OutUK - Sex Talk : Speaking Of Shaving Down There

SPEAKING OF SHAVING DOWN THERE

Crave a crotch that's soft and smooth ? With an increasing number of men going for the shaved look, what were once luxuriant jungles of pubic hair are now gleaming expanses of newly shorn skin.

Many guys who opt for smooth schlongs shave themselves for looks. A pubic bush obscures the base of the cock, after all, so an obsession with size is well-served by a simple procedure that exposes every last millimeter to the naked eye. Compared to the expense and hassle of penile implant surgery, buying an extra can of Foamy is no big thing.

But there are other reasons for shaving, too. "I love the silky smooth feel after I've just shaved myself," says one enthusiast. "My crotch just seems so sensitive and alive. I end up jacking off a lot."

Of course, it helps to keep shaving regularly; growing-back stubble can itch like crazy and be uncomfortably scratchy to your sex partner.

Just the absence of hair can be an attention-getter that advertises your apparatus to the other guys in the showers at the gym. But the psychologically inclined among us will note that a hairless crotch is a signifier of prepubescence or even, given the maleness of body hair, femininity. So shaving might be seen as a paradox, subverting adult male sexuality while drawing attention to the adult dick. On the other hand, why worry? Fuck it - if you think it looks sexy, you're certainly not alone. Go for it.

Kinkier overtones do come into play when two or more guys do a shaving scene. Shaving another guy's crotch has sexual dimensions that some kinksters find way hot. "Steve wanted me to shave him," says Peter, "and I discovered it was a great dominance/submission scene. I loved it all: the buzz of the electric clippers as I trimmed his pubic hair way down; the smell of the shaving cream; the sound of the razor shaving away the last traces of his hair. Even the smell of the baby powder I used afterwards. I had a hard-on the whole time. And so did he."

The dominance/submission aspects of shaving play can be further heightened by tying down the bottom, or blindfolding him while he is, like Samson, being "robbed of his manhood." Role-playing can be incorporated, too: a trip to the Kinky Barber, anyone?

Using a straight-edge razor would be way exciting but a tad dangerous. The less skilled among us should use electric clippers or a pair of sharp scissors to trim the hair down to near skin level, then finish the job with plenty of shaving cream and a new safety razor. (Yeah, you could use an electric razor instead, but a Philishave just doesn't seem to have the same erotic charge.) Take it slow and careful; shaving the ballsac can be particularly tricky. A styptic pencil will staunch bleeding from little nicks, and the shavee will want to keep other men's cum out of fresh cuts. (Or his own, for that matter; it can sting like a bee.)

But most of the edginess is perceived, not real: many men squirm at the mere thought of sharp metal blades near their dicks, and that squirminess can add a delicious dimension to shaving scenes.

So if the look of a dolphin-smooth crotch seems hot, or if you and your boyfriend want to try out a kink scene with "toys" that already are in your bathroom, then why not give shaving a try? At the very least, your partner won't have to pull your pubic hairs from between his teeth.

Simon Sheppard

Now here's your chance to meet the man behind this column. OutUK has an interview with Simon Sheppard or you can take a look at some of his books that are currently available:

Looking for something very sexy and just as smart? Man on Man collects the best and hottest gay sex writing by Simon, who is also co-editor of Rough Stuff: Tales of Gay Men, Sex, and Power as well as a collection of gay erotica called Hotter Than Hell.
In KINKORAMA : Dispatches from the Front Lines of Perversion he takes readers behind the unmarked doors and black vinyl curtains that lead to the sometimes shocking, often hilarious, relentlessly arousing scenarios of extreme sex. There are also stories of bears in Tales from the Bear Cult: Beat Bear Stories from the Best Magazines.