It
used to be that Magnum P.I. in those unbuttoned Hawaiian
shirts was the man. A big out-of-control mustache and a
chest pelt that would make Bigfoot jealous – and women
swooned. Going back further, there was Sean Connery on his
run of 007 movies making the world safe for body hair one
Bond girl at a time.
But
take a quick look at magazine racks today and you’ll see
that now we’ve got Matthew McConaughey showing off
hairless pecs and the likes of K-Fed and Justin sporting
patchwork “beards” that would make some 8th
grade attempts at facial hair seem formidable.
What
happened? Blame it on Austin Powers and his orangutan
chest fur. Or Neil Diamond. Or Steve Carell. Or blame it
on all the guys who thought they just might be P.I.
material but sadly were not. Maybe we can pin it on
reality TV or YouTube. However we’ve gotten here, our
destination is sure: body hair is out as far as the media
is concerned.
But
what do women think about your body hair? Does it evoke
images of Magnum or
Austin? Is it
hot or just plain not? Most men don’t really know what
women think. They know how the media portrays body hair as
a problem, so the choice is to hide it and worry or pony
up the cash to remove it altogether. Are we being harder
on ourselves than we need to be?
Survey Says…
In a
recent survey, women of varying ages were asked what they
thought of male body hair. As you might have guessed, the
answers were all over the map. But by and large, it seems
that a woman’s perception of body hair has a lot to do
with her age. Here’s how it breaks down:
Question: Is male body hair attractive?
18-24:
“No! We don’t want anything to do with it…”
These
girls have grown up seeing images of men becoming
increasingly hairless. Tom Selleck and Sean Connery are
old guys to them. If your girl falls into this age range,
start looking into your waxing options.
25-34:
“In general, no, but it depends on the location and
thickness…”
These
girls are a little older and probably remember at least a
Magnum P.I. re-run and may have had a very early crush on
Bond. If you’ve got some chest fuzz, you’ve got a better
shot at acceptance here. Depending on how much and where
it is, these girls could be cool with your body hair, but
it’s probably a 50-50 split.
35-44:
“It can be attractive within reason…”
These
are the women who remember the sex appeal of those open
Hawaiian shirts. They may actually be more attracted to
you with some hair on your chest.
45+:
“It depends on the guy…”
Finally
we get to an age group that responds reasonably! If it
works for a guy, then they’re down with it. Of course,
you’ll need a second opinion to know if you’re leaning
more towards 007 or Planet of the Apes…
The
Eye of the Beholder
What it
really comes down to is that, even with these basic
guidelines, it’s an individual thing almost as subjective
as a preference for a certain hair color. Ask your girl
what she thinks. It’s better to have it out in the open
than to worry about it. If you have body hair and she
likes it, celebrate it. If she’s less than thrilled, there
are lots of hair removal options. Knowing is better than
worrying. So just ask.
