# Why do people continue to wage a war on body hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725 "2018-06-25T18:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/1 "2018-06-25T18:23:55Z")
Why do people still razor shave, wax, and pluck in 2018? Some jobs still require men to have completely smooth jaws. Women are often expected to have baby smooth legs. Hairs sticking out of a woman’s bikini is considered vulgar. Hair on the sides of a bald man’s head is considered ugly. Armpit hair reduces friction so you don’t get chaf. If you shave that hair it will grow back with sharp edges and ingrown hairs. Body hair also reduces friction between the balls and legs in men, between the outter labia in women, and between the buttcrack. Shaving, Waxing and Plucking (SWP) all-cause tiny cuts in your skin that bacteria can get inside. That’s doing the exact opposite of hygiene. IIRC ingrown hairs can cause infections and even gangrene. Why don’t people just trim the length of their hair with clippers and scissors? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/2 "2018-06-25T18:39:35Z")
Possible reasons: Hair growing out your ears and nose is horrifying, many beards look like crap, and armpit hair retains offensive odors … BIG time. If anyone wants to look like a Sasquatch, they can be my guest. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/3 "2018-06-25T18:54:34Z")
Fashion. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/4 "2018-06-25T18:56:12Z")
You make a point Op. The “two day old beard” look is big, however, and a mustache is pretty much Ok anywhere. I do trim my nose and ear hair sure. Waxing for men, I consider pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/5 "2018-06-25T19:01:28Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/6 "2018-06-25T19:13:41Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Why do people still razor shave, wax, and pluck in 2018? She does it for me, I do it for her. I have almost won the war for the skull. The losers are taking refuge in my ears and nostrils though. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/7 "2018-06-25T19:22:13Z")
**This just in: Generals Say War On Hair May Be Unwinnable** Adapted from an Onion headline “Cat Generals Say War On String May Be Unwinnable” I do it because I hate body hair. Anything below the nose must go! I don’t know why you care about my war on hair, OP, but I’m not asking you to pick a dog in my fight. The war on hair might be unwinnable, but I am happy to reduce it to a low-grade guerilla conflict. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/8 "2018-06-25T19:56:48Z")
I’d like to wear a beard, or at least a mustache, but the combination of unfavorable genetics and bad acne as a teenager (leaving some scarring on my face) means that my facial hair is sparse, and there are bare spots. Plus, my mustache hair is blonde, and the rest of my facial hair is sort of reddish. All told, it’s just not a good luck. So, it gets shaved off. Similarly, I know a number of men who shave their heads. In most cases, their hair is significantly thinning, or they have substantial male-pattern baldness. They feel that a completely bald head looks better than what little hair they have left. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/9 "2018-06-25T20:09:52Z")
I have just enough hair on top of my head to draw attention to the fact that there’s not much there. Hair on the sides is nice & thick still, but fine and mostly gray. When I let it grow out I look exhausted and a little bit insane, and that actually creeps into my attitude. When I buzz the whole dome with a #2 clipper it completely changes my outlook and how other people deal with me. Weird thing is, I deal with people over the phone and almost never in person so they have no clue what I look like–they must be responding to whatever confidence and energy is in my voice which is an extension of my own self-perception. So…I guess I do it to feel pretty, but that doesn’t mean I want anyone looking at or touching me. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/10 "2018-06-25T20:11:41Z")
Oral sex is one reason I’ve seen given, to prevent chafing and hair between the teeth. For women specifically, it’s a common factor across the animal kingdom that exaggerating a gender related difference often makes members of that gender more attractive. Since women are naturally less hairy than men, shaving increases that difference and tends to make them more attractive (with a little push from fashion). As such things go it’s relatively harmless; non-surgical, reversible and not particularly expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/11 "2018-06-25T20:18:45Z")
Cuz of, like, society maaaaaaannnn Or the fact that body hair is gross. All of it. Mine, yours, his, hers…don’t matter. And I barely tolerate my own body hair, much less want to see yours. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/12 "2018-06-25T20:21:22Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Why do people still razor shave, wax, and pluck in 2018? Because we think it looks good, and/or feels good. > [@Contemplation](#): > > Why don’t people just trim the length of their hair with clippers and scissors? Because stubble doesn’t look as good and/or feel as good as truly glabrous skin. YMMV. I have hideous hair that grows out of my nostrils. It looks bad, and I tried trimming it once, but the stubble was miserable. Every time I rubbed the outside of my nose, my nostrils compressed, and the stubble would painfully scrape the opposite side of the nostril. So every couple of months, I grab a pair of tweezers and go to work on those little bitches. I spend twenty minutes plucking, sneezing, and blowing my nose, and then it’s over for another couple of months. Same deal for my ears (minus the sneezing and blowing), courtesy of [hairy helices, lobules, and _very_ hairy tragi.](https://plasticsurgerykey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/00275.jpg) Some types of hair are more prone to becoming ingrown than others. I understand this to be a more common problem for black men, which makes shaving their face a tough deal. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/13 "2018-06-25T20:54:33Z")
I dunno about other ladies but my leg hair gets itchy and painful when it gets to be too long. I suppose maybe if I held out and let it grow even longer, like a man’s, it might soften up and stop being irritating…but I can’t seem to make myself do it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/14 "2018-06-25T23:03:10Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Hair growing out your ears and nose is horrifying, many beards look like crap, and armpit hair retains offensive odors … BIG time. Boy, nailed it in ONE! Plus, on your face, it itches and get bacon grease in it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/15 "2018-06-25T23:10:40Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Possible reasons: Hair growing out your ears and nose is horrifying, many beards look like crap, and armpit hair retains offensive odors … BIG time. If anyone wants to look like a Sasquatch, they can be my guest. That’s like, just your opinion, man. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/16 "2018-06-25T23:17:14Z")
For another point of view: Beats me. It’s just the way people in this particular culture want to look. Most cultures do something unique and gender-sorted with their hair (shave parts of it, grow out and elaborate on other parts), and then develop irrational reasons about how absolutely right it is and how wrong doing anything else is. We ain’t no different. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/17 "2018-06-25T23:19:18Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I dunno about other ladies but my leg hair gets itchy and painful when it gets to be too long. I suppose maybe if I held out and let it grow even longer, like a man’s, it might soften up and stop being irritating…but I can’t seem to make myself do it. Yes, it would. And it wouldn’t be “like a man’s”, it would be like a woman’s. Specifically, yours. I have first hand experience as I haven’t shaved my legs for about 45 years. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/18 "2018-06-25T23:22:20Z")
Didn’t porn have a lot to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/19 "2018-06-25T23:36:50Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > **This just in: Generals Say War On Hair May Be Unwinnable** > Adapted from an Onion headline “Cat Generals Say War On String May Be Unwinnable” > I do it because I hate body hair. Anything below the nose must go! I don’t know why you care about my war on hair, OP, but I’m not asking you to pick a dog in my fight. The war on hair might be unwinnable, but I am happy to reduce it to a low-grade guerilla conflict. :D:D:D This made me think of the eyelash mites war on MST3k! I HATES hair growing out of my ears! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725/20 "2018-06-25T23:49:14Z")
I started shaving my bodyhair more than a decade ago when i did my first bodybuilding competition. I found that i enjoyed it so i continued ever since. Its just my personal preference. Girls seem to like it too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-continue-to-wage-a-war-on-body-hair/816725.md?page=2)