Why do men have more nasal hair than women?

June 7, 2008 7:50 PM

You know, sitting here on a crisp winter's day, and this question comes into my mind:why do men have more nasal hair than women? Seriously though, I have always wondered about this. Any thoughts?
posted by vac2003 to health & fitness (9 comments total)

Probably just one of the effects of testosterone, isn't it? Body hair and all that.
posted by Merzbau at 7:59 PM on June 7, 2008

Merzbau is right: men have more hair everywhere, in general -- legs, chest, arms -- it's only logical that the nose would follow suit.
posted by kate blank at 8:03 PM on June 7, 2008

I have heard the term "male sexual hair" used to describe the hair men have that women don't, especially in places where it evolves throughout life: on the chin, in the nose, in the ears. But wow, what a worthless search phrase.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:07 PM on June 7, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Women tend to me more fastidious than men in removing nasal hair so that could be affecting your data sampling also.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:18 PM on June 7, 2008

But wow, what a worthless search phrase.

Try secondary sex characteristics. The testosterone which directly induce[s] growth of the testicles and penis...indirectly is converted into DHT in the skin, [and] accelerates growth of androgen-responsive facial and body hair."
posted by frobozz at 8:19 PM on June 7, 2008

Testosterone or a lack of estrogen
posted by KokuRyu at 8:33 PM on June 7, 2008

Thanks for all the answers - and so promptly too! I guess I imagined there was some purpose to men having nasal hair as opposed to it being a general outcome of having testosterone. Occam's razor, I guess.

Mind you, what would be the purpose of the hair on my back increasing as I get older? I understand this has very little to do with increasing the male sexual attractiveness :-)
posted by vac2003 at 9:29 PM on June 7, 2008

Yeah, but from a natural selection perspective it's only characteristics that affect your chances to breed and your offspring surviving to breed that really matter. Being a hairy old coot isn't probably going to meaningfully affect your chances of siring many children when compared to being a hairless old coot.
posted by rodgerd at 10:14 PM on June 7, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

The reason for nasal hair in the first place is the obvious - to help prevent particles being inhaled, and men have more of it because men have more hair everywhere, as stated.

The theories as to why we're the only great ape that's mostly hairless in the first place varies. Heat control is one, and advertising your parasite-free-ness is another. Women were (and are) more heavily sex-selected by attractiveness over the millenia, whereas men are sex-selected less so, and more by other reasons - which is why men can still end up having kids even with a really hairy back.
posted by ArkhanJG at 11:52 PM on June 7, 2008