my question is, what purpose does underarm hair have?

Answer 1

to cool your body when you perspire

Answer 2

Underarm hair is the composition of hair in the underarm area. This hair normally starts to appear between mid and late puberty, and many times even earlier. The physiological purpose of this hair is yet to be explained, but it has been suggested that it serves to collect pheromones and to lessen the effects of friction on the skin during locomotion.

A pheromone is any chemical or set of chemicals produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology. Their use among insects has been particularly well documented, although many vertebrates and plants also communicate using pheromones. The existence of human pheromones is debated.

Today, in, many Western countries, it is the norm for women to wax or shave off their underarm hair regularly for aesthetic reasons if it is likely to be in view, although the prevalence of this varies widely. Such hair removal must be performed more frequently than leg shaving, as underarm hair grows at nearly twice the rate as leg hair. Some hold the belief that, once shaving commences, the hair will grow out more thickly. However, this is a myth. The resulting stubble only makes the hairs seem to be thicker, but the growth rate is unchanged.

Before the 1970s, it was considered normal for women to keep their underarm hair in most Western and Far Eastern countries. The practice of hair removal became widespread, first in the USA, then much later in Europe. For example, in Germany, female underarm hair removal became popular in mid-1980s and today, nearly all women under 40 have their underarm hair removed.

Due to the fact that underarm hair appears in puberty, many people (mainly boys) see underarm hair as a "coming of age" event, sometimes going as far as to wear tanktops or go shirtless to deliberately show their underarm hair off. In "proving your maleness" situations, which usually result in two long-term friends trying to show their characteristics off to each other, showing that you have underarm hair is considered to be a sign that you are a man.

Answer 3

It's thought that the tufts of hair that grow around the genitals, as well as under the arms, capture these erotic scents. Pheromones get trapped in the pubic 'do when apocrine glands release an odorless secretion on the surface of the skin that combines with bacteria decomposed by the secretions of the sebaceous glands. Believe it or not, humans have the same number of hair follicles as apes, except our body hair is generally very fine or barely visible in comparison. So, while pubic hair and underarm hair might be considered the primary scent traps, they're by no means the only ones. For some people, scents from these areas are noticeable and consciously increase sexual arousal. For others, pheromones might not be obvious but may be detected subconsciously. A few hypotheses also exist about why we have hair on our pubic places. Some people believe that it keeps our genitals warm. In prehistoric times, when only a loincloth was worn to cover the penis or vulva, this might have held true. However, the idea that a pubic mane exists for warmth doesn't make much sense in today's world since our genitals are kept toasty by clothing. In order for this theory to be true, it would seem that our bodies would probably have evolved to the point where we would have lost the need for pubic hair, which is not the case. Also, if it were intended for generating heat, wouldn't we have much more pubic hair? If this were so, men would probably have hair on the shaft of their penis and more hair on the scrotum to insulate the testicles; women would have hair on the skin of their lower torso to insulate the internal reproductive organs. Others believe that the purpose of women's pubic tresses is similar to that of cilia in the nose (a.k.a., nose hair), in that it prevents dirt from entering the vagina. Okay, this makes some sense... but why wouldn't men have similar protective locks around the opening of their urethra?

Answer 4

The physiological purpose of this hair is yet to be explained, but it has been suggested that it serves to collect pheromones and to lessen the effects of friction on the skin during locomotion.

Due to the fact that underarm hair appears in puberty, many people (mainly boys) see underarm hair as a "coming of age" event, sometimes going as far as to wear tanktops or go shirtless to deliberately show their underarm hair off. In "proving your maleness" situations, which usually result in two long-term friends trying to show their characteristics off to each other, showing that you have underarm hair is considered to be a sign that you are a man

Answer 5

Evolutionary biologists speculate that under arm hair was created to trap hormonal scents that actually attract the opposite sex. The phermones that are secreted often have a way of telling a lot about you to a potential mate. Some scientists speculate that, especially to women, if they don't like the scent of a male, it is nature's way of discouraging reproduction between those two people. People who are very sexually attracted to one another usually say they love the other person's scent.
Pubic hair has the same purpose. Studies have found that when a woman shaves all of her hair off, that fewer olfactory phermones are trapped that result in less stimulation to the male. Men love the way some women smell, and it is a bonding chemical and turn on.

Answer 6

The purpose of most hair is to keep you warm. However, with underarms, a lot of pheromones and other human-scents are released there (which today is considered an offensive odor) so the hair might be used to facilitate the development of those hormone scents to attract a mate.

Answer 7

The physiological purpose of this hair is yet to be explained, but it has been suggested that it serves to collect pheromones and to lessen the effects of friction on the skin during locomotion.

Answer 8

A lot of body heat is lost through the arm pits. The hair was there for insulation back when we didn't wear clothes. Now it is just a nuisance.

Answer 9

None! It's for Neanderthals, Monkeys, Chimpanzees, and Wooly Mammoths!! hahaha!!

Answer 10

Same as leg hair - just a leftover from the apes I guess :-)

Answer 11

how would the deodorant factory owners be rich if it werent for the underarm hair???
gosshh!!! nexxt question!!!