# Why do we still have to shave? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2000, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909 "2000-11-06T05:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/1 "2000-11-06T05:49:50Z")
For those men who don’t have full beards - why do we still have to **cut** the hairs off our faces? Why should it be so hard for someone to come up with something easier, or better yet - an easy way to permanently remove facial hair? ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/2 "2000-11-06T05:54:45Z")
> **[Boston-area Cosmetic Laser Clinic with 20 years experience](http://essentiallybare.com/)** > > Class 4 medical devices for laser hair removal, chronic skin conditions, skin rejuvenation. Botox cosmetic & dermal fillers. South End clinic and Cambridge. (and sundry other companys) Was chatting on this in IMHO. Trouble is, permanent removal is a disturbing thing. What if you want it back? ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/3 "2000-11-06T06:03:02Z")
Interesting question. And it makes me think… why do men have beards, and women don’t? Okay, it’s an hormonal thing, so let me rephrase it: why BEARDS? What’s the evolutionary reason for facial hair in the male species? Let me go further: the are any reason for the hair to grow in places like the chest, pubic area and, in some cases, backs and buttocks? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/4 "2000-11-06T06:03:11Z")
There’s Magic Shave. Spread a viscous cream on your face, wait a few minutes, scrape it off with a spoon. It smells bad. It seemed to be popular among the men of color who I was in the army with. Their hair is curlier and they tend to get shaving bumps (ingrown hairs) easier than their straight haired brothers in arms. On the permanent side there’s electrolysis. I’ll pass on that though. My girlfriend works at a place where they use [epilight](http://www.lasertraining.com/med-11.htm) to remove unwanted body hair. Most os their customers are women, but I doubt they’ll run you off if you show up with a big stack of cash. Epilight is supposedly painless. ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/5 "2000-11-06T06:07:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lance Turbo \* > \*\*My girlfriend works at a place where they use [epilight](http://www.lasertraining.com/med-11.htm) to remove unwanted body hair. Most os their customers are women, but I doubt they’ll run you off if you show up with a big stack of cash. Epilight is supposedly painless. \*\* Yes, it is painless, and no, they won’t charge extra if you’re a man and wants to get rid of the extra hair. We have equal rights to be as hairless as any woman. Fact is, it’s not COMMON. How often a man enter into an epilight salon asking for a close & eternal shave? ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/6 "2000-11-06T06:39:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smartt \* > \*\*Interesting question. And it makes me think… why do men have beards, and women don’t? Okay, it’s an hormonal thing, so let me rephrase it: why BEARDS? What’s the evolutionary reason for facial hair in the male species? > > Let me go further: the are any reason for the hair to grow in places like the chest, pubic area and, in some cases, backs and buttocks? \*\* WAG: Pubic and facial hair growth identifies an individual as sexually mature, or at least getting there. Other hair provides warmth. There is also the issue of what exactly long growing head hair is for. An oft-cited reason is sexual attractiveness. Yeah, maybe, but lemme get in a :rolleyes: just because it seems far fetched. We like pretty head hair today, but I don’t think it was a major determining factor for the majority of our history. I imagine other attributes such as, gee, I don’t know, health and fertility were more important. My theory is that continually growing head hair tends to tangle up into soft masses which provide cushioning and insulation for the head. I believe that dreadlocks and the benfits they provide are the reason we have long head hair today. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/7 "2000-11-06T08:57:53Z")
Actually, head hair is a cooling agent. And pubic hair is a form of dry lubricant for smoother motion when rubbing against each other. And armpit hair is meant to have a handy use too, though I can’t remember what it is. Eyebrows are to prevent sweat dripping into our eyes. Um… Dunno why men have beards and women don’t, though. ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/8 "2000-11-06T09:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > \*\*Actually, head hair is a cooling agent. > \*\* That’s interesting. I didn’t knew that. Can you tell me more about it, please? ---
**Author:** ![Justme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@Justme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justme)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/9 "2000-11-06T10:15:08Z")
Body hair: 1). All hair is natural insulation with the ability to minutely raise or lay flat to create air spaces like fiberglass insulation. 2). All hair is dry lubrication, especially under the arms, the groin and anywhere else that skin touches skin. 3). Specific hair such as nose and ear patches acts as filters for dust or anything else. 4). Hair can act like a natural raincoat, to a degree, to help shed water. One would think that since we men have been determinedly scraping the stuff off of our faces for a few thousand years that nature would have chosen to eliminate it there, but not all of us do it. Beards in one form or another have been always popular so nature does not consider the removal of such hair an adaptable survival trait and keeps it. Now, guys chronically are concerned with hair loss on their heads, but since the head disposes of over 1/3 to 1/2 of the body heat, it is suspected that the hair follicles there wear out for related reasons. Interestingly enough, many men as they age loose hair on their heads, but develop a thicker growth over their torso. We’ve all seen those guys. Usually white. Usually with a large deposit of fat around the middle. Usually wearing spandex when they really shouldn’t and often found smoking a cigar while parading around and eyeing up all of the young women with lascivious eyes. It might be that as the body ages, hair growth in men increases to provide heavier insulation around the vital organs in the torso. Older people tend to feel cold more and in primitive times, men were considered very old around their 30’s. Why, though, that nature would choose that time to start removing hair from the primary heat radiator (the top of the head), when it should be conserving it, I don’t have a clue. ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/10 "2000-11-06T10:24:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Justme \* > \*\* > One would think that since we men have been determinedly scraping the stuff off of our faces for a few thousand years that nature would have chosen to eliminate it there, but not all of us do it. Beards in one form or another have been always popular so nature does not consider the removal of such hair an adaptable survival trait and keeps it. \*\* Do you know that the native indians from Brazil have NO facial hair at all? And it’s not shaving, it’s a nature thing. In fact, their body hair is minimal. That’s an interesting point to elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/11 "2000-11-08T08:31:36Z")
Heat rises. When heat escapes from the body, it’s usually from the top of the head. I think hair acts like a heatsink on a computer motherboard does - it disperses the heat in such a way as to be the most efficient way of cooling that part of the body. Or I could be talking crap. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/12 "2000-11-08T15:49:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smartt \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Justme \* > > \*\* > > One would think that since we men have been determinedly scraping the stuff off of our faces for a few thousand years that nature would have chosen to eliminate it there, but not all of us do it. Beards in one form or another have been always popular so nature does not consider the removal of such hair an adaptable survival trait and keeps it. \*\* > > Do you know that the native indians from Brazil have NO facial hair at all? And it’s not shaving, it’s a nature thing. In fact, their body hair is minimal. That’s an interesting point to elaborate. \*\* Body hair is minimal on most full blooded native North Americans too. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/13 "2000-11-08T16:02:32Z")
Here’s my WAG, men have beards to identify themselves as **men.** Look at it this way, about 50,000 years ago, in the midst of the last Ice Age, we’re wearing furs and skins to keep warm. They generally cover the body from the shoulders to the thigh, or lower. There’re not exactly form fitting, so trying to figure out if the person you’re looking at and considering mating with is a guy or a girl, you’d need some other identifier than body shape. Generally, (head)hair is long and doesn’t help. _ **BEARDS** _ You know the other Cave-person is a guy 'cause he’s sporting a beard. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/14 "2000-11-08T18:41:11Z")
I seriously doubt men started growing beards because of the ice age and wearing furs meant men and women couldn’t tell each other apart. After all, you have to remove at least some of the clothes to mate. Given the rest of the mammals, I think the question is not why do humans have body hair, but rather why do they have so little of it? But the OP here is Why do we still have to _shave_? Why not a growth inhibitor that is reversible? There are hair removal creams. They aren’t as common because they are caustic, and faces are sensitive. So which is worse, a caustic solution or a sharp blade? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-still-have-to-shave/39909/15 "2000-11-08T18:49:47Z")
Recall Harlan Ellison’s story “From A to Z in the Chocolate Alphabet”–in the segment “S is for Solfidian the Sorcerer”, Ellison complains to the sorcerer about his razor bumps and asks for an alternative to shaving. The sorcerer casts a spell that makes all the hair follicles worm their way out of Ellison’s face and drop onto his jacket, he brushes them off and never has to shave again. I would hate to resort to such a permanent solution because what if you changed your mind and wanted to have a beard?