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Body grooming


Body grooming is the act of hair removal, shaving, styling or trimming hair of the male body. It is also often referred to as manscaping, a portmanteau derived from the words 'man' and 'landscaping'.

Today, men and women around the world embrace body grooming as an essential part of their everyday routines. Once an activity limited to the daily morning shave of the face, grooming is now about the whole body from head to toe.

20% of men aged 15 to 90 in the United States and 50% of men in Germany of the same age shave, wax, sugar or trim hair below the neck. For men between 24 and 34 in the U.S., the number jumps to 30% and in Germany, the number reaches 40% among men between 20 and 34 years of age, with numbers still rising.

Salons that cater to the grooming needs of men have opened up all over the world and offer services in a masculine environment that fights the age-old stigma that waxing and shaving below the neck is just for women.

Historically, body hair has been associated with virility, power and attractiveness but the removal of body hair by men is not just a modern-day fad. In fact, hair removal has a traceable history that stretches as far back as ancient Egypt, where men and women would shave their bodies, heads and faces and priests ritualistically shaved their bodies every three days.

Back in the 5th century BC, the Greeks heralded the young, hairless, athletic man as beautiful while hairy bodies were considered hideous and associated with satyrs, barbarians and the cult of Dionysus.

The same ideal male image is found in the statue of David during the Renaissance, when Michelangelo explored classical imagery. The statue of David caused quite a stir because he signified power and beauty and had both genitals and pubic hair, which had not been seen before.


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Wikipedia

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