Chest hair
When chest hair are hair on the chest , particulary in men. It is part of the body's hair and thus a secondary gender characteristic that is expressed through hormonal processes during and after puberty .
Shaping
The degree of chest hair depends on several factors, such as genetic disposition, hormonal status and age. The dominant factor is the genetic disposition, which essentially determines how strong or weak the hair is. Accordingly, the chest hair in men has a wide range of different shapes and dimensions. When hair is considered abnormal, depends primarily on social conditions.
Development and growth
Chest hair development usually begins in the late phase of puberty . It can also only start afterwards, between the ages of 20 and 30. In many cases it doesn't even begin at all. The growth continues with increasing age and reaches its highest level in the sixth decade of life.
As androgen levels rise, vellus hair is partially converted into terminal hair . Vellus hair is an unpigmented, unpigmented fuzz that covers the entire body except for the palms of the hands and feet. The resulting terminal hair is medullary and individually pigmented. The chest hair is created by a transformation of the hair. Even some women get isolated terminal hairs in the chest area.
Social aspects
The way in which chest hair is viewed varies greatly in different cultures. In some cultures it is displayed as a sign of masculinity , in others the hairless upper body is considered an ideal. In the past decades, a trend towards the removal of chest hair ( depilation ) can be observed in the western industrialized nations , which began in the USA and is spreading through the media, in particular through advertising . Since 2007, an increased trend towards hairy chests can be seen again in advertising.
Chest hair as a namesake
A deep-sea crab species was named the Hoff Crab by its discoverers in 2010, alluding to the chest hair of the actor David Hasselhoff , because of the typical breast armor hair .
