Hair Yesterday - Gone Today

Sean Connery, Tom Selleck, and Burt Reynolds: In their day these men were major box office draws, perennial sex symbols, and the epitome of manliness. They were also hairy. Nowadays any man who looked like that would have to first be dipped in a vat of depilatory cream and then waxed within an inch of his life before he ever made it to the silver screen. How did this happen and who is responsible? I figured readers of the Blob would be interested and wouldn't you know it...I have a theory. Read on and prepare to be swayed by the seamless blend of logic and paranoia.
Let's start our journey of discovery in New York City, the hub of North America's fashion and advertising industries. The two help drive the way we view ourselves and push us to decide how we want to be viewed in several subtle and not so subtle ways.... advertising, by playing on our fear of inadequacy and fashion, by playing on our fear of inadequacy!
That being said neither the Ad nor Fashion biz can achieve any such shift in attitude unless the culture is already primed. Roiling just beneath the surface in the late 80's, the image of the hairless male was poised for primacy bolstered by the peri-menopausal women's movement and the pubescent gay rights lobby. Both were fights well worth fighting but the latter group had a strong narcissistic bent and the former may have had a subconcious interest in emasculating men. Cue Madison Avenue.
Women were and are the major shoppers and had been told for years by feminists such as Andrea Dworkin that "all men are potential rapists". While this was certainly an exaggeration all women knew that the bigger, stronger, more violent, testosterone driven male was both a subject of fascination and fear. As an advertising image this type of primal man was history and the hairless, boyish and less threatening archetype would be the only one moving product within a short while.
Saying there are a lot of gay men in the fashion world is a gimme, sort of like saying that there are a lot of liquified vegetables in my crisper. The stereotype of the well groomed gay man, while a stereotype no doubt, was borne of definite tendencies within gay culture (trust me on this one) . The neatly trimmed hair and nails and finely chiseled, well oiled torsos (back in a sec, a tad hot in here......just have to open a window...ahh, that's better) almost cried out for electrolysis and then jumped for joy when laser technology improved with the heightened demand. It wasn't long before ad execs realized that the typically unkempt and hirsute man needed more than a good shave, a splash of aqua velva, and a dab of brylcreem to get by.....these were just the tip of the iceberg. The inadequate hetero-male was a cash-bull just waiting to be invented, neutered and exploited. Women have played right along since they've had to deal with this crap for decades and gay men have barely noticed since it was part of their lifestyle already. That leaves us ordinary Joes to fend for ourselves....bearish, adequate, and proud.
More from the Blob later....time for my Brazilian.