It used to be that Magnum P.I. in those unbuttoned Hawaiian shirts was the man. A big out-of-control mustache and a chest pelt that would make Bigfoot jealous – and women swooned. Going back further, there was Sean Connery on his run of 007 movies making the world safe for body hair one Bond girl at a time.

But take a quick look at magazine racks today and you’ll see that now we’ve got Matthew McConaughey showing off hairless pecs and the likes of K-Fed and Justin sporting patchwork “beards” that would make some 8^th grade attempts at facial hair seem formidable.

What happened? Blame it on Austin Powers and his orangutan chest fur. Or Neil Diamond. Or Steve Carell. Or blame it on all the guys who thought they just might be P.I. material but sadly were not. Maybe we can pin it on reality TV or YouTube. However we’ve gotten here, our destination is sure: body hair is out as far as the media is concerned.

But what do women think about your body hair? Does it evoke images of Magnum or Austin? Is it hot or just plain not? Most men don’t really know what women think. They know how the media portrays body hair as a problem, so the choice is to hide it and worry or pony up the cash to remove it altogether. Are we being harder on ourselves than we need to be?

Survey Says…

In a recent survey, women of varying ages were asked what they thought of male body hair. As you might have guessed, the answers were all over the map. But by and large, it seems that a woman’s perception of body hair has a lot to do with her age. Here’s how it breaks down:

Question: Is male body hair attractive?

18-24: “No! We don’t want anything to do with it…”

These girls have grown up seeing images of men becoming increasingly hairless. Tom Selleck and Sean Connery are old guys to them. If your girl falls into this age range, start looking into your waxing options.

25-34: “In general, no, but it depends on the location and thickness…”

These girls are a little older and probably remember at least a Magnum P.I. re-run and may have had a very early crush on Bond. If you’ve got some chest fuzz, you’ve got a better shot at acceptance here. Depending on how much and where it is, these girls could be cool with your body hair, but it’s probably a 50-50 split.

35-44: “It can be attractive within reason…”

These are the women who remember the sex appeal of those open Hawaiian shirts. They may actually be more attracted to you with some hair on your chest.

45+: “It depends on the guy…”

Finally we get to an age group that responds reasonably! If it works for a guy, then they’re down with it. Of course, you’ll need a second opinion to know if you’re leaning more towards 007 or Planet of the Apes…

The Eye of the Beholder

What it really comes down to is that, even with these basic guidelines, it’s an individual thing almost as subjective as a preference for a certain hair color. Ask your girl what she thinks. It’s better to have it out in the open than to worry about it. If you have body hair and she likes it, celebrate it. If she’s less than thrilled, there are lots of hair removal options. Knowing is better than worrying. So just ask.

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