Do Women Like a Man with a Hairy Chest or Hairless?

This morning I awoke at 3:30AM with an odd thought and question.  For some reason, and this thought surely came from the recesses of a progressively deteriorating brain, I wondered whether women like men with hair on their chest or no hair on their chest. I clearly already knew the answer but even so, it emerged with enough force to wake me from a relatively decent sleep and send me to the computer to document this moronic episode of foolishness.    

Of course, some women like men with hair on their chest and some women prefer men with no hair on their chest. The old James Bond – Sean Connery had hair on his chest and he was the ultimate symbol of masculinity with no shortage of beautiful girls waiting their turn to fall into his arms and other body parts. But that was a while back, and a more metrosexual look and behavior has taken over the scene - that is until recently when a return to quasi-masculinity has sprouted with seemingly every male on the planet attempting to sport a beard. Who know what women like, hairy chest, hairless chest, smart, not so smart, rich, richer, gentlemanly, assertive, attentive, oblivious, etc, etc.

At one point in my life in my 30-40’s, my body was so totally covered with hair…..legs, back, chest, head, etc., I was frequently embarrassed. Early one morning while attending a National Pediatric Research meeting, I was jogging shirtless past the zoo in Washington DC wearing only running short.  Two teenage girls were sitting on a bench waiting for a bus started hysterically laughing as I passed them on my run.  It took a while for me to decipher why I inspired such laughter, ostensibly because they thought an ape had just escaped confinement. Of course, I blame my middle eastern genes for this hirsute overabundance that presumably allowed my ancestors to weather the desert heat. Over time, that momentary reminder of my hirsute being led me to shave my chest and back (with a little help), which I have continued to do for I don’t remember how long. Added to the beard that I have grown and kept for at least 55 years, instead of hair stubbles felt on an unshaven face, the only hair stubbles owned by me are on my chest and back. They feel course and plentiful, and live on as a painful reminder of that zoo incident a half a life ago. It also leaves me curious how I might look if I left my upper body unshaven for a month. Interestingly the hair on my legs have disappeared with time and declining testosterone leaving a few remaining reminder strands that are placed hither and yon. With almost no testosterone left coursing my veins, it remains a puzzle why by body retains any hair at all, anywhere on this aging relic. 

Thinking back, no one other than yours truly gave a wisp about my body hair. I guess more important human values were likely at play in my relationship successes and failures. In any case, I’m grateful for the good luck in my life. I’ve had only a few painful memories of betrayal. The people I associate with now – friends and family - have been with me during most of my journey, and I have no doubt about their intentions, sincerity, and integrity. We’re all too old to think that elsewhere the grass is greener; we’re just happy that we are still alive and healthy enough to experience another day of life before traveling to the one way trip to the unknown.