That’s interesting about the length of beards. And the hair not going into the mouth seems sensible.

My Muslim friend and her family have the cleanest households I’ve ever seen anywhere. That squares with what you’ve said above. There is a similar Christian principle: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. I guess being clean is being respectful of others. If you are so dirty that you intrude on others, or affect them, it is impolite.

Unfortunately, I’m naturally untidy. I do try to be tidy, but I always fail. I think I have too much stuff, and too little time to tidy up - always better things to do… I think I succeed in being clean, however, which I would distinguish from tidy. I certainly draw the line at mould on dishes or gross things like that. Before we were married, my husband shared a house with some boys who were very unclean. He had to keep his own cutlery and plates in his room, because everything else was mouldy. How disgusting. And the dog ate the other boys’ scraps from the floor. Ugh. He was glad to leave that house.

Wearing a beard isn’t seen as something unclean by Islam. There are plenty of rules regarding the length of facial hair and how it should be maintained. For e.g, you have to trim the hair surrounding your mouth so it doesn’t interfere your speech or consumption of food. Shaving the moustache is encouraged though.

I think it all stems from a religious doctrine which goes along the lines of “cleanliness is part of faith” or “cleanliness is half of faith.” I’m not sure which of the two is the correct one. Cleanliness of the body includes, cutting your nails, keeping the moustache short and shaving your pubic and armpit hairs.

With this comes obligations such as thoroughly washing, then drying ones body parts after visiting the toilet in order to remove “filth” - traces of faeces or urine.

You also have to smell good all the time so you don’t disturb other people with your smell. And your garments should always be clean and neat (even if they’re old).

There are many more exhaustive requirements for staying clean which i’m not 100% familiar with. But if you ask me, it’s like religiously endorsed metrosexuality.

And how does that square with the wearing of long beards by devout Muslim men? Apologise if these questions are silly/naive, but I’m curious.

My husband shaves, and it is a laborious and painful process. But he once tried to let a beard grow while on holidays. We both thought it looked terrible. He didn’t really have enough whiskers for it to work. And it was itchy.

My Dad has a beard, and that looks good. He occasionally threatens to shave it off, but as I’ve never known him without a beard, I’m rather afraid of the idea. He won’t be my Daddy any more without his beard.

Again, without going into too much detail on the WWW, a friend had an ex-boyfriend who waxed “crack, back and sack”, just for curiousity’s sake. I never asked her whether she liked it or not. Once I went to a hen’s night featuring male strippers, and I was somewhat disturbed to see that they were all waxed. Just not something I favour, I think.

As for benefits of a Brazilian - well, of course I think reason no. 4 given above has merit for both sides of a partnership. I had not thought that far about it. So perhaps I was a little hasty with my initial comment. But I’d still find it a little disturbing to have no hair at all there - sorry, that’s just me.

The whole point of them is based on the assumption that men like their sexual partners to look pre-pubescent.

This is totally incorrect, at least in my experience. Personally I find the implication borderline offensive (yes, I am implicitly admitting that I like the look, as to plenty of completely normal guys I know). I won’t go into my personal views in too much detail on the WWW, but I can assure you that it is perfectly possible to like the effect of a Brazilian with the most adult and non-deviant of motivations.

Counter-example. Men naturally grow hair on their faces, which they are typically encouraged to remove (either by other men or by women, particularly women in their lives). Said removal can often be a painful and bloody process, and is definitely a massive hassle.

I can play exactly the same card - the women in my life have obviously all been closet pedophiles, after all, they have all made me shave my face so I look like a little kid. Sickos!

Obviously this is incorrect. But in fact I think the real reasons are very similar between women waxing their nether regions and men shaving:

1. It looks better according to some people
2. It is ‘neater’
3. It’s the present fashion
4. It’s.. ahem.. not as scratchy*

200 years ago men all had beards and women were no doubt all as natural as the Brazilian rainforest, rather than the Brazilian wax. Today that isn’t the trend in either case.

As for why men don’t typically wax - well, for one thing, it may disturb you to learn that some men do in fact do it. Allegedly it creates an illusion of increased size. That aside, there is the unavoidable physiological differences which tend to make the benefits more obvious for the female anatomy.

Believe me I am very pro feminism. But be careful that you aren’t confusing your personal preferences when it comes to sex and what you or your partner finds appealing with some kind of conspiracy to sexualise women in an inappropriate way.

* I can even see a feminist spin which could be put on it - the less hair there is down there, the more, er, accessible it is and the more likely the average bloke is going to be prepared to try something that isn’t totally about his own enjoyment…

And don’t get me, as a man with a shiny dome, started on the lack of respect for a masculine, hairless skull.

Generally both genders as a collective could use a step back from the fetishisation of the young and of overly prescribed looks pushed by the mainstream.

Jeez legals, I write more on your site than mine. Has nothing to do with the block on blog*er at my workplace…

When I turned 14, I discovered make-up and slathered myself with it. I remember my grandpa telling me gently that the whole point with make-up is that it should look natural. I think this goes for most beauty enhancements. Otherwise, paradoxically, you can actually make yourself look a lot worse.