Monday, December 14, 2009

Straight Men Take on Gay "Manscaping" Habits

It really is rather ironic that many of the same homophobic heterosexual males who claim to be uncomfortable around gays - apparently flattering themselves and thinking we'd be interested in the first place - are adopting gay grooming habits. Or at least the grooming habits of us non-bear gays. Funny that we make them uncomfortable, but they want to look like us even though they don't realize that they are "acting gay." As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. ABC News is reporting that "Spas Report Their Male Clientele Has More Than Doubled for Chest, Back and 'Nether Region" hair removal. What's equally funny is that most women prefer men who are "manscaped as well. Here are some story highlights:
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Ben, a 6-foot 4-inch, dark-haired, blue-eyed New Yorker, is not a bodybuilder, model or porn star. But the 33-year-old never misses his monthly appointment at Manhattan's Townhouse Spa for grooming -- not just a manicure and a shave, but a $150 back waxing.
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Nowadays, trimming or eliminating unsightly body hair is as "important to guys" as women, he told ABCNews.com. "It's like when you're in a bar and you see a girl with terrible nails and cuticles," said Ben. "It's a turn off. And, I'm sure the girls feel the same way, especially in the summer at the Hamptons when I walk around with my shirt off. I don't need to have that back hair on display."
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Ben is one of many American men who have embraced manscaping -- shaving or waxing the heavily forested parts of their bodies. He won't go near the "nether regions," but many men do.
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Hair anywhere except on the head seems to be verboten these days, and the modern male will take the razor where few man have ever gone before. . . . A 2005 study published in the journal Sex Roles found that 63.6 percent of 118 men at the University of South Florida said they trimmed or removed body hair to be hygenic and attractive.
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At Townhouse Spa, the number of male clients -- most of them in their 30s, 40s and 50s -- has more than doubled in the last year, according to owner Jamie Ahn. In the poor economy, women's grooming has dropped off but male business has only increased, according to Ahn.
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"We do have a high gay clientele, but we are starting to see a lot more straight men who want pampering," she told ABCNews.com. "We have a lot of bankers and hedge fund guys who think grooming is as important as their work." Ahn sees an average of 10 men a day who need their eyebrows, back or shoulders, and sometimes their undercarriage, waxed.
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The manscaping craze is being driven largely by women. "Excess body hair, for me personally, is a big turn off," said Karina Jimenez, a 21-year-old from San Antonio, Texas. "The natural look is honestly OK. I mean, of course if you like the person for who they are, it doesn't matter what they look like," she told ABCNews.com. "But sometimes a little manscaping couldn't hurt." "The tailored look is attractive because it's clean, and let's face it, most men are dirty," said Jimenez.

1 comment:

The Honourable Husband said...

"Unsightly" body hair? No such thing!