Glabrousness
Encyclopedia
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
, down
Down hair
Down hairs, also called the ground hairs, are the very fine, fluffy hairs closest to the skin on some mammals. The hairs are short and crimped, which makes them highly efficient for trapping air and insulating the animal....
, or similar structures. This may be natural or due to loss because of a physical condition, such as alopecia universalis
Alopecia universalis
Alopecia universalis or alopecia areata universalis is a medical condition involving rapid loss of all hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes. It is the most severe form of alopecia areata, with an incidence of .001%...
, which causes hair to fall out or prevents its growth.
In botany
In botanyBotany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and mycology
Mycology
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicinals , food and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or...
, glabrous is an adjective used to describe a morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
feature as smooth
Smooth
Smooth means having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.Smooth may also refer to:-In mathematics:* Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology...
, gloss
Gloss
A gloss is a brief notation of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text, or in the reader's language if that is different....
y, having no trichome
Trichome
Trichomes are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae.- Algal trichomes :...
s (bristles or hair-like structures), or glaucous
Glaucous
Glaucous is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the Glaucous Gull , Glaucous-winged Gull , Glaucous Macaw , and Glaucous...
ness (see also indumentum
Indumentum
The indumentum is a covering of fine hairs or bristles on a plant or insect.In plants, the indumentum types are:*pubescent*hirsute*pilose*villous*tomentose*stellate*scabrous*scurfy...
). No plants have hair, although some structures may resemble it. Glabrous features may be an important means of identifying flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
species. Glabrous characteristics of leaves, stems, and fruit are commonly used in plant keys
Identification key
In biology, an identification key is a printed or computer-aided device that aids the identification of biological entities, such as plants, animals, fossils, microorganisms, and pollen grains...
.
The term is only used for features that lack trichomes at all times. When an organ has trichomes that are lost with age, the term used is glabrescent.
Glabrous skin
In varying degrees most mammalMammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, who are the only animals bearing hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
, have some skin areas without natural hair. On the human body, glabrous skin is external skin
Skin
-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
that naturally is hairless. It is found on the ventral portion of the fingers, palmar surfaces of hands, soles of feet, lips, labia minora
Labia minora
The labia minora , also known as the inner labia, inner lips, or nymphae, are two flaps of skin on either side of the human vaginal opening, situated between the labia majora...
, and glans penis.
Tinea corporis
Tinea corporis
Tinea corporis is a superficial fungal infection of the arms and legs, especially on glabrous skin, however it may occur on any part of the body.-Symptoms:...
is a mycosis
Mycosis
A mycosis is a fungal infection of animals, including humans. Mycoses are common, and a variety of environmental and physiological conditions can contribute to the development of fungal diseases...
that targets glabrous skin.
There are four main types of mechanoreceptors in the glabrous skin of humans; Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel's discs, and Ruffini corpuscles.
Hair removal fashions
Recently, the term glabrousness also has been applied to human fashions, wherein some participate in culturally motivated hair removalHair removal
Hair removal is the removal of body hair, and describes the methods used to achieve that result.Hair typically grows all over the human body during and after puberty. Men tend to have more body hair than women. Both men and women tend to have hair on the head, eyebrows, eyelashes, armpits, pubic...
by depilation (surface removal by shaving
Shaving
Shaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down to the level of the skin. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove their leg and underarm hair...
, dissolving
Chemical depilatory
A chemical depilatory is a cosmetic preparation used to remove the hair from the skin on the human body. Currently, a common active ingredient is calcium thioglycolate, which breaks down the disulphide bonds in keratin and weakens the hair so that it is easily scraped off where it emerges from the...
), or epilation (removal of the entire hair, such as waxing
Waxing
Waxing is a method of semi-permanent hair removal which removes the hair from the root. New hair will not grow back in the previously waxed area for two to eight weeks, although some people will start to see regrowth in only a week. Almost any area of the body can be waxed, including eyebrows,...
or plucking
Plucking (hair removal)
Plucking or tweezing can mean the process of removing human hair, animal hair or a bird's feathers by mechanically pulling the item from the owner's body.In humans, this is done for personal grooming purposes, usually with tweezers...
).
Although the appearance of secondary hair on parts of the human body is a sign of puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
, and therefore, a sign of reaching adulthood, removal of this and other hair may become fashionable in some cultures and subcultures. In many Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
s men currently are encouraged to shave their beards and women are encouraged to remove hair growth on various areas. Commonly depilated areas for women are the underarms and legs. Pubic hair
Pubic hair
Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area, the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region....
may be removed partially or entirely. Some individuals even depilate the forearms. In recent years, bodily depilation has increased in popularity among some subcultures of Western males. Many people fail to follow such fashions along with some who oppose concepts perceived to be the motivation for these practices, be it commercial or subcultural.
As with any cosmetic practice, the particulars of hair removal have changed over the years. Western female depilation has waxed and waned throughout history and has been significantly influenced by the evolution of clothing in the past century. Leg and underarm shaving became popular again in Western society with the advent of off-the-shoulder dresses, higher hemlines, and transparent stockings. The reduction of the minimum acceptable standards for bodily coverage over recent years has resulted in the exposure of more flesh, giving rise to even more extensive hair removal.
Encouragement by commercial interests may be seen in advertising. At present, this has resulted in the "Brazilian waxing" trend, a term used to describe the partial or full removal of pubic hair, as the thongs
G-string
A G-string is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men...
worn on Brazilian beaches are too small to conceal very much of it. Indeed, a culture is now emerging around "intimate shaving" and other hair removal options geared specifically toward pubic hair. (cf. bikini waxing
Bikini waxing
Bikini waxing is the epilation of body hair in and around the pubic region, commonly by women, by the use of wax. With certain styles of women's swimwear, pubic hair may become visible around the crotch area of a swimsuit. Visible pubic hair is widely culturally disapproved of and considered to be...
) What was once kept a personal secret now is discussed more openly, although still in carefully non-explicit language, as advertised in magazines and on television.
"Acomoclitism" (from Greek κομη = hair, negation prefix α-, and κλιτικος = having a preference, from κλινειν = to lean, κλιτυς = a slope) is a subcultural term denoting a preference for hairless genitals that does not appear in standard English or medical dictionaries. It does appear in some specialized dictionaries. "Acomoclitic" is a similar, backward-formed non-standard adjective describing anyone with this personal preference among users of the words.
Cultural and other influences
In ancient Egypt, depilation was commonly practiced to prevent infestation by lice. Typically, tweezersTweezers
Tweezers are tools used for picking up and manipulating objects too small to be easily handled with the human hands. They are probably derived from tongs, pincers, or scissors-like pliers used to grab or hold hot objects since the dawn of recorded history...
were used to pluck out individual hairs. In both Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, the removal of body and pubic hair may have been practiced among both men and women. It is represented in some artistic depictions of male and female nudity, examples of which may be seen in some red figure pottery of Ancient Greece on which both men and women were depicted without body or pubic hair.
The majority of Muslims believe that the Sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
and part of the Fitrah, direct all adults to remove pubic hair and underarm hair as a hygienic measure.
At the opposite pole in cultural practices, baptized Sikhs
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
are specifically instructed never to cut, shave, or otherwise remove any hair on their bodies; this is a major tenet of the Sikh faith (see Kesh
Kesh (Sikhism)
In Sikhism, Kesh is the practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally as a symbol of respect for the perfection of God's creation. The practice is one of the Five Ks, the outward symbols ordered by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as a means to profess the Sikh faith...
).
In the clothes free movement, the term "smoothie" often is used to describe an individual who has removed most of their hair. In the past, such practices were frowned upon and in some cases, members of clothes-free clubs were forbidden to remove their pubic hair: violators could face exclusion from the club. Enthusiasts grouped together and formed societies of their own that catered to that fashion and the fashion became more popular, with smoothies becoming a major percentage at some nudist venues. The first Smoothie club (TSC) was founded by a British couple in 1991. A Dutch branch was founded in 1993 in order to give the idea of a hairless body greater publicity in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Being a Smoothie is described by its supporters as exceptionally comfortable and liberating. The Smoothy-Club is also a branch of the World of the Nudest Nudist (WNN) and organizes nudist ship cruises and nudist events every month. Every year in spring the club organizes the international Smoothy days.
In the U.K. the SCN Naturist Club for "Smooth Ladies and Smooth and Circumcised Gentlemen" was formed in 1996. Although the SCN club closed in 2001 after five successful years, its well respected SCN website continues to promote the club's hairless fashion.
Athletes may depilate as an enhancement to their abilities. For example, male and female competitive swimmers may remove their body and pubic hair in order to help streamline their bodies and to allow their swimsuits to fit more closely to their bodies. Bicyclists also remove body hair to decrease the effects of "road rash" by minimizing the tearing action of hair against pavement during a bike crash and to provide easier injury clean-up afterward. Hairfree legs also are described as increasing the comfort and effectiveness of sport massages.