Why Do Men Shave?
February 4th, 2008 | 
Author: 
Showering is easy to understand. If you don’t shower, you start to stink. Combing the hair is easy to understand too, because it would be a mess if you didn’t comb it. If you don’t brush your teeth, they rot and fall out. And dressing, obviously, is a necessity.
Shaving is the removal of body hair, using a sharp blade known as a razor or with any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down to the level of the skin. Shaving is most commonly used by men to remove their facial hair, and a man is called clean shaven if he has had his removed totally.
Men have been shaving forever. Cavemen probably shaved with stone knives, and there’s some suggestion that they may even have trimmed their hair with fire. Beards can be uncomfortable, and they easily get nasty because they trap food.
But why is it that, for a majority of men, all facial hair must be removed? There certainly isn’t any health reason to shave it off. Why would we spend the time and money to go through this hair loss ritual each and every day?
Among the many reasons I found while doing some research men began shaving in Stone Age times were:
- To reduce the breeding grounds for lice, fleas and small rodents.
- To eliminate the beard as a place for an enemy to hang on during combat.
- To make it easier to eat.
- Superstition associated a heavily bearded man with old age and death, in addition to the superstitious belief of spirits which entered the body through hairs on the head.
“The word “barber” comes from the Latin word “barba,” meaning beard. It may surprise you to know that the earliest records of barbers show that they were the foremost men of their tribe. Medicine men and the priests. But primitive man was very superstitious and the early tribes believed that both good and bad spirits, which entered the body through the hairs on the head, inhabited every individual.
Alexander the Great never lost a battle, not to the Persians or to anyone else. But he did order his men shaved so that their beards could not be grabbed in battle. Same for the Romans.
Yet you find many men who support a beard and I am sure there are a variety of reasons for that too, but I am not getting into that right now. I must admit though that a beard or a moustache alone on some men look very graceful.
Now its your turn to talk, why do you shave guys?
Posted in Lifestyle, Women's Issues | 
Tags: braun, clean shaven, depilations, epillators, gillette, razors, shaving, twin edged
Men have *not* been shaving forever. Before World War 1 men usually did not shave. (Just look at vintage pictures of “Great” Men.) Shaving started with the Chemical Warfare, because to wear a gasmask you have to shave, otherwise it wouldnt be airtight.
Afterwards shaving stayed for various (above mentioned) reasons.
I shave because I like the clean feeling of it.
II don’t shave anymore, yet I’ve been shaving for the last 8 years because of the Army.
In that situation, I can say it’s because of hygien, but mostly for discipline.
Right now I stop shaving mostly because I prefer the “relax” look of a trimmed beard. It’s a fact that when dealing with professionals, being unshaved look kind of “sloppy”, giving a bad feeling about the work done by the person.
I think that’s one of the main reason people shave: you are shaved and look “straight”, or you have a beard and look older and wiser. But the step between the two mostly look “rebel” or “sloppy”, preventing lots of people to try out the beard.
More, it actually itch when it grows even if that feeling disapear when it’s long enough.
i shave so no one can hang on my beard during battle
Because I’m in the military, and it is mandatory. I could have a mustache, but only to the corners of my mouth, which is lame. The guys who do that look pretty much like a bunch of douchebags. When I leave the military, I may never shave again. I’ll keep it trimmed, and I may even go with a goatee.
This is the most stupid text I’ve seen in a few days.
Why do men shave? Why do women ask us to shave in the first place? So that we don’t irritate her cheeks and crotch. This is one of the reasons.
Another is because it gets uncomfortable. Maybe it itches to some. Maybe some find it ugly. Also for higienical purposes.
Why do women shave their crotches? To tease their boyfriends, to make it more beautiful, cleaner, etc.
Sorry. Ridiculous post.
The real reason is Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini. during world war II the leaders of the Axis forces all had facial hair and the leaders of the allies didn’t. (I know Stalin was in the Allies, but he was equally bad as the Axis leaders.) It was quite common before the war for men in Europe and the States to have bears and was considered quite distinguished. But for some reason after the war, beards were associated with the leaders of oppressive governments instead of gentlemen.
As for the other reasons given. Beards get softer when you let them grow a while, so wifes really don’t mind. My wife likes mine, but she hated it for the firts month. Also the itchiness goes away, I do trim my beard to a shorter less itchy length. (But I only need to trim it once a week.)
If i dont shave for a week.. I look like an ape with almost my entire face covered with hair.
I hold a beard, but I will shave on occasion… usually only because I trimmed my beard lopsided one day… and I needed to let it start over… But so many say they shave for their spouse or kids… Me as a kid didnt mind my fathers beard… it was spiky as hell… but I wasnt going to die… and many females and males I know love a beard on their lover, but I dont grow or shave my beard for another person, I like my beard.
Men shave for the same reason you’ve got for combing hair – otherwise it’s messy. And, yeah, some people have a tidy beard, but other people’s idea of tidy is no beard. That’s why its called ’scruff’.
I’ve been able to grow facial hair since I was 18-19, though it was not very full at that point. Being 28 now I have had a beard for the vast majority of the time since then. About the only time that I shave is once in a great while, on a whim. I do it just to try something different for a bit and it only lasts about a week or so before I let the beard grow back in.
I’ve never had a problem having facial hair. It doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t itch, it doesn’t dry out and I don’t get food stuck in it. I’ve never had girlfriends who hated it. (Though even if they had, I wouldn’t have change it, if they want a guy without a beard they can go find one somewhere else) I do tend to keep it fairly short and nicely trimmed. I work in IT and have never had a problem getting work or have had any negative impact because of having it. I haven’t been working for some little mom and pop shops either… I’ve worked for international companies in Manufacturing, Bio-Tech and the IT industries as well as government. In fact, over the years I have actually gotten occasional compliments on it from coworkers. (And it’s not like I’m model material or anything… I just am a decent looking guy who dresses fairly well)
Now, if I don’t shave, I look WAY younger than I am. Too young… While I have been told that I look good when I’m clean shaven and pull it off well, I simply prefer the way I look with a beard. And when I do shave it irritates my skin which annoys me.
I have also noticed that beards seem more or less common depending upon where you go in the United States and world. Up here in Wisconsin a fair share of guys have beards but I have traveled to places even within the US where beards seem much less prevalent.
For me it’s simple… I will most likely have a beard a majority of the time for the rest of my life because it works well for me so far and I don’t see that changing.
Oh, and on a side note…. The article itself kind of sucked… The comments are more interesting than the article.
And females do not shave?
Legs?
Why do you do that?
Why would all shaved men want to look like a woman?
I once read an article that said shaving(modern) beard, chest, “manscaping” etc was an attempt by women at lesbianizing men. When you remove external typically manly characteristics such as body hair, you are attempting to feminize them.
Just a thought =]
I shave for the following:
1) My wife doesn’t like to be irritated when we kiss or when I perform oral sex on her.
2) It looks ratty and unprofessional.
However, I do wear a goatee that is very short, sometimes a full one and sometimes without a mustache (which my wife prefers from a sexual standpoint but it is kind of dated looking). Also, I have a very heavy beard that tends to grow in multiple directions/angles and not in a single ‘grain’… as such I can only shave twice or three times a week, at most.
As for body hair… I am relatively hairy. I shave my back in summer, shave my testicals, and use a beard trimmer to keep my chest/belly/groin and armpit hair very short. I also shave my shoulders/neck areas, parts of my underarm, base of my penis, between asscheeks, and underside of forearms on a very regular basis.
I recently grew a goatee, after being clean shaven at work for over a year. I noticed that the older make workers seemed to give me more respect when I was sporting facial hair. People who would previously ignore me in the halls or on the elevator, would strike up conversation.
Also, alot of the women I work with said they thought it made me look older and more mature.
I am back to being clean shaven now after 3 weeks with the goatee, and things seem to have changed back to the way they were before, I did however get alot more female attention once I shaved it off, in and out of the office.
I shave because with stubble I look dirty and messed up, plus it starts to itch like crazy. Also, my wife doesn’t like it… I’ve never grown an actual beard because of these reasons, but one day I’d like to try it.
Girls want us to do it.
I have a goatee but shave the rest of my face. I keep the goatee trimmed. I have it because without it I look like I am 16.
I calculated when I was 17 that if I spent 5 min/day shaving then in one year I would spend over 30 hours just scraping off something that would reappear in 24 hours. I haven’t shaved since then. I still have to spend a minimal amount of time every 3-4 months trimming the beard but I can think of more interesting things to do with 30 hours a years than shave.
Anyway it’s guy/vanity/macho thing – electrolysis would save days in a lifetime!
Its a physiological thing, hair is seen as dirty through the subconscious. Therefore we aim to reduce as much of it on our bodies as socially acceptable.
Ever gone south with a 12 or 24 hr growth? Sometimes you need to stay in the saddle for more than 5 minutes gents. A well maintained beard stays soft even when wet and well used.
As for the girls who don’t like beards, let them have the boyz. Beards protect your face from the elements (a real issue if you spend time outdoors), doesn’t takes as much time to groom (if you shave, you should be doing it 2x a day – after rising and before dinner/bed), and makes you look like you do something for a living other than kiss someone elses ass (your sargent’s, your wifes, your boss, or your colleagues). If you are any good at what you do, what’s on your face shouldn’t matter.
I sport a beard. I have since I was 16. While I was in the Navy I had to shave every day, obviously. But either way grooming facial hair has always been necessary. Shaving is a daily ritual but so is trimming and carving your beard. Unless of course you live in the woods and look like grizzly adams. The principle here is the same as the original justification for why we groom our hair. It’s for appearances sake. You might as well ask why we bother to ever get our hair cut
I have a full beard that has been going for several years now (I am 25 at the moment).
I think that shaving is something people do largely because of societal pressures. I only consider having to shave or drastically trim up when I am looking for employment. There is much discrimination against being a bearded man across many fields of work.
The itchiness will go away once the hairs are of normal length, they just hurt when they are unnaturally short, and will become soft as they grow out.
As mentioned above, the beard is not hot in summer and actually serves to cool the face, while still acting as protection during harsh cold.
Women are also pressured to shave. I personally have no problem with a woman not shaving. But societal pressure, in tandem with advertising campaigns designed to make women feel unclean, unattractive, and unsexy works well to ensure that razors are a stable product. Magazines such as Playboy indoctrinate men to viewing that a hairless woman is more attractive, and so men discriminate toward that ideology. Women want to attract men, and they follow suite.
Warren Buffet (owns Gillette) knows this. The disposable razor market is big business. The stability of the razor market depends on generated dissatisfaction with body hair by making it seem unclean, unappealing, or unkempt. Advertising will thus perpetuate these myths to perpetuate sales.
Looks like Sigmund Freud never investigated this ‘phenomenon’?
There’s probably a deep, subconscious link between why men shave and they still have to touch each lamp post on their way back home?
Is that OCD or just a case of John-Wayne-Look-Alike?
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
THERES A RAT IN MY BEARD!!!!!!!
I think it’s a social thing, I hate shaving. It takes too long because I have cow licks on my neck and the hair grows every which way. It irritates my sensitive skin, new razors leave me bloody, so do dull ones. I am also concerned about the chemicals in shaving lotion that seep into my bloody pours.
I didn’t shave for 1.5 weeks and everyone at work commented how it was “different” people didn’t take me seriously I felt. I cut it off and looked much younger I must say, and people commented how they like a shaved face more, it’s cuter and makes me look young. I HATE shaving!
I have had a beard forever now. I typically shave the neck because it doesn’t look all that good. But I have a beard on my face to the start of my neck and have had that for a long time now. I keep it trimmed nice (about once a week or two) so I look good. The way I see it, if a girl doesn’t like me with the beard, she isn’t a true woman. A true woman would like the beard or else it would have been eliminated through evolution and natural selection.
I have a mustache. I’ve had it since 85. Maybe they will come back in fashion.
If I had a choice, I wouldn’t shave my beard. In fact during the weekends, I’ll let my face and skin relax and wont shave during the weekends. (unless I have to look more presentable.) I grew a beard for a while, but my wife said it made me look too old. So in my case, it’s society and loved ones who “pressure” me into shaving. If it was solely my choice, I wouldn’t do it.
My girlfriend likes it smooth.
I have not shaved in years…I trim it every 2-3 days to keep it neat. Contrary to what some had said, women love a beard when it tickles her taint while you are pleasuring her.
I do sometimes trim it down to a goatee…but it rarely stays long.
I shave because my facial hair develops into the shape of a very highly detailed penis entering my mouth : ( So, when that’s not the look I want to achieve, I go ahead and shave.
Why don’t you reverse the question? Why to women shave their pits, or their cooch?
Jon
My woman complains when I shave, she says its like real tough sandpaper, and I must agree.
Nomatter how clean you get, an hour or two later, try lettting the inside of your forearm brush against your shaven chin. auch!
I don’t shave because I look strikingly handsome with a beard.
Women just cannot seem to resist me. which, of course, leads to an interesting and fulfilling sex life.
Me personally? Because it doesn’t grow in full enough and looks stupid. Why do women grow out their nails?
It exfoliates and in my opinion, simply looks better.
I shave because:
1) My girlfriend likes my smooth face
2) If I let my beard grow for more than 7 days, it starts to itch and I actually get a rash on my face.
I am going to express an opinion that Ive expressed before in public and its not been received very well.
Why do men shave?
Well, first we need to put the whole beard thing into context. Being clean shaven has NOT always been the norm. If you look at the past you can see that at times beards and the style in which the are worn has dramatically changed. As recently as the 60’s it was considered ‘cool’ to have a beard (The Beatles circa Let It Be). So being clean shaven is really only a style that is in right now. Most guys shave because girls these days seem to think that beards are gross. Is this because they can’t grow them (mostly)? Is it because it is irritating to kiss (im not sexist, some of my best friends are women (lol), but if you think its irritating to kiss a beard you should try SHAVING EVERY DAY). It’s probably a mixture of those and other reasons.
I grow a beard like a mofo and have done since I was 17. It takes about a week and I have a healthy fuzz going on. Its been a curse and I have been waiting for ages for the beard to come back in so I can be king of the hill instead of the guy who just has lots of hair. I have never understood why girls want there guys to be clean shaven. It seems to me that when a boy becomes a man one of the major changes is that he can start growing a beard (even if it is patchy) but the female of the species seems to want there guys in a perpetual state of immaturity. Maybe its just the scratchyness issue, maybe its the Cult of Youthfullness that our culture seems to revere. I don’t know, but I think beards can look very cool, and I will be rocking that look till the day I die.
hehehehehehehehe, i dont shave my face sis,, only in that private part hehehe
hi te,
I shave coz it;s not comfortable when mybeard grows… it itches, feeling so untidy that it feels there;s so many bacteria in your face…heheheh
Wow! te social ha! naa nka website postr ko dri ha! heheh thx..,
take care always and God Bless you!!
regards to fafa Robin….
Beards makes me feel like a real celebrities!
I don’t mind shaving at all, but i like the way i look..
No comment!
I can’t really grow a good beard (even though I am 25) but I look like a baby after I shave so I keep a good 0.5 cm stubble all over that makes me look like a badass, but an approachable badass.
I don’t shave much, I actually really enjoy my beard – its bright red and my hair is almost jet black. For me, shaving is a chore, I think my beard looks nice (I trim it/shave my neck every other day) plus it makes me look older by a few years, I’m only 20.
I don’t shave so that a lady can’t tell the difference between my face and her bush. Thus, it looks like her bush has enveloped my entire head. Always classy.
I shave because most white men think I am a hood ot trouble maker is I don’t look like them
People who think beard is harsh for kissing should note that when the beard grows longer, it becomes soft and more appealing in kissing
Uh.. looks like crap if you don’t?
well, why do females shave their legs? And clothing isn’t as necessary as we believe it is. Fact of the matter is, we do a lot of extra things for no real reason. Such as painting our nails, etc. it’s just a culture thing/style thing to attract a mate.
Because of social and cultural pressures.
Plus it gets itchy.