Comments on: A fun image that I think you will enjoy

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:33:00 +0000

I can’t remember who it was, maybe David Geffen, at 60ish was appalled that anyone would expect him to date a 35 year-old, because 35 was so ancient.

By: ashypete

ashypete — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:58:00 +0000

I have an older friend who fancies himself as a twink who has miserable luck with men. I’ve suggested, teasingly, that he might have a little more luck if he expands his interests beyond the hairless young men he chases. He gets horribly defensive and says “What? You expect me to date a bear?”

By: Muhry

Muhry — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:35:00 +0000

An amusing story, if only it were true.

The journal was Medical Hypotheses which is not an evolutionary psychology journal. Based on the name alone I think most people can surmise that a lot of the articles published in it are going to be wrong. Moreover, Ramachandran is on the advisory board of Medical Hypotheses and has 15 papers published in the journal.

By: teapot

teapot — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:14:00 +0000

http://www.dafont.com/suplexmentary-comic-nc.font

By: Vaughn Marlowe

Vaughn Marlowe — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 03:01:00 +0000

The evolutionary psychologists and sociobiologists work the same side of the same street. I wish they’d stay there and leave anthropology alone.

By: Vaughn Marlowe

Vaughn Marlowe — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Um, culture IS anthropological. It;s not called cultural anthropology for nothing.

By: polarbay

polarbay — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:52:00 +0000

I do believe it is more of a cultural aspect than anthropological.

We probably associate hairless guys in a higher social status and conversely, hairy guys as more illiterate or even violent. In the media for instance that is quite frequent. Same discriminatory portrayals are with bald guys where, unless the actor is well known, he usually is the bad guy.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:52:00 +0000

Now where did i put that wooly carpet…

By: surreality

surreality — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:55:00 +0000

As someone who was dating the smooth-chested men until recently, I like some hair better. I think the appeal for me is the virile-manly-man kind of thing. But, to each their own. And growing up with a father with back hair certainly helps one’s acceptance of back hair!

By: SamSam

SamSam — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:45:00 +0000

It didn’t need fake data — all EP is just elaborate just-so stories. That’s the point. It’s exactly the same as this “study” above — would a difference in chest-hair preference between Turkish women and other women really have been any evidence at all for their hypothesis? No, not at all.

By: Sekino

Sekino — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Is there even such a thing as ‘actual evidence’ in evolutionary psychology?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:37:00 +0000

Generally speaking, if you see an article about how women do or don’t like hairy chests, most of the comments are from gay men defending the fur.

By: bcsizemo

bcsizemo — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Mine has done the same, except a good chunk of it kept on marching and has now taken residence on my back side if you catch my drift…

I’m pretty sure if they offered a pill that would render you completely hairless (except facial and eyebrows) I’d take it. Yeah I’d trade head hair (what I have left) for not having to deal with back or ass hair.

By: knoxblox

knoxblox — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Now they’ve gone and done it…pretty soon “hairless chest” is going to be a category on Pinterest.

By: wysinwyg

wysinwyg — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Considering the amount of variation in quantity and distribution of male body hair it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of selection pressure toward either extreme. Can’t we just celebrate the diversity of body hair styles? There’s something for everyone to enjoy somewhere out there.

Well, except for the weird daddy-long-legs-legs-like hairs that started sprouting on my upper arms and shoulders in my late 20′s. Those are gross.

By: greendemiurge

greendemiurge — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:25:00 +0000

Didn’t Stephanie used to date Randall Lawrence Waterhouse of Epiphyte?

By: mappo

mappo — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Maybe it’s just correlated with trouble.

By: big ryan

big ryan — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:59:00 +0000

ive heard that men have body hair because it actually helps keep us cool, body hair increases our surface area and allows sweat to evaporate more efficiently

that was the theory anyways

By: Boris Bartlog

Boris Bartlog — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Well, my question is whether he made up supporting data. If his paper was really an elaborate just-so-story, then it certainly casts doubt on the journal and by extension the field. If he faked some sort of actual evidence for his theory, then no one should be surprised at it being accepted (and shame on him).

By: Boris Bartlog

Boris Bartlog — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:54:00 +0000

Given the preferences, I’d try to figure out the other angle: what possible evolutionary advantage could a hairy chest provide to counterbalance the problem of women not liking it? Insulation? Seems like a stretch…

By: edgore

edgore — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:52:00 +0000

“the researchers expected to find that Turkish women were more likely to choose hairless men because that country has long had higher rates of parasite-transmitted disease”
Wouldn’t a historical higher rate of parasite-transmitted disease indicate Turkish women are more likely to choose hairy men, assuming that the researcher’s transmission vector assumptions were correct? If Turkish women pre-dispose to hairless men that would result in a LOWER historical rate of parasite transmitted disease.

What I am saying is, this is bunk on so many levels.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:48:00 +0000

It’s that word “because.” Causes trouble every time.

By: hymenopterid

hymenopterid — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:38:00 +0000

The Bat-hand is firm.

By: ldobe

ldobe — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:36:00 +0000

When I was new to being out as a queer guy, the scenes I went to really frowned at the hairy chest. The outright disgust I endured doesn’t bother me anymore. I spent some time hanging out with bear friend, and his circle of friends. I got the confidence to be comfortable in my own skin. I don’t live up to a mainstream standard of beauty, but I now know that there are people I’m attractive to.

By: nowimnothing

nowimnothing — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:27:00 +0000

A hairy chest is always at least somewhat ok, what do I do about this damn scraggly fur coat on my back?

I have the reasonable assumption that the hair fled the top of my head for shadier locales. Good thing I got married before the exodus was complete!

By: franko

franko — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:24:00 +0000

you ladies can have the smooth guys. i prefer mine to have some texture.

By: big ryan

big ryan — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:21:00 +0000

acceptance of mens bodies seems to go back and forth with trends, right now a hairy chest is down right accepted as normal, when i was a teen in the 90s – 00s no one had hair on their chest in tv or movies

i was teased mercilessly and looked at with disgust by most girls/women

so i developed a personality and learned how to be attractive with my behavior, thats really all anyone can do

By: Matthew Petty

Matthew Petty — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:19:00 +0000

Pedant at your service *bows*. Good call.

By: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:18:00 +0000

Good pedanting. I made the executive decision to not put “bitchslap” in our tags.

By: ashypete

ashypete — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:15:00 +0000

Never was a problem during my hairier days… More importantly how do same sex couples feel about the “rug”?