Chest hair: Kirk v. Spock

[emergencyfruit]

Alright, I'm just going to ask it. We've seen Kirk with his shirt off dozens of times, and he never has any body hair. Fair enough, it makes him seem sleek and well-groomed. But why didn't they make Nimoy shave his chest too during the rare glimpses we get? It even seems antagonistic to the character - given that Vulcan is an extremely hot planet compared to human standards, yet Spock is comfortable at room temperature, why does his species even need body hair? And if it comes from his human half, wouldn't he shave it out of embarrassment?

[Burma Ryder]

emergencyfruit wrote:

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We've seen Kirk with his shirt off dozens of times, and he never has any body hair. Fair enough, it makes him seem sleek and well-groomed.

I think the notion that a shaved or waxed male chest constitutes part of being a well-groomed male is a fairly recent one stemming from the trend during the last 15 or so years of metrosexuality. If anything, Kirk might have seemed more manly during the 60s had he actually had a hairy chest.

As to why Nimoy didn't have his chest waxed, perhaps he didn't feel the need to apologize for looking like a man. In-universe, one might argue that Vulcans (like their Romulan cousins) are very virile and passionate; they just keep it under wraps. A hairy-chested Vulcan then would not seem out of place if one were to associate a male hairy chest with virility, potency, and strong masculine drives (i.e. as in Pon Faar).

[teacake]

This does scream SEX!!!!

[Maurice]

One can argue that much of the body hair on humans now is evolutionarily neutral, especially since its nowhere near consistent on the species as a whole. It's one of those things that doesn't matter too much so it hasn't been selected for or against, per se.

[teacake]

I know Vulcan is a hot planet but didn't it get really cold at night?

[Timewalker]

Maybe it's an evolutionary holdover from when Vulcans had more hair to protect themselves from the weather/climate?

(just taking a wild guess, considering that lots of terrestrial mammals have body hair, and both seh-lats and le-matyas are extremely hairy)

I know Vulcan is a hot planet but didn't it get really cold at night?

All deserts get really cold at night.

[teacake]

I'm recalling some male on male huddling in ENT.

[Burma Ryder]

teacock wrote:

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This does scream SEX!!!!

Yes, yes it does!

[Grey]

I always wondered why Kirk's bare chest got so much airtime.

Really, and I know this is a personal preference, but I don't think it's nearly that attractive.

I always noticed that when the crew got to be dressed up in some planet's skimpy costumes, Spock was always more covered up than anyone else.

...I can't think of anything to say without it sounding weird, so I'll just say I'm glad they left him the way he is in that episode.

[teacake]

But he would have been faster if he was waxed.

[Nerys Myk]

Timewalker wrote:

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Maybe it's an evolutionary holdover from when Vulcans had more hair to protect themselves from the weather/climate?

(just taking a wild guess, considering that lots of terrestrial mammals have body hair, and both seh-lats and le-matyas are extremely hairy)

All deserts get really cold at night.

Some deserts are cold during the day, too.

[teacake]

If we needed hair to stay warm in the caves why don't women have it?

OH WAIT! We evolved quicker!!

[emergencyfruit]

Interesting thoughts, all! Taste preferences aside, I just think it's unfair that Shatner or some poor intern on set had to shave/wax Shatner's chest and stomach for what seems like every other episode, but Nimoy got a free pass the one time he had to be shirtless. C'mon, suffer for your art a little!

[Sky]

Men wax their chest hair???

Is this an American thing?

[emergencyfruit]

Sky wrote:

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Men wax their chest hair???

Is this an American thing?

Eh...not really. Some guys do it, but it's pretty rare. Which is why it's so odd that they made Shatner do it every time Kirk was scripted to take his shirt off.