Professional bicyclists shave their legs to avoid the pain of ripped-off bandages. Boxers shave their chests so punches slide off their sweat. And swimmers shave most of their bodies to be sleek in the water.
Men removing body hair below their neck, or manscaping, has long been part of the sporting life. But its use outside the locker room is gaining social acceptance.
The growing availability of men’s body hair-grooming services and products (such as the wildly selling Philips Norelco Bodygroom BG 2020 shaver) has manscaping so much easier, and more heterosexual men are willing to admit to doing it.
Michael Caprio, 33, of Oak Park, has used Nair from his elbows to his shoulders for five years to show off his tattoos.
In Riverside, a 71-year-old retired gynecologist who preferred to remain anonymous has shaved his armpits most of his life to feel clean.
Women’s requests also account for some manscaping. “When I look in the mirror and I think [my body hair] is appalling, what’s she going to think?” said Greg Madden, 43, of Chicago’s South Side. “Get rid of it and you’ll get the payoff.”
Men mostly focus on removing back and shoulder hair, said Allyson Kranicki, a medical aesthetician at Advanced Laser Clinics in Lincoln Park. She points to advertising for encouraging more male clients of all body types and ages to try laser hair removal in the last two years.
“You can laser any part of the body except the scalp and inside of the nose and ears,” Kranicki said.
About 35 percent of her hair-removal clients are men, and about three-quarters of those are straight.
Not every guy bothers to groom his body hair, though.
“If I started, I wouldn’t know where to stop,” said a hirsute 49-year-old engineer from Chicago’s North Side, but he admitted to trimming lower regions before visits with his out-of-state girlfriend.
