In Defense of Fur

After reading so much about shaving and trimming and hair removal, I feel I want to write a counter-point. But then, I realized that I am biased. You see, I am furry and I like it. And before you say, “But women prefer…”, no. No they don’t. Maybe the women you know prefer smooth hairless skin, but literally none of the women I know want a man who shaves their body in any way. EXCEPT that some prefer a shaven face to stubble, however even they enjoy a nice soft beard on a man. How do I know this? I ask. I ask a lot. I ask because I think that people believe this thing about shaving that isn’t true. This is my experience, of course, and yours may be very different. I am OK with that. Call it cultural, call it regional, whatever. But do yourself a favor. Start asking!

I live in Seattle, WA. Here, fewer men have clean shaven faces. No matter what they do for a living, from CEOs to fish tossers, to street cleaners, most men have some facial hair. I recently did a 5 hour city walk, counting the clean-shaven faces vs total. I saw over 2000 men. 84% of the men I saw had some facial hair. Some, just a mustache. Some, a goatee. Some just stubble. Many with a full box beard or more. The most shaven faces I saw were police officers and fire fighters, as I happened to pass the scene of a bad car accident with a fire in a back seat. Scary. Anyway, looking around my city on a Friday afternoon, I realized that shaving isn’t the norm any more.

Culturally, I belong to a group of men known as “Bears.” In short, a Bear is a guy who is bigger and furrier than what you normally see on TV, movies, magazines, etc. (Although that is changing.) Think lumberjack with a belly. Think Zach Galifinakis before the coke habit. Bears are also almost all homos, although I know a few hetero bears, too. The whole Bear movement was about porn, originally. Gay men like porn and some men like myself weren’t seeing ourselves or the men we like to fuck in the porn that was available. So, “bear porn” started. Hairy guys. Guys with big muscles and maybe a belly. Beards, hairy arms. No barely legal waifs. And so, being a part of this culture of Bears, having moved beyond just the porn interests, I find myself with men who like men like me and I like them back. Some are a bit TOO big for their own health, of course. But many are quite muscly and strong without being all chiseled and cut. And FURRY. The more fur the better. Now, there are hairless bears in the culture, because they like furry dudes. It gets confusing to some, but we tend to an attitude of inclusiveness. Still, the “ideal bear” is furry, even if we disagree on how chubby or thin or muscly he needs to be. Even the model-hot muscly Bears are covered in fur.

Yes. Back hair is hot. Shoulder fuzz is hot. Chest hair is almost a requirement. Hairy calves and thighs and crotch, hot hot hot. Furry face, hot. Seriously, just go look up Bear Porn and you’ll see who we are talking about. Wade Neff. Jack Radcliffe. Buster.

Back to me…

For myself, if I could get more hair to grow on parts of my body that are smooth and don’t have dark hair, I would. But genetics are real and dark hair follicles aren’t everywhere on me. My shoulders are bare along with my upper arms. My knuckles are pretty bare; the hairs there are short, thin, pale. I have a nice patch of chest hair that runs over my round belly to my cock and around my balls. My scrotum is relatively bare, but does have a few long thick black hairs. Thighs and calves are pretty hairy, as are forearms. Still. ALL of those areas COULD be thicker and darker furred and I’d be THRILLED. My crowning glory is my head and face. My beard is big, bushy, dark, and full. My beard IS my face as much as my lips and nose and eyes. And I have a nice thick head of hair with no signs of balding at age 40. Yes, I have many white hairs scattered about. I can’t WAIT to go full on Santa Claus with a pure white beard and hair!

Yet, I shave. I shave the line of the top of my beard on my upper cheeks. AND I shave the outside of my ears. And I trim my nose hairs and eyebrows. And one more thing: I have my foreskin, so my pubic hair, left to grow, ends up tangled in all that skin. So I trim my public hair back enough to prevent that.

*Grooming Tips for the Furry*
Stop using soap. Period. Soap is for cleaning actually dirty hands.
Use shampoo and conditioner ALL over your body. It’s good for the hair and the skin. Especially facial hair.
Rinse with the coldest water you can stand, EVERY time you shower. This is also good for hair and skin, closing pores and smoothing the hair shaft.
Use a moisturizing oil on facial hair at least once a week to keep the hairs strong, preventing split ends.
Find a barber who can handle facial hair, if you have facial hair. A professional touch from time to time will keep things even, trim off dead ends, and help you shape things to your face better.

So, that’s it.
Rock your furry self. And if your woman or man or friends make fun, get new ones.

I’m with you. As a gay male I can tell you that I have zero attraction for a smooth man. Period. End of story.

The wife prefers smooth. I respect everyone’s choice.

This goes with what I said about standards bro if you put on your clothes that you like, but as you leave the house you notice everyone dislikes them; well fuck em!

There’s no need to keep anybody happy unless you’re receiving something from them such as employment.

I’m also hairier than your average guy (or your average guy pre-shave). From your definition above I guess I’m a bear too! Beard? Check. Shoulder fuzz? Yep. Hairy chest? Oh yes, and I love it. Hairy stomach/crotch/legs/TOES?! Affirmative, Captain.

I would like some parts of my body to be smooth (my shoulders especially), however I have recently made peace with the fact that I’m just a hairy guy. I shaved my chest hair a sum total of once, and good God I’m never doing that again because the regrowth was like a million needles piercing my flesh from the inside. Ditto my ass crack. What was I thinking?! I just have better things to do with my time than make sure every square inch of my body is smooth and hairless, and I have yet to meet a lady who doesn’t like me the way I am. I really dislike the regrowth and the discomfort that comes with it, plus I have to admit it’s nice feeling a little “different” when every male image we’re bombarded with is waxed, moisturised and baby smooth. My only complaint is that I can’t tan, because my fuzzy body is one huge sun repellent and no rays can get through to my actual skin!

This is nothing against all you hairless folks, by the way. My mantra is very much “live and let live”, so if you’re naturally smooth or you maintain that shizz yourself, then all props to you. It wouldn’t do for us all to be alike!

I personally prefer “smooth” men however I think facial hair is attractive as long as it is not a large beard especially if the person with a beard is also bald. I think everyone is different.

Sparkplug,
Well said.
I’m a moderately hairy guy and I like being that way.. Actually wish my chest was even thicker.
I trim my back because its patchy and I feel a little itchy. I don’t sport hairy shoulders but man is my ass hairy.
My wife has known me since 15 and we’ve been fucking each other ever since.
So, she’s seen me grow a hairy man’s body and she loves it. I’ve trimmed, shaved and such over the years. To each their own.

The only thing that really gets shaved is my sack and shaft.