# What do you think about men shaving their armpits? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426 "2013-09-22T08:37:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/41 "2013-09-23T14:54:13Z")
It would be nice if people trimmed them. I don’t really like the sight of long, scraggly, unkempt hair anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/42 "2013-09-24T02:18:39Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > Not saying that you’re wrong, but do you have any cites for that, or is that just your logically intelligent guess? > > (I hope that doesn’t sound snarky, I don’t mean for it to.) You mean besides all those books about puberty we all read? > [@](#): > > If underarm odor is really getting you down, consider removing or trimming your underarm hair. The hair that grows naturally under there can trap sweat, supporting the growth of odor-causing bacteria. [http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/5-tips-for-preventing-underarm-odor.htm](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/5-tips-for-preventing-underarm-odor.htm) > [@](#): > > Shaving your underarm regularly will help prevent the accumulation of bacteria and can reduce sweat and odor. > **[Tips for Reducing Body Odor](https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/reduce-body-odor)** > > WebMD offers tips for reducing body odor. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/43 "2013-09-24T03:02:59Z")
I hate body hair I do not like it anywhere From nose to toes A human should be bare I hate body hair Grab the razor Buy some Nair The Epilady’s still around here somewhere ©2005 Jay Seeley ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/44 "2013-09-24T03:33:39Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I’ve never shaved my armpits, but once in a while I’ll rip the hair out by hand. You are officially the manliest man around this thread. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/45 "2013-09-24T07:50:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > You mean besides all those books about puberty we all read? > [http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/5-tips-for-preventing-underarm-odor.htm](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/5-tips-for-preventing-underarm-odor.htm) > [Tips for Reducing Body Odor](http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/preventing-body-odor) I stand corrected and enlightened, thanks. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/46 "2013-09-24T14:12:34Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I trim it down severely with the beard trimmer on my electric razor once or twice a year, because otherwise it gets really long and starts getting caught/pinched in some shirts, which is much more annoying. As do I. Anti-antiperspirant seems to work better, too. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/47 "2013-09-24T14:19:41Z")
I’ve never done shaved and never would. I think it’s weird. But whatever floats your boat. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/48 "2013-09-24T14:55:23Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > You are officially the manliest man around this thread. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Take a shower, lather/rinse your pits, wrap about a dozen pit hairs around your index finger and give them a quick tug. Repeat until the only hairs remaining are too short to get a grip on. For what little discomfort I experience in doing this, the results are worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/49 "2013-09-24T15:42:42Z")
I’m a (straight) male, and I shave my armpits weekly, along with my chest and torso. Besides being more aesthetically pleasing, the lack of hair under my arms helps avoid those disgusting clumps of deodarant that used to get caught under my arms. It may reduce perspiration, although I’m not absolutely positive (I’ve never though to try to measure; at the least, it doesn’t increase incidence of noticing sweat under my arms). And, when the stubble starts growing in, the hair is soft, so there’s no discomfort from a few days’ growth. I’m a live and let live kind of guy, but if anyone is on the fence about this, I suggest you give it a try! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/50 "2013-09-24T15:50:35Z")
I would never harbor negative attitudes towards guys who want to shave their pits or, for that matter, any other hair-bearing bodyparts. As long as I don’t have to run headlong into negative attitudes towards my choice of not shaving those same places on my body. If I were female I’d be outraged and furious all the time about the attitudes that say women _must_ shave here and here and there and there and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/51 "2013-09-24T16:38:26Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > (bolding mine) > > Sorry, I don’t have a cite, but IMO, I don’t think that having (or not having) ‘pit’ hair would make much of a difference in whether or not a person has body odor. :dubious: I shaved my pits this year for the first time and oddly it seemed to make me smellier. Without hair to wick away my sweat it just seemed to pool there and go bad. I’m now trying to regrow them and get back to my normal hairy self. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/52 "2013-09-24T21:05:42Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > You mean besides all those books about puberty we all read? > [http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/5-tips-for-preventing-underarm-odor.htm](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/5-tips-for-preventing-underarm-odor.htm) > [Tips for Reducing Body Odor](http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/preventing-body-odor) The sources for your cites don’t support your assertions (say that 10 times fast) ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/53 "2013-09-25T20:42:16Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > I hate body hair > I do not like it anywhere > From nose to toes > A human should be bare > I hate body hair > Grab the razor > Buy some Nair > The Epilady’s still around here somewhere > > ©2005 Jay Seeley Oh me too! There is nothing like a nice clean shaven \>X\<, wouldn’t you agree? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/54 "2013-09-25T23:47:59Z")
I’ve shaved my armpits off and on over the last few years. For about the last year I’ve been shaving them every night when I shave my face. I shave in the shower and as long as I’m doing my face (and sometimes scalp) it only takes a few seconds to do my underarms. The first time I did it just to see how it felt. It felt good! The main advantage to me is that my armpit hair is very sparse and yet, it seems to me, grows too long and looks weird. Shaving is much easier, cleaner and faster than trying to trim it. Also, my preferred deoderant is a stick and now there’s no tugging at the hair when I apply. I wear sleeveless tee shirts in summer and often change out of my wet kayaking gear around other people. Someone probably has noticed by this point but no one’s ever mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/55 "2013-09-26T04:07:08Z")
If you want me to shave everything off then you, the man, should damn well put effort into your landscaping too. If you don’t, then I won’t be fussy but I like it when a man has everything tidy. ---
**Author:** ![Raphael\_555](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@Raphael\_555](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raphael_555)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/56 "2015-11-02T00:23:20Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I’m a woman. I don’t mean to insult men when I say this, but maybe if more of them shaved their armpits, they’d stink less. (I’m not saying all men stink or anything, but in my experience, it seems that more men than women smell of BO, and I’m wondering if armpit shaving or not shaving has something to do with it.) I am a man and I totally agree with Emily. Underarms hair in men is ugly and acts as a barrier between skin and the deodorant. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/57 "2015-11-02T02:30:39Z")
OK, since we’re discussing this again, visually I like to see some pit hair on men, I think it’s sexy and also just the sight of it can simulate a kind of intimacy. In the case of real intimacy, I also like to be all up in there, with two provisos: recently washed, and no anti-perspirant (last thing I want on my tongue is the aluminum whatever they use in anti-perspirants). Having said all that, there is such a thing as too much pit hair, which is rather off-putting. For myself, I don’t have a lot of body hair and for some reason almost no pit hair, and what there is is light brown (and now going gray) so it blends in with the skin. So at first glance you may think I shave there, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/58 "2015-11-02T02:58:28Z")
Most woman I have dated will shave their pubes. I always have to tell them I prefer a nicely trimmed bush cut down a bit but still plenty visible. For some reason bald pubes on a woman bug me. Since I have gotten older I have found some older woman loose most of their pubic hair. I have a hard time with it but if we were steady I am sure I would have no problem adjusting. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/59 "2015-11-02T03:23:27Z")
I have almost no armpit hair, so I never felt any need to shave them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426/60 "2015-11-02T05:17:21Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Since I have gotten older I have found some older woman loose most of their pubic hair. That’s happened to me over the past few years, as I’ve gone through menopause. While I didn’t see as many naked people as a pharmacist as I would have as a nurse or doctor, I did notice that body hair often thins out dramatically as people get older. (Not that I’m, like, looking at that while I’m attending a code, but yeah, you do notice things like that.) As for a man shaving his underarms, whatever floats your boat, I guess. I don’t have an SO, but if he wanted to do that, it wouldn’t bother me. I have no armpit hair fetishes one way or another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-men-shaving-their-armpits/669426.md?page=4)