The life of the world

Tim Arpin is toned and tanned, with shoulder-length brown hair and brooding eyes. He bears a striking resemblance to Antonio Banderas, circa 1995. He’s such a hunk, the 30-year-old Georgia native is in the running to be Cosmo’s bachelor of the year.

Arpin is one of 50 men who appears on the magazine’s website sans shirt and flexing his best assets. The finalists hail from different states and backgrounds, but they all have the same answer for one question: do you manscape? Every dude that’s asked says—enthusiastically—yes!

“I’m a pretty hairy guy,” admits Aprin, a real-estate investor. He says he shaves his chest and stomach weekly with a standard Gillette razor. Since he’d rather not risk nicking his private parts with a straight blade, Arpin whittles down his crotch hair once a month with a safety-guarded electric trimmer.  “I like the way it looks,” he says, adding, “And I think a girl would appreciate it.” A Southern gentleman, Arpin carefully avoids crude references. Only after being nudged does he admit that general upkeep makes sex better. “Too much hair can be distracting and take away from the moment,” he explains.

The Atlantic reported this month that female pubic hair in America is on the road to extinction, but that’s a bit like noting the spotted owl is an endangered species. Grooming and waxing experts say the latest trend in pubic hair removal isn’t targeted at women—it’s for the guys. There’s evidence of this all around us (if you dare to look). The most startling aspect of seeingAnthony Weiner’s penis in a leaked iPhone sext earlier this year wasn’t its size, but that it looked like a plucked chicken. The same is true of other celebrities’ trimmed full-monty shots, from football player Brett Favre to Fall Out Boy Pete Wentz.

In ancient times, removing male pubic hair had less to do with aesthetics. Egyptians did it to stave off fleas and lice. Romans removed adolescent boys’ body hair as an initiation into adulthood. In the 16th century, Europeans were aghast when Michelangelo’s statue of David featured a sculpted tuft above his penis; they thought it looked ungodly.  The modern manscaped man is a product of today’s post-metrosexual society, where even the alpha male indulges in spa treatments and $50 Diesel boxer briefs.