# How common is chest hair in men? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016 "2013-06-14T19:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/43 "2013-07-25T07:15:04Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Yes, this may well be true. Are you male? Don’t know about him, but definitely male here. I was hairless at 20. Now that I’m 48, I got a lot more hair on my chest : almost a dozen around each nipple and 2 (exactly two) in the middle of my chest (that can grow quite long if I don’t shave them. I wonder how long they could eventually get). ---
**Author:** ![eastcheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@eastcheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eastcheap)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/44 "2013-07-25T07:27:58Z")
> [@TheUser](#): > > I was vacationing in New Jersey Wow. New Jersey must have _really_ changed in the last thirty years. ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/45 "2013-07-25T09:21:44Z")
I also think it runs in family. No chest hair in mine (insert “except for your momma” joke here). Also weak facial hair, but plenty on lower torso, arms and legs. My ancestors were obviously bog fishermen. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/46 "2013-07-25T10:20:18Z")
> [@yo\_han\_go](#): > > I also think it runs in family. Well, yes, it’s clearly related to genetics. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/47 "2013-07-25T12:31:31Z")
Just to note: all the studies in that Wikipedia article are from the 1960s, when waxing was not anywhere near as popular as it is today. Furthermore, as I think others have said, a sample taken at a beach is not random: people who go to the trouble of waxing will almost certainly go shirtless at the beach, while haired men (like me) may not. I wear a t-shirt at the beach, because I burn easily. So the percentage of unhaired men at a beach will be higher than that of the general population. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/48 "2013-07-25T12:33:16Z")
“Haired men”? I’m not a “haired man”, I am a hairy man. And proud. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/49 "2013-07-25T12:49:35Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Obviously not, but when the answer to the GQ can be found in a wikipedia article with the title most obviously suggested by the GQ, we probably should insist that the first answer in the thread not be an out-and-out half-joking WAG. > > This is still GQ after all, not IMHO North. For your information, the old “Google is your friend” response to questions on this board has fallen from favor. ---
**Author:** ![BayAreaDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@BayAreaDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BayAreaDude)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/50 "2013-10-02T00:38:22Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Congratulations! You get an F in **General Questions**! See you in summer school! > > Per Wikipedia (under [chest hair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chest_hair), fer Chrissakes, so it’s not like one had to go to some obscure source to get a factual answer for the first reply in GQ…): > > You’re welcome. > > ETA: Oh, I see that even the OP knew the answer to that. So what the hell is the question? “Why didn’t my casual survey corroborate that reported fact?” I don’t know. Coinicidence? Confirmation bias? A possibility that there is a tendency to remove chest hair in advance of a beach vacay? I don’t think there is a GQ-caliber factual answer to “Why didn’t it seem that way to me this one time I looked?” So, you’re correcting this guy’s estimation of 99% because Wikipedia says that (according to ONE study from 1961) the actual number is closer to 94%? Wow, I can see why you’ll be in Summer School with him. Also, it was clear to me that his comment was made in jest. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/51 "2013-10-02T05:18:24Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Congratulations! You get an F in **General Questions**! See you in summer school! > > Per Wikipedia (under [chest hair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chest_hair), fer Chrissakes, so it’s not like one had to go to some obscure source to get a factual answer for the first reply in GQ…): > > You’re welcome. > > ETA: Oh, I see that even the OP knew the answer to that. So what the hell is the question? “Why didn’t my casual survey corroborate that reported fact?” I don’t know. Coinicidence? Confirmation bias? A possibility that there is a tendency to remove chest hair in advance of a beach vacay? I don’t think there is a GQ-caliber factual answer to “Why didn’t it seem that way to me this one time I looked?” Why is your underwear in a bunch? Who on earth would think that Wikipedia had an answer to this? And, even those who do, the SDMB usually goes love/hate with half despising Wikipedia, so, you seem to be quite upset for no good reason. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016/52 "2013-10-02T14:29:55Z")
Since smooth is the current style, how do we know if men are lying about their chest hairiness? It’s like doing a baldness survey in Hollywood. Or asking men about penis size or number of partners… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-chest-hair-in-men/661016.md?page=2)