Men with no underarm hair. Is this now normal?

[Fifthtimelucky]

I am currently watching some of the athletics. As the athletes are introduced they raise their arm to acknowledge the crowd’s cheers.

To my surprise I haven’t seen a single man with underarm hair. None of them look like they have arm or leg hair either.

Is this about streamlining their bodies so that they can run faster or is it now usual for young men more generally?

I used to live in Germany and men routinely shaved all body hair. This was about 20 years ago. I knew Turkish men there too and they shaved.

My husband is Cuban and he does this, I think it’s normal in hot countries due to the sweat, so I imagine the same reasoning for athletes

Oh my god in this hot weather I really hope this trend takes off permanently. I wish everyone would shave their armpits. How can
deodorant be as effective if it’s fighting its way through thickets of hair

Yes my husband and both sons do this now.

Personally, I think that's a great idea. I don't like body hair. I imagine it's much cooler in hot weather too.

My husband trims his so it’s a bit neater but not unruly. I like hairy, rugged men with chest hair. I’m not into clean shaven arm pits, chests etc.

Thanks, all. I am obviously very out of date, as it is clearly now common, but it does look a bit odd to me.

It’s certainly not a trend that my husband will follow, but he’s 76!

This

always so relieved when you're dating and the man turns out to have shaved his armpits

It’s something that’s gone on for years in sport.

Outside of that, some men remove it and some don’t. Just like women.

I don’t go for the super smooth look either but in the interest of all that is fragrant, would consider heavily financing any PR aimed at promoting shaven pits

No. This is a point of sadness for me that I fell in love with and married a barely hairy man. Definitely not keen on
hairless, waxed men aesthetically.

It’s a lot more common now. It turns me right off- I much prefer to see natural body hair- certainly on men, but on women too really. In fact I’d gladly grow my pit and leg hair if I wasn’t such a big wuss about social acceptance. I don’t even like the feel of shaven skin- makes me think of dolphins 🤢(I like dolphins but their skin feels awful).

It’s ridiculous that I hate the feel and look of bare legs on myself and yet still I shave (infrequently, admittedly) because otherwise society thinks I’m disgusting or a lesbian or something.

Happily my DH is exactly as nature intended and is pretty hairy. It’s very sexy to me.

Anecdotally, DH and I disprove the hairy pit smell theory. Mine are almost always clean shaven but I suffer a LOT with excessive sweating and occasionally do battle with BO. DH is extremely hairy but always smells great, including his pits. I’ve never once detected BO on him or his clothes in our 28 years together. I don’t think hair makes any difference- some people are just sweatier/smellier than others. Health conditions, diet, hormones, skin PH are all far more relevant.

@Waitingfordoggo" ( like dolphins but their skin feels awful)."

I wouldn't know. I've never cuddled a dolphin.

I don’t shave my arm pits and I don’t smell. I don’t understand the obsession with removing body hair. Each to their own of course, but I can’t be bothered. I might occasionally shave my legs only if wearing a dress.

In my experience deodorant works much better if you have some hair under your armpits. Whenever I shave my armpits then feel sticky and sweaty much faster.
We ard after all supposed to have armpits hair.

I think in the case of athletes it is to maximise aerodynamics, but I hope it takes off more generally. I don't like a hairy armpit on men or women.

The “supposed to have” argument is a bit of a misnomer, there are lots of things we do with our bodies which do not fit the “supposed to” logic. Does this mean we shouldn’t go the hairdresser or even brush our hair? That is not supposed to be. Does this mean men shouldn’t shave their faces?

l don’t understand how deodorant on a hairy armpit doesn’t clog.

My preference would definitely be hairless armpits for men. It’s much cleaner.

I wondered about aerodynamics, but I am also often surprised to see that many athletes - male as well as female - wear quite a bit of jewellery. The other night one of the runners had a necklace, a watch on one wrist and a chunky bracelet on the other.

It was in the 100m though, so perhaps it doesn’t make much difference in such a short race.

As pps have said, pretty normal in sports. Society is very conditioned to women removing body hair and it's seen as "normal" and "preferable". On non sporty men, it makes me think of those hairless cats.

Dh shaves his armpits in his late 60s. He knows I hate armpit hair! Mine has never grown for some reason.

I'm old fashioned but I find this whole trend of man-scaping absolutely repellent.

There is nothing attractive to me about a man with a shaved or waxed body.

Oh, it doesn’t feel nice.

I hope so.