaving, I used nair on my upper body. Dear god, that stuff is amazing, as long as you don't have any open cuts!

Were I to go hairless downstairs, I would use nair instead of shaving. I barely manage to not cut myself when shaving, the last thing I want is razor burn near the family jewels.

Besides, it makes our junk look bigger!

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

Hairless chest/back/etc is pretty to look at. Shows off the muscles, etc. But I prefer a guy to be a little fuzzy all over. Except the back. No gorillias, plz.

Though personally, I find a bare hairy chest to be sexier than a bare hairless chest.

[blas]

I'm going to be in the very minority here, but I have the personal motto: If he isn't going to be smooth, then neither am I.

Meaning, if he won't keep his face neat and clean and shaved, I won't shave my legs. I would never stoop so gross as to not shave my armpits, because that's just too gross and I enjoy wearing sleeveless shirts too much, but you get the jist of it.

Facial hair bothers me. It leaves rashes on my chin and around my lips from when a guy kisses me. Facial hair makes oral sex very irritating to me, because all I feel is his facial hair rubbing against sensitive areas, and men's facial hair is not fine and smooth.

I think chest hair is gross. A few here and there...meh, fine...but a Steve Carell chest? Blech! And back hair? I will barf.

Call me a perv who likes little boys, but I prefer men hairless and smooth. I don't expect a guy to shave his privates completely bare like I do as a woman, but I don't like hairy boys from the genitals up.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

I'm going to be in the very minority here, but I have the personal motto: If he isn't going to be smooth, then neither am I.

Meaning, if he won't keep his face neat and clean and shaved, I won't shave my legs. I would never stoop so gross as to not shave my armpits, because that's just too gross and I enjoy wearing sleeveless shirts too much, but you get the jist of it.

Facial hair bothers me. It leaves rashes on my chin and around my lips from when a guy kisses me. Facial hair makes oral sex very irritating to me, because all I feel is his facial hair rubbing against sensitive areas, and men's facial hair is not fine and smooth.

I think chest hair is gross. A few here and there...meh, fine...but a Steve Carell chest? Blech! And back hair? I will barf.

Call me a perv who likes little boys, but I prefer men hairless and smooth. I don't expect a guy to shave his privates completely bare like I do as a woman, but I don't like hairy boys from the genitals up.

Hey, preference is preference. We all like what we like.

Just like I'd like a guy who's built more like a lumberjack than a swimmer. I think that puts ME in the minority as well.

[Ratha]

Personally, I think a guy with a hairy chest/back is only slightly less disgusting than bug guts on bare feet. Facial hair doesn't bother me as much.