# "Manscaping" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200 "2014-11-10T01:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/1 "2014-11-10T01:23:50Z")
Tonight I found myself looking at the Facebook page of my cousin’s daughter. On that page were posted several photos of cousin’s daughter’s daughters (little girls) playing with fake mustaches. One of cousin’s daughter’s friends commented on the photos, saying something along the line of “[that girl] needs to work on her manscaping!” (because the fake mustache in question looked quite untended). I was all, “Did she really say that?” It occurred to me that this young woman didn’t exactly know what “manscaping” meant. I almost posted a “rebuke” right there on the Facebook page, but reconsidered. Not the right place. So I just sent the friend a private message, beginning with, “You don’t know me, but …” and then explained that the term “manscaping” has nothing to do with facial hair, and in fact involves hair “much lower”, and really isn’t a good term to attach to pictures of little girls with fake mustaches. Of course, right after I clicked “Send”, I panicked and wondered, “Wait, was I right?” So I looked it up on Urban Dictionary. Yup, I was right: _ **manscaping** A term used to define male grooming below the belt. A male can use both an electric razor or a regular razor. A Mach 3 is preferable with the ladies on the testicular area. No female likes to deal with hairy balls, so men must education [sic] themselves on proper manscaping and maintenance techniques_ ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/2 "2014-11-10T14:40:09Z")
I’ve always used it to mean dealing with body hair in general. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/3 "2014-11-10T15:10:48Z")
I always thought it referred to trimming non-facial body hair, stuff that most guys would just leave au naturel. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/4 "2014-11-10T15:32:07Z")
Urbandictionary is great for getting an idea of the meaning of a slang term, but it’s not the be-all of meaning. Plenty of people use manscaping to refer to shaping facial and moustache hairs. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/5 "2014-11-10T15:43:54Z")
You sent the friend of your cousin’s daughter a private message talking about how she was wrong and how manscaping actually refers to men’s pubic hair? Did you know the friend? I mean, at no point did you think, “Maybe this is a little creepy,” or “Maybe I don’t need to correct everything I see wrong on the Internet”? Am I the only one who thinks this was a little weird? Anyway, yes, manscaping can mean any man-hair. It’s not just pubic hair, that’s just urban dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/6 "2014-11-10T16:18:48Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > I always thought it referred to trimming non-facial body hair, stuff that most guys would just leave au naturel. To be fair, some of us wash it from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/7 "2014-11-10T16:21:52Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks this was a little weird? No. Completely inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/8 "2014-11-10T17:16:13Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You sent the friend of your cousin’s daughter a private message talking about how she was wrong and how manscaping actually refers to men’s pubic hair? Did you know the friend? > > I mean, at no point did you think, “Maybe this is a little creepy,” or “Maybe I don’t need to correct everything I see wrong on the Internet”? > > Am I the only one who thinks this was a little weird? > > Anyway, yes, manscaping can mean any man-hair. It’s not just pubic hair, that’s just urban dictionary. Not only that, he did so before actually confirming it (even via a completely unreliable source like UD). ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/9 "2014-11-10T18:05:31Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > To be fair, some of us wash it from time to time. Sure, if you want to be all meterosexual. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/10 "2014-11-10T18:18:03Z")
Okay, yes, in hindsight, bad idea. At least I refrained from posting it right there on my cousin’s page. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/11 "2014-11-10T18:21:28Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You sent the friend of your cousin’s daughter a private message talking about how she was wrong and how manscaping actually refers to men’s pubic hair? Did you know the friend? > > I mean, at no point did you think, “Maybe this is a little creepy,” or “Maybe I don’t need to correct everything I see wrong on the Internet”? > > Am I the only one who thinks this was a little weird? > > Anyway, yes, manscaping can mean any man-hair. It’s not just pubic hair, that’s just urban dictionary. My God, that’s the first thought I had upon reading this: “Maybe I don’t need to correct everything I see wrong on the Internet”? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/12 "2014-11-10T20:51:27Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > I always thought it referred to trimming non-facial body hair, stuff that most guys would just leave au naturel. I thought manscaping was the the gardening work done above those 5 guys you buried to make sure that the garden looks well tended. “Your Hydrangea looks marvelous! Whats your secret?” “Forty years of pasta, a cheap cologne-soaked suit, and a bad attitude. I mean… pruning…” ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/13 "2014-11-10T21:30:14Z")
As far as I can tell, manscaping was intended to be inclusive of the whole body. And it’s not necessarily the removal of hair. If a guy merely trimmed his pubes, I’d call that an example of manscaping. Just like landscaping, really - it’s the cosmetic alteration of natural growth. So, I’d say that someone who only trims his mustache isn’t manscaping per se, but that mustache grooming could be considered a subset of manscaping. In the context of a FaceBook comment… it would be precisely that implication of unkempt body hair that would make the comment funny to me. Little girls don’t have body hair, but they don’t have mustaches either… haha. I don’t know if that was exactly the intention or not. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/14 "2014-11-10T21:46:30Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You sent the friend of your cousin’s daughter a private message talking about how she was wrong and how manscaping actually refers to men’s pubic hair? Did you know the friend? > > I mean, at no point did you think, “Maybe this is a little creepy,” or “Maybe I don’t need to correct everything I see wrong on the Internet”? > > Am I the only one who thinks this was a little weird? > > Anyway, yes, manscaping can mean any man-hair. It’s not just pubic hair, that’s just urban dictionary. Like others, I’m with **Anaamika** on this one. **Rik** , dude, I hooe you don’t do that again. Yes, it’s a good thing you didn’t post that publicly. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/15 "2014-11-10T22:18:36Z")
Of course, now I’m debating whether I should message the friend again and apologize for being “Maybe … a little creepy”, or just leave it alone. I’m leaning toward the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/16 "2014-11-10T22:25:08Z")
Just leave it alone. Maybe set everything in your profile to Friends Only for a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/17 "2014-11-10T22:37:51Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Urbandictionary is great for getting an idea of the meaning of a slang term, but it’s not the be-all of meaning. Plenty of people use manscaping to refer to shaping facial and moustache hairs. They do? I’ve never heard it used that way. To me, the term suggests below the neck at the very least, with a strong implication of pubic hair being involved. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/18 "2014-11-10T22:47:23Z")
[How to Manscape Facial Hair](http://www.askmen.com/fashion/fashiontip_200/244_fashion_advice_a.html) [It takes to item 10 to get below the neck on this list of manscapable locations.](http://www.manscapinghq.com/manscape/) [Manscaping a Handlebar Moustache](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeWcg13vn8A) From the first page of searching moustache+manscape Personally, when I hear manscape, my first thought is chest and armpits. Nor would I consider simply trimming and grooming a beard or moustache to be manscaping unless it were a particularly funky-looking one. But it seems clear to me that urbandictionary aside, there’s a chunk of society using manscape to mean tidy male hair care. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/19 "2014-11-10T23:11:43Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Just leave it alone. Maybe set everything in your profile to Friends Only for a few weeks. Agree, just leave it alone, but I’m not sure about the Friends Only. If the girl or someone else asks about it you may want to say a very bried, It wasn’t an appropriate thing for me to say. Please disregard it, and I apologize. Something like that. If someone presses again, just paste in that same thing again, and add something like I do not care to discuss this further. But yeah, just leave it alone. You should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200/20 "2014-11-11T07:39:35Z")
Just to note - unless she’s in your friend list, she will probably never see your message. (it will be delivered to the “spam” folder…) Also - I think you did the right thing [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manscaping/704200.md?page=2)