July 23rd, 2008
Jacob’s ladder | Activist Moves West to Make Bank for Barack2 comments
July 16th, 2008
My Big Fat Gay Wallet | When a billfold becomes a way of life.9 comments
July 2nd, 2008
The Memorial Service | Burying a loved one digs up old feelings.6 comments
June 25th, 2008
Born Funny | Bon mots from a Southern-fried sissyboy.0 comments
June 18th, 2008
It’s A Gay Gay Gay World | The queerest moments from PDX’s Pride Week 2008.2 comments
June 11th, 2008
Pride Up | The “new” faces of pride should join the parade.1 comment
May 14th, 2008
Coming Out For Sho | Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you have to vote for the gay guy. Who knew?7 comments
May 7th, 2008
Robyn: (Gay)Boy Wonder | Sweet Swede pop sensation lands in PDX.3 comments
April 30th, 2008
The Hortivangelist | Preaching the gospel of gardening and Novick. 1 comment
April 23rd, 2008
“The Most Dangerous Man in Washington…” | is a straight-talking gay Jewish rep. from Mass. 1 comment
![]() IMAGE: cari vander yacht |
[February 27th, 2008]
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked…and shaven?”
—With apologies to Allen Ginsberg
David Beckham does it. So do a lot of gay men. Hell, I even know some straight gents who do it.
They strip their balls clean.
Women have long shaved off the hair down there. In fact, WW devoted a cover story to this follicle phenomenon (“The Fuzz That Was,” WW, Dec. 14, 2005) and why gals don’t want thatches of curly pubes growing out the sides of their bikini bottoms. But every time I read a blog or open a newspaper now there’s some male sports star or celeb talking about his shaved ass. Do guys really need their peckers to look just like they did in junior-high swim class?
“My generation has a phobia about hair down there,” says 24-year-old Peter Murray, a confessed trimmer and music publicist. My informal office poll suggests a lot of other young dudes are doing it, too. “I think it’s due to our exposure to hardcore porn,” confessed one of my twentyish cubicle mates. “Hair gets in the way of close-ups.”
To get to the root of this touchy topic I talked to Dvija Michael Bertish. Owner of Vancouver, Wash.-based the Art of Hair, he’s one of this area’s only licensed practitioners who specialize in this type of male grooming. In the biz for 15 years, Bertish it’s only been in the past five that he’s seen a real rise in men wanting to get their nether regions shorn: “It’s largely due to cultural, social and personal preference. But most men want to look and feel their best. They don’t want to look like orangutans. It’s very lucrative to grow this part of my business.”
Bertish’s most common request from his male customers, besides back waxing, is the “Brazilian” (cheeky Brits have dubbed it the “Boyzilian” or “Full Monty”) for $55 a session. On men that’s the removal of the hair on the buttocks and inner and outer thighs. Whatever’s left near the pubic arch is designed into a symmetrical shape. “Very few [men] want it all removed,” says Bertish, who will even color it, if someone wants that done, now that there is a line of cosmetic products designed specifically for pubic hair. And, oh, by the way, he only does Brazilians on men.
Although he doesn’t refer to it as “manscaping,” Bertish agrees these services have jumped into our mainstream vernacular: “Steve Carell didn’t help my business when he screamed, ‘Kelly Clarkson!’ in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But it isn’t horribly painful when you know what you’re doing.” Bertish believes it’s a fear of pain, more than a fear of being made fun of, that deters men from getting their weeds whacked. That’s why he offers his more temporary “full-body clippering” as well.
This is not a job for amateurs. Beware the trim job by Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas. According to a Feb. 11 blog post Arenas wrote on my.nba.com, he was dared to shave his scrotum by his teammates. He used his girlfriend’s rusty razor and ended up doing such a bad job he needed ample amounts of talcum powder just to cool off his junk. During a game, a puff of white smoke followed him every time he drove to the basket, gaining him the nickname “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
Gawd, this is one time being old school feels really good.
If thy (foot) offends thee, cut it off!
I agree with Mr. Murray, hair gets in the way of the action.
Funny, when I was in the military I never saw my "comrades shaving their boys in the gang shower". Maybe our mission involved a different kind of action.
Hmm... I've always found Portland guys to be relatively scruffier than those in other places and sexier for it. Perhaps this fad is being imported? :o










I'm sure anyone who's been in the military or in a team sport during the last few years has been treated to the sight of their comrades shaving their boys in the gang shower.
This is why I NEVER forget my flip-flops. Cause if I ever accidently stepped barefooted into one of those disgusting clumps shaving cream and pubic hair I'd seriously demand to have my foot amputated.