May 12 2008
Facial Hair
The word of the day today at AWAD is “sideburns”. In her intro, Anu mentions that “for some, beards are a serious business. There’s even a biannual championship event for the bearded.”
As a woman, it is baffling to me that men don’t see their facial hair only as an annoyance that must be dealt with. Most people consider facial hair on women unsightly, so why is it acceptable, even celebrated, on men? Some men will go so far as being willing to lose their job rather than shave. Yet some men prefer removing it altogether. I suppose going beardless also makes a statement.
And then, how much is too much? Is the type of beard — or the type of face– important? What does it say about a man if his beard is unkempt, or über-styled? Are you a different personality if you wear a full beard or a thin line of hair around the jaw? A chinstrap or a goatee? Does your beard style selection (or absence thereof) reflect who you are? With or without a moustache?
Heavy questions indeed.
2 responses so far
Ah! Beards, moustaches and sideburns. As a man, I cant for the life of me see, how any male would want the hassle of a beard or moustache. Tasting your dinner an hour after it was meant to be eaten, isnt my idea of hygiene or fun.
It’s all about perception.
In my experience, the opposite sex, women, like a clean shaved man. Stops them from getting ‘beardy’ for one and to be honest (and I risk the ire of many here) I think facial hair looks sleazy.
Yes, it’s all about perception. I personally DO find hair growing out of my face to be a huge hassle, but (un?)fortunately I’m cursed/blessed with almost a full face of it. And I can’t shave all the time, because my hair is extremely curly, so I’ll occasionally get razor bumps. I’d rather let them go down then shave over them, repeatedly breaking the skin. So more often than not, I have a beard. My parents and church folks bug me for it because I’m young(only 23), but females are totally a wild card. Some hate it, some find it irresistably manly and can’t keep their hands off it. And ironically, though I don’t see myself mentally with facial hair, when I shave my face actually looks strange to me, as I’m used to having it there.
Moral of the story is: You really CAN’T make any generalizations. The best compromise is probably moderation - and that goes for women too. They go through so much trouble shaving their pubic areas when plenty of men actually want some hair down there. Or their legs: few men probably prefer to see leg hair, but many really don’t care either way - personally, as long as a girl has legs, I’m happy.