Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.
How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.
If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 13th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.
This was originally posted on August 13, 2017.
Manscaping
My wife asked me the other day if I’d ever heard the term “manscaping.”
Uh oh, I thought. This is surely a set up question. It’s a “Honey, do you think I look fat in these jeans?” kind of question. If I say “no,” she’ll accuse me of being dishonest and of patronizing her. If I say “yes,”…well, I don’t even want to think about that.
I thought for a moment about the word in question and figured it had something to do with lawn care. Then I thought perhaps this was a lead in to being taken to task for paying a landscaping company to do that sort of stuff instead of saving us money and doing it myself.
I still wasn’t sure what it meant, so I asked her to ’splain it to me. “You know how women often trim their pubic hair, get a ‘bikini’ or a ‘Brazilian’ trim,” she explained. “Well, manscaping is when men shave or trim their body hair.”
“You mean down there?” I asked, pointing toward my groin while moving my legs tightly together in a crotch-protecting stance. “Why would a guy do that to himself?” The word “ouch” came to mind.
My wife patiently explained that men might engage in manscaping for the same reason that women shave their arm pits, their legs, and shave or trim their pubic hair. It’s cleaner, it’s smoother, it’s sexier.
I’m a relatively hairy guy. I have thick, flowing hair covering much of my body. Except, of course, on the top of my head, which is the only place I would actually want to have thick, flowing hair.
When I was in late adolescence and young adulthood, I couldn’t wait for my chest hair to grow. Back then, a hairy chest was considered manly, masculine, and a sign of virility. By the time I was in my mid-twenties, I had acquired a thick, fur-like covering of chest hair. My back and shoulders were also nearly as hairy as my chest. And I was blessed (or some might think cursed) with a thick patch of the short-curlies “down there.”
I hadn’t given much thought to my abundant body hair until my wife asked me about manscaping. I was content with, and maybe even a little proud of, my man-fur. It simply never occurred to me that some might think it gross or perhaps a bit too Neanderthal.
I Googled “manscaping” to see what it’s all about and was surprised to find more than five million hits. I came across an article in The Daily Beast with the dubious headline, Why ‘Manscaping’ Isn’t Just for Porn Stars Anymore.
It seems that male deforestation is gaining in popularity and is moving into the mainstream of men’s grooming habits. There’s even a term for the male equivalent of the Brazilian female trim, the article noted. It’s called the “Boyzilian.” Cute, eh?
Not so cute, though, was when the same article mentioned that some guys regularly get their butt cracks waxed. Hey, that’s TMI.
Manscaping has become a big business. One site suggested that “keeping a neatly trimmed chest, back, shoulders…and more…will make you appear cleaner and send the message that you care about grooming.” I did not know that.
And I was shocked when I read in that same article that “nobody likes a hairy back and shoulders.” Omigod, nobody likes me!
It’s not as if I needed yet another reason to shun being seen in public in a bathing suit. Now I’ve got to be concerned about causing people to puke when they see my disgustingly hairy back and gross hairy shoulders that nobody likes!
Well, it is what it is. I am not going to succumb to this ludicrous manscaping trend. I’m announcing here and now that there is no way any hair removal wax, razor, or shaver is going to get anywhere near my body below my neck. I may be hairier than the average bear, but it’s who I am.
But wait. Could my wife have been giving me a not so subtle hint that I need to step up my grooming a notch? Hmm.
This, That, and the Other 
A good back, crack and sack wax to keep the missus happy. 😂
LikeLiked by 3 people
It funny that woman ***must*** shave their armpits, legs etc, but men should be masculine. I think you should just be comfortable and long line your hairy back and my hairy chin 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m definitely up for manscaping my nose and my ears.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, me too! 😏
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are what we are, but yes, I do have to wonder if your wife was hinting.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Women have been doing this stuff for centuries. I always assumed it was men who decided it was desirable but I have zero proof of that. Now the tables are turning and men are feeling the pressure. I just dislike fashion. I don’t care if it’s clothes, furniture or body hair. You should be able to be yourself. You should be able to comfortable and happy. Having body hair (or not) does not affect your endanger your community. Nor does wearing baggy jeans or having a bright orange sofa. If any of those happen to be fashionable right now, it only proves my point that I don’t take much interest in fashion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol! Male deforestation.
Hilarious!
What difference will remain between men and women. Either could be mistaken for the other.
And butt cracks have never been so popular. Ewww!
I think you’ve made the right choice. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hilarious!
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
LikeLiked by 1 person
I manscape my nose hair or else I’d have nousestash. Anywhere else If my wife wants it she’ll have to do it for me…that’ll end that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😂
LikeLike
I have a good male friend who trims his pubic hair. He does it for cleanliness too, so he tells me. Xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right! 😏
LikeLike
This topic featured in a scene from “Hit and Run” (a series on Netflix that I found worth watching).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hooray, I have a post from August 13, 2019, a recipe for authentic Mexican burritos:
LikeLiked by 1 person
You said: But wait. Could my wife have been giving me a not so subtle hint that I need to step up my grooming a notch? Hmm.
I once bought some essential oil specifically for putting it on someone’s chest (which would’ve and did included his chest hair). I don’t know if he hadn’t been consciously cleaning his chest or hadn’t been sufficiently rinsing out the soap or what. I didn’t like the smell… of his chest. Although, oddly, I didn’t smell the essential oil before I selected it. I got it online. He was and is a fan of black pepper (eating it), so that’s what I put in the virtual cart. When I opened it, he said it stunk. I said it’s not THAT bad, and I used it for its intended purpose. 😂
I wasn’t trying to drop a hint, just solve a problem. But he figured it out, and I have to figure it was an easily solved situation on his part as well as relationally. We never had to discuss it. 😁
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mansplaining Manscaping? ;). Here’s mine for the week https://margaret21.com/2021/08/20/butterflies-half-an-hour-of-my-life-revisited/
LikeLiked by 1 person