Hi everybody, So this is something I've struggled with for a long time. I have a lot of body hair below the torso and I've never liked it, and honestly I don't think there's anything weird or wrong about guys trimming or shaving their legs, but there is SUCH a stigma in American culture about it that I'm too afraid to do it. I'm curious about why that is and how to counter it? If you Google something like should guys shave their legs, you'll get a wide range of opinions. You'll get the "people should do want they want and not give a damn" people--with whom I totally agree--but you'll also get "ew, men shouldn't shave, that's weird" and "men are supposed to be hairy." And of course, there's also the homophobes that belong to that group, who say "shaving is for [insert homophobic slur]. REAL men don't shave." I believe that the naysayers base their opinion purely in either personal preference (they like hair) or cultural norms (what they've always believed without knowing why or having an actual logical reason). What do you think? Why are opinions so strong on this topic? And do you have any advice about doing what I want without feeling ashamed? (&&&)
I don't find that opinions on this matter are very strong among most people I know. Usually young people in Sweden have a kind of 'live and let live' standpoint on issues like this. It's actually not that uncommon for men to shave their bodies here. However I can't speak for any other society in the world. I am however not surprised people have the opposite viewpoint, considering how humans don't like being the "odd one out" by for example: having an unappreciated opinion. It's a biological thing, humans tend to stick to the opinion that is the norm in their society because it increases the odds for the offspring to survive. As long as it doesn't affect them personally, most people don't really care, and instead just go with the flow. Those are my two cents on the issue. I personally couldn't care less if people shave or not so long as they're happy!
Personally, I hate having body hair and shave everything. I have longer than I've considered myself gay. I think the polarization is related to how so many people are just more comfortable with concrete definitions and separation between masculine and feminine behavior. People don't like to have to think about all the gray areas. They don't want to have social situations complicated when they already have whatever else going on in their life. As someone with terribly weird hobbies, you've already said what I'd tell you: Do whatever you want. It makes you more comfortable, and you're not possibly causing anyone the slightest inconvenience.
I, myself, am proud of my body hair. It what makes me the person I am. I used to be ashamed that I used to shave my armpits (I don't anymore but that's a personal choice.) As with everything, you're going to encounter pretty strong opinions on what people should do with their bodies. I have no idea why opinions are so strong on this topic. If I could take a guess, it would have to do with society's views on what is taboo for a particular gender. My take on any particular thing that boils down to what an individual does is this: If it makes you happy go for it. Just remember that you're going to have opposers no matter what you do. So you do you and let them be them.
For some guys, their lack of hair is an affront to their perceived masculinity, to others it's a godsend.
For me, my body hair has always been something that's disgusted me. I have a decent amount of it and I've been removing what's considered socially acceptable for a few years now. Up until last month I was shaving off my leg hair too, but now that it's summer where I live and I feel like I have to keep it for the time being to stay closeted. I know I'm technically non-binary but I wanted to give you an opinion from someone that doesn't identify as male 100% of the time. The best advice that I can give you is that if you spend all of your time worried about what others think, then it will get you to the point that it will eat you alive. I know it's hard not to have others influence your actions, but you need to do what makes you happy and live life authentically.
In my opinion there are some things you shouldn't Google in order to find out what the trend is or for a second opinion. This is one of those things too. If you feel like shaving, go ahead. Don't let opinions and thoughts about it stop you. ☺
I'm with Phoenix on this, if you want to shave. Shave. I'm not crazy about body hair in general myself thankfully I have naturally light body hair, but if I were to want to remove it I wouldn't shave, either wax/sugar or if ya have the cash laser it, my wife has an evil little machine, it's basically a roller that as it spins it pulls the hair out fast like tweezers.... It's evil, and hurts so dam much but she swears by it.
Male competition swimmers tend to shave most of their body hair and I don't hear people calling their masculinity into question. In fact, many athletes and sportsmen do the same... just take a look when the Olympics begins.
I have body hair ... I wish not LOL ... but it's there. I trim but don't shave all off. Just some manscaping here and there
Wrestlers shave too no ? (ex: john cena ?) I welcome anyone to question their musculanity face to face
Other than swimmers as Patrick pointed out I also know body builders do that too. I didn't notice wrestlers however pulling chest hair looks like a fair tactic to win a match. Oil wrestlers here don't shave I know that. :icon_wink
The athlete argument is a good one, unless you're not an athlete and not comfortable lying about it, lol. I do like to swim, but I'm nowhere near fit enough for competition, so that wouldn't fly. Thanks for sharing your opinions and encouragement. Honestly I'm still making up my mind whether I really want to or not. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think it's actually a bit attractive, other times I can't imagine what another guy would think if we were about to... you know ...and he discovered my legs. I know we all have our individual preferences on that score, it's just that many people express theirs so harshly that I'm afraid of what would happen in the bedroom either way. :icon_sad: That's not to say I don't want to do it for myself. I'm really curious what it would feel and look like, and whether I would find myself more attractive that way.
Hey, I'm a lady here and I don't like to shave my legs. I think men and women face the same stigma over shaving their legs (only they deal with the reverse side of things) so I definitely empathize. I think you should just do what you want. Swimmers and cyclists have shaved legs.
It's your body, you should have the right to do what you want with it. Everyone else is entitled to their own strong opinion—And you can tell them to fuck right off.
It's obviously much easier for us to say just do what you want and not worry, but for real that is the best advice. Personally, I don't have that much body hair but much more enjoy shaving it off. For the best interest of my time, I just buzz my legs really short and shave the rest. But, I've noticed issues like this will matter much more to you than anyone else. The same went for me with this and other issues. You are going to overthink this drastically and I'd be willing to bet most people pay no attention to it. I vote you go for it and do what you really want. Luckily, it's hair, and it grows back haha. So you really can't mess up too much, ya know? Good luck!