AS Tammy Wynette once said, "Sometimes it's hard to be a woman." The eternal juggling act of work, family obligations, social life and that essential pastime, personal grooming, send even the most organised woman into a spin.

How do modern working women today find the time to fit in the hairdressers, the odd facial, manicure or waxing? I don't know, but in the pursuit of beauty it happens and no matter how far in advance it has to be arranged, the date in your diary for that critical "me time" is always strictly adhered to.

Women over the years have moaned, "It's all right for men", envying the good fortune of the opposite sex, as a ten minute trip to the barbers seemed to be the height of their quest for perfection. However, the modern male is taking personal grooming far more seriously with regular trips to the beauticians becoming more and more common place.

This week saw the Chelsea football team bare their chests at Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park as manager Jose Mourinho demanded his players throw their shirts to the travelling fans as a show of thanks following their 1-0 victory. This in itself is not unusual in football and could be considered a great PR stunt, with the Premier League's rich boys giving something back to their loyal and faithful supporters.

However, what was unusual about the scenes in Blackburn was that once revealed, it was very apparent the Chelsea players' chests were bereft of body hair, with not even a trace of stubble in sight. Yes, I'm talking fully waxed chests and men from the macho world of football making the statement that chest hair is no longer the done thing.

Players from England's John Terry to Portugal's Paulo Ferreira all displayed their hair free torsos, giving one the impression that waxing too has become a team sport. Unfortunately for female onlookers, Mr Mourinho himself failed to perform even the slightest strip and sadly remained strictly over-coated throughout.

So why the trend towards male waxing and who is benefiting from the pain endured? I'm not sure whether men are doing this for practical reasons, their own vanity or simply because they believe less body hair is more appealing to the opposite sex.

Personally, I don't have an issue with chest hair, but I do have female friends who become quite squeamish at the thought. I don't think the 1970s images of medallion men with chest rugs, splashing on gallon loads of Brut have helped the cause.

When it comes to body hair, I think we have to acknowledge it's really a matter of personal choice. After all, not every woman approaches the matter in the same way, as our female German counterparts seem to have no qualms about displaying underarm whiskers.

The fashion world does not offer a definitive answer to this hair raising debate. The catwalk sees the clean, hair-free, Adonis as much as it sees the Mediterranean Gucci type with chest hair in abundance. In the world of haute couture it seems anything goes.

Whether such male grooming is deemed excessively vain or not, one thing's for sure: beauty salons around the country are waxing lyrical about their new found market. Eye lash tints are now being out numbered be the famous back, sack and crack wax and the screams of pain from behind closed doors are no longer restricted to us girls.

The question is will the male waxing phenomenon continue, or is it merely a fleeting fad and a case of hair today, gone tomorrow.

The fee for this column is donated to the York City FC Youth Development Fund

Updated: 08:30 Saturday, February 05, 2005