A hairy chest used to be a sign of virility. But a original survey has revealed that one in seven British men now regularly remove their chest hairIt is puerile,politically incorrect and not for the squeamish. But the infamous “waxing scene” in Judd Apatow’s 2005 hit comedy, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and is also for those of us who must traverse the shifting sands of male vanity for a living,one of the key markers of a change in masculine grooming habits: from chest hair, to no hair.
The setup is simple. For the first time in his life Steve Carrell’s hapless naif has a date with an actual woman. His friends choose he needs succor. First order of business: lose the chest hair. What once would bear been a point in his favour – a thick rug traditionally signifying virility – is now a liability. Not to mention kind of vulgar. The scene – a stern Asian woman rips out his hair in strips, and while he screams agonised curses – is very funny. But more than that,it says a lot about contemporary man’s attitude to his body: what makes it desirable to others, and what doesn’t.
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Source: theguardian.com