Not just for gay men and porn stars anymore, manscaping has hit the mainstream. It refers to the removal of body hair on a man -- any body hair (the phrase was coined by that bastion of manstyle, Queer Eye). As a "How To Shave Your Back" video on the ever-enlightening site VideoJug explains, "When it comes to removing hair on a man, no part of the body is taboo."

Electronics giant Phillips has an ad for the Bodygroom shaver that features a droll intro in which various razors and scissors chase two kiwi fruits around. Two kiwis? Think about it. Still stumped? Lee Kynaston, the grooming editor of Men's Health magazine, offers this revealing tip: "If you want a pair of super-smooth kiwis, douse them with a little cold water first. This will tighten them enough to make shaving much easier." For those worried they're going to nick their nethers, Phillips assures that the Bodygroom is safe.

I don't know anyone who's actually bought the Bodygroom, though four men I spoke to swear by the lubricated, super-safe Gillette Mach3 Turbo. And some quiet canvassing uncovered evidence that many men are jumping, nervously or not, on the manscaping bandwagon. They may not admit to shaving their, er, kiwis, but many shave their back hair.

VideoJug's relatively new offering on back shaving has been viewed some 6,200 times and is rated four stars. Back when I was a bike racer, I used to marvel at the care men took to shave their legs. "Will it really 'shave' seconds off a time trial if your legs are as smooth as Farrah Fawcett's?" I'd tease my teammates (a Nascar commercial posed the same question a year or so ago). As if shaving were a form of ju-ju, they all insisted it made them faster anyway.

Many sports, from swimming to basketball, involve the rituals of shaving down, but it's gotten to the point where men are candid about aesthetic reasons too. Hair is ugly, one told me; women don't like it. In yoga class, which one would assume is a bastion of be-naturals, a dark-haired lad told me shaving changed his life.

"I'm Italian, and we're cursed. We're walking rugs," he said. "I was hyper-aware of this shag carpet over my skin. My shoulders. Tony the Ape-Man, you know? Way too embarrassing to get a massage or take my shirt off at the beach. I mean I'd do it, but not without shame. And my girlfriend? The first time, she was like, 'Whoa. What is all that?' So it was like, lose the rug or lose the girl."

Perhaps women could take as pragmatic an attitude: Shave like a guy. Imagine one of those repressively fluffy Nair commercials from decades past, replace the woman in the short-shorts with a man, and then forget social morés and striving for freedom and all that stuff. While a growing-up-fast feminist, I certainly canvassed all sorts of women about our goddess-given right to preen our bods and parts any way we want. Theo, care to weigh in? Juliana?

I've heard women say, "You deny your femininity by shaving. You're caving into an imperialist standard of beauty!" Others insist women should be as free to make their own choices as men. So here's the new twist: Are men now denying their masculinity when they take a razor to their back, shoulders, thighs, calves, abs, and, um, kiwis? Are they making choices, or caving?

Rumor has it that P Diddy, whose very personality is so masculine it could bench-press a passel of heavyset lawyers, is meticulous about his, er, curls. No one would dare accuse him of diminishing his nature, would they? For Fight Club (1999), Brad Pitt apparently went on Atkins, worked out until he passed out, and had his torso waxed meticulously, to leave just enough hair so that it looked natural.

Regardless of debates, manscaping has become routine for some. It starts, often, with a milestone: engagement, weight loss, a gym membership, divorce. One high-end waxing specialist (she insisted her name be withheld, but she's third-generation Russian spa staff) says she's seeing a lot of grooms-to-be. They come in for some prenuptial depilatory — hopefully at least a week before the wedding night, in case they have any unsightly breakouts afterwards.

"The sweetest thing," she says, "is how they pretend it doesn't hurt. I go r-i-i-i-i-p! and their eyes fill with tears. But they never admit it. They're like soldiers of beauty. My heart goes out to them. I always tell them, 'Your brides will thank you more than you'll know.'"

Jana Martin has been known to take out the razor