The Ed.
Well-Known Member
It's an age-old problem that doesn't appear to be anywhere close to being resolved. The recent news that male back-waxing is on the rise indicates that men are suffering from the same expectations to be hair free. The painful maintenance of unwanted body hair is no longer the domain of women; men are putting themselves through painful treatments because back hair is becoming less and less acceptable.
We only have to remember the hysterical scene in '40-Year-Old-Virgin' to know that society - and women in particular - don't appear to look at back hair favourably. It has become, as The Cuts Kat Stoeffel said, the male equivalent of the bikini line debate.
"Recent essays by Slates Mark Joseph Stern and Andrew Sullivan suggest back fur is the new bush: common among adults, yet rarely seen in the wild," she wrote on Monday.
But high-profile magazines have slated the furry back for years. Back in June 2013, GQ decreed that "back hair is never sexy," and, over the years, stripping the skin of their hair has become more popular.
Strip Ministry of Waxing NYC director Ramon Padilla told the Daily News, "More and more men are making waxing part of their grooming routine. Usually the entry point for that is the back, especially during the summer when men are wearing tank tops and showing off at the beach.
But is it really that bad? Is back hair an instant turn off? Are we expecting all our men to lose the furry back?
Mark Joseph Sterns piece for TheSlate.com, "In Defense of Back Hair," encourages men to embrace their fur and resist the pressure to wax. "Theres nothing inherently gross or dirty about back hair, no reason why it should be singled out for near-universal abhorrence especially when its close cousin, chest hair, remains so widely beloved and even fetishized," he argued.
The jury is out. Quite simply, there will always be someone who like a little bit of bristle on the back and others that would rather eat their own pubic hair than hang out with a hairy man but essentially the trend for smooth backs is rampaging through society and sooner or later, you're going to have to take a side.
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
We only have to remember the hysterical scene in '40-Year-Old-Virgin' to know that society - and women in particular - don't appear to look at back hair favourably. It has become, as The Cuts Kat Stoeffel said, the male equivalent of the bikini line debate.
"Recent essays by Slates Mark Joseph Stern and Andrew Sullivan suggest back fur is the new bush: common among adults, yet rarely seen in the wild," she wrote on Monday.
But high-profile magazines have slated the furry back for years. Back in June 2013, GQ decreed that "back hair is never sexy," and, over the years, stripping the skin of their hair has become more popular.
Strip Ministry of Waxing NYC director Ramon Padilla told the Daily News, "More and more men are making waxing part of their grooming routine. Usually the entry point for that is the back, especially during the summer when men are wearing tank tops and showing off at the beach.
But is it really that bad? Is back hair an instant turn off? Are we expecting all our men to lose the furry back?
Mark Joseph Sterns piece for TheSlate.com, "In Defense of Back Hair," encourages men to embrace their fur and resist the pressure to wax. "Theres nothing inherently gross or dirty about back hair, no reason why it should be singled out for near-universal abhorrence especially when its close cousin, chest hair, remains so widely beloved and even fetishized," he argued.
The jury is out. Quite simply, there will always be someone who like a little bit of bristle on the back and others that would rather eat their own pubic hair than hang out with a hairy man but essentially the trend for smooth backs is rampaging through society and sooner or later, you're going to have to take a side.
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
