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The Return of Chest Hair
From Mad Men’s Jon Hamm to Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick, torso-fros are (finally) making a comeback. Plus: A gallery of the hottest fuzz.
Ever since Adam caught Eve checking out that snake, men have spent way too much time worrying about the appearance of their manhood. What’s more important, the size of the wave or the motion of the ocean? Well, I’m here to make a bunch of men more neurotic by telling you the answer is none of the above. As far as I’m concerned, the real signifier of masculinity lies in another area entirely: chest hair. And it’s making a comeback.
After many years of drought, during which the only reliable source of manly tuft seemed to be the Baldwin brothers, chest hair has returned with a vengeance as the sign of sex appeal and virility. Mad Men star Jon Hamm (aka Don Draper) is entertainment’s tall drink of testosterone du jour. As much as every woman I know is in love with him, I’ve never seen a male celebrity so many of my straight guy friends openly admit they want to kiss. His profile is beautifully handsome, gracefully arched and symmetrical like the art deco bars he haunts, but he also has a swarthy helping of chest hair, rarely flashed on the show but available for long gawks on the interweb (or…so I hear.)
In these troubled times of war and craptastic financial news, are we yearning once again for leading manly men with comfortingly warm pelts in which to hide our anxious faces?
Clive Owen, the brooding, British Sin City hunk (and my number one personal distraction) has unabashedly displayed his sexily untamed man fur. Aussie Hugh Jackman (the newly anointed Oscar host and People‘s latest “Sexiest Man Alive” pick) is only a hair or two behind his X-Men alter-ego Wolverine, and he is all the hotter for it.
Is this good news the silver lining to otherwise cloudy headlines? In these troubled times of war and craptastic financial news, are we yearning once again for leading manly men with comfortingly warm pelts in which to hide our anxious faces?
Click Image to View Gallery.
Even the Tiger Beat crowd is sporting post-pubescent chest curls these days. Robert Pattison, the delicately anemic looking young star of Twilight, has unbuttoned just enough on the red carpet to reveal a healthy crop of pectoral fuzz. And Gossip Girl fave Ed Westwick, while barely of legal drinking age, has the dark downy appearance of someone who has spent all day frolicking with a black Pug.
Then there are the ubiquitous everyman hunks of the Judd Apatow empire, the thinking woman’s boyfriends: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and Seth Rogen. All three are endowed with chest hair that could best be described as “enough for a handful” (employing the phrase I’ve heard men use to evoke the ideal-sized breast.) And while they all play man-children with immature tendencies, their resolute hairiness is a reminder of their ultimately full-grown hearts.
For me, a hairy chest has always been my strong preference. As someone who must make regular visits to a very intimidating woman from the Eastern Bloc to keep my own hirsuteness in check, I like to be with a man who’s definitively hairier than myself. When I meet a guy for the first time, I have no problem with his eyes wandering south for a second to check out my rack—that’s when I steal a glance at the little slip of landscape peeking out from the collar of his shirt. Is it heavily forested, gently grassy, or just a desert-like stretch of flesh, with nary a hair in sight to provide shade?
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gskillz
Let's hope Hugh Jackman bings back the chest fro. After all, he is the sexiest man "alive".
ardeth
I, too, have always been a chest hair fan (but only on men). A man with no hair on his chest is like a prepubescent boy, as far as I'm concerned (however, I'm not so crazy about a thick hair coat on a man's back). Unless you're a pedophile, who can get aroused over a smooth chest, especially if you suspect that it's been waxed off? Despite his Republican status, I found (still find) Selleck hot, and it's mostly because of his luxuriant, toasty pelt.
bwoodruff
Here here! I'm excited to see that the trend may be reversing (though I think the age of the mustache can probably continue its haitus). I've met many women who initially balked at the torfro, but they were always push overs, and were relatively quick to admit that they secretly liked it. This article should be required reading for any single woman who is crazy enough to still thinking that a waxing beau is more manly
Emeraldgreen
You're atypical limited-minded White American when talking about the body, Ms. Klein.
You could really move along with the New Day, the future. You had a chance. You were actually writing about something that is a sign of self-acceptance and naturalness. Which is something the African-American community has been struggling with for a couple of centuries.
Being a Rennaisance single African-American female, I looove White men with chest hair-NICE! And Jon Hamm is so hot it's crazy!
What about African-American men, Ms. Klein? You mentioned Barack Obama. Well, maybe they're the only men that can pull off the hairless bit! Or maybe, their little curls and kinks-are NOT attractive! Or just plain funny! I go with both.
But it good to see the White man's hairy chest back. Hope it's for many, many, many generations to come.
cassandravert
You have good taste--hirsute Hugh Jackman and Clive Owen in, slick Brad Pitt and all those Peter Pan types out. I would only add that the return of the he-man look does not mean we're abandoning the metrosexual. I still like a guy who is interested in dressing nicely, taking care of himself (but not waxing!), and looking good. A guy who can appreciate a strong woman. Think dominant, not domineering.
Tridentway1
You left out Tom Ford, the fashion icon. He has propelled the coolness of the torso fro to new heights.
MrDee23
I think this is part of a natural trend cycle and the inevitable backlash against "metrosexual" men. I have quite the hairy chest and have never shaved it and I have not ever had a single complaint from any girlfriend my entire life. Quite the opposite, they all loved it, loved to touch it, play with it, rub it, etc. And I've heard variations on the comment "you're so manly" from girls for years, which I definitely take as a compliment. Sure all the dudes on TV lately have had perfectly moussed hair, highlights, six pack abs and shaved chests, but I've always been able to sneer at that knowing that in the real world, ladies love a real man.
funkychicken
And what of the footfro? Does it not deserve its place among the hip and hispid?
dm10003
most women seem to freak when men talk, positively or negatively, about a feature of womens' bodies, but i found if they see anything but boyishly bare men's bodies they screech with disgust. electric razor companies are exploiting this. it's not equality to say men have to primp like women. women who love male body hair should feel free to say so without fear!
dm10003
i should add that the gay market has a growing bearchasing niche. and the business world knows that promotion of male images must consider gay consumers.
MetryJen
Hear, hear! I've been trying to tell my boyfriend for years that I LIKE his torfro (love that word, too :) and he was always self-conscious about it. I forwarded him this article!
DaisyLu
Hooray for manly men! Now if back hair rallies, I'll have to keep an eye on my husband...
Loonford
But Jessie....David Gergen: hirsute or not hirsute. That is the question.
Timmybear
I'm never sure what people mean by dressing 'nicely' and looking 'good'. What I find odd is, when I ask people what they mean, they say: 'You should know'. Well, I don't...I mean, in general, I think being clean-shaven and wearing suits is freaky. I suppose this means I really DON'T get it...I know I wouldn't date a man who did either (well, in the case of the latter, outside of work). As to looking 'good' - I've horrified people by saying who I think looks 'good', so I'll refrain here...
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