A few days ago, Travis Kelce inspired some hot takes from the public. And, no, those takes didn’t have anything to do with what he’s typically known for: football, his relationship with Taylor Swift or his popular podcast with his brother. Instead, it had all to do with his body hair.
Kelce was recently photographed shirtless, and people have lots of opinions about it, ranging from praise for his hairy back to utter disgust. Even Kelce referred to himself as a “furry son of a bitch” on a recent episode of his “New Heights” podcast. But that doesn’t mean the public should feel entitled to voice opinions about someone else’s body.
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“I like a hairy back, and so it just seems wild to me that people would have such negative opinions about it. It’s body hair. We all have body hair, and that’s normal,” said Brittany Brown, the owner of Dahlia Wax Collective in Portland, Oregon.
Between Brazilian waxes, eyebrow waxes and upper lip waxes, hair removal is more often a topic that centers women, but back waxing tends to be the outlier.
“It’s getting more and more popular for men to come in, and it’s clear that hair removal is no longer a niche men’s grooming practice. It seems to be becoming a mainstream trend,” said Courtney Claghorn, the founder of SUGARED + BRONZED.
“We’re seeing men seeking sugaring [which is a form of hair removal] as a personal preference for a smoother look, especially with younger demographics,” Claghorn said, “While back and shoulders tend to be most popular, we do see some men also getting chest and stomach.”
While Kelce doesn’t appear to wax his back, other men choose to do so for a variety of reasons, hair removal professionals say. Here’s why some men choose back waxing — and why you shouldn’t be judging someone’s body hair, ever.
According to waxers, men come in for back-waxing for a number of reasons. Here are the top:
Kim Kelly, a licensed esthetician at Moonbow Beauty Bar in Bay Shore, New York, who does both waxing and laser hair removal, said, “About a quarter of my hair removal clientele are male, and of those clients, nearly all of them get their back waxed.”
While people decide to get hair removal services for many reasons, Kelly said the men who come into her salon often are encouraged by their partners, wives or girlfriends to make an appointment for back waxing.
It also tends to be a more frequent occurrence in the summer months, Kelly added.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s common, but it’s also not uncommon,” said Brown. “I feel like a lot of the men, in particular, that come in for back waxing, I tend to see it’s more something that they do seasonally or for a vacation.”
Brown said that while it’s not a super popular treatment at her salon, she thinks many men shave their backs at home instead of coming in for a wax.
“It seems like it tends to be more for vacations, trips, events, stuff like that,” Brown adds.
Deidra Green, the vice president of field performance at European Wax Center, added, “The most common purpose, and the reason many become regular guests, is the increased comfort they have under their clothing after waxing.”
Claghorn added that men also come in for the service before athletic events or competitions.
Men have a choice about body hair removal. The same can’t be said for women.
While many women undergo hair-removal procedures because of societal pressures and expectations, the same isn’t generally true for men.
“I personally believe that body hair removal in general is deeply rooted in misogyny,” said Kristy Page, the owner of The Waxing Poetic in Pine Bush, New York.
“I think that for men, the choice to remove body hair is just that — a choice with neutral or zero consequences. This discussion surrounding men’s body hair removal is unabashedly different than it would be if this was about Taylor Swift’s bikini line going viral,” Page said. “At the end of the day, you should do what makes you feel good — the people who are meant for you wouldn’t bat an eye.”
One reason why some people get so bent out of shape when it comes to body hair has to do with a big misconception, according to Kelly: “A lot of people do still associate hair and hairiness with being unhygienic, which is absolutely not true, but that doesn’t stop the myth from being pervasive.”
“And of course, women deal with this [and] have dealt with this forever,” she said. “Men are free to have hairy underarms, but the second you see a woman with just a little bit of hair under their arm, it’s not even just ‘oh, that doesn’t look nice,’ it’s ‘oh, that person must smell or be dirty.’”
Kelly said, “I would just like to drive the point home that hair, the amount of hair that one has, has nothing to do with how hygienic one is.”
People can do whatever they want with their body hair, which should not come with judgment.
“Body hair is beautiful, and if you have your body hair and you want keep your body hair, that’s amazing and you should do that and not worry about anyone else,” noted Brown.
If you want to remove your body hair, waxing is a good option, especially since it lasts longer than a shave.
But, the decision to remove your body hair or keep it — whether on your back, face, legs or wherever — is up to you. It’s hard to ignore the outside noise and equally hard not to compare your body hair to someone else’s, but waxing should be a personal decision, Kelly said.
While the experts who spoke to HuffPost largely said it isn’t societal pressure that’s getting men to make appointments for back hair removal, some research shows that it can have an impact and can even cause body image anxiety in young men. And, how could it not when folks see mean comments about Kelce or hear from their partner that they prefer a shaven back?
“Try, as difficult as it is, to not let outside influence, well, influence you too much,” said Kelly.
Whether it’s Kelce, a friend, a partner, or yourself, body hair decisions are up to the individual, not the outside world.