Dear Hairy and curious,

Can you say waxing and computers? You're right: body hair removal isn't just for Olympic swimmers and cyclists anymore. A once quasi-weird practice reserved for increasing one's racing speed in a swimming pool or on a bike, it is now splashed on almost every ad featuring male skin from the neck down. Many male models (and nonmodels, for that matter) have their body hair professionally removed (waxed) because... well, someone on Madison Avenue must have decided that this look should be in. Or, is it that bald boys appear more muscular and Adonislike, thus sparking a trend (i.e., Michael Jordan)? Who knows?

But, don't be fooled, Alice's hairy and curious reader -- computer technology also now makes hair removal, as well as skin blemish cover-up, wrinkle-smoothing, tanning, and even face and body proportion alterations, including fat reduction, possible with the simple click of a mouse (don't try this at home, kids). Some ads and movies even pass off two or three humans as one. What? Yes, part your nose hair and smell the coffee: computers enable body parts to be pieced together to make the "perfect" puzzle. If a supermodel's breasts or basket aren't so "super," they can easily be removed and replaced by those of full-cupped gals and guys. The irony here is that advertisers try to convince us that we should look like these models who aren't all there themselves. Alice is sure you get the picture: No one's perfect, and that's okay.

Maybe the new millennium will bring a dramatic reaction to the current cutbacks: chest and pubic hair corn-rowing, perhaps. Until then, be a smart media consumer: Don't believe everything you see.

Alice

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