2003-01-09 - 2:03 p.m.
I was asked a very interesting question yesterday.
-Why do you choose to wear a beard?
And ya know�that got me to thinking�Why DO I have a beard?
1. To hide some things (namely several scars on my chin and lower lip)
2. Because I can grow a very nice one. It is a neat combination of colors and it fills in very nicely, as opposed to so many other fellahs that can�t seem to grow a nice beard at all. I tell ya, there are a lot of guys out there that would be better off tying a dead squirrel under their chin as opposed to trying to grow their own beard.
3. Because my Uncle wears a beard�and I have always thought it was the coolest thing on the planet. And besides, I always wanted to be just like him when I grew up�so it only made sense that I had a beard as well.
But are these good enough reasons to suffer through the social stigma that is associated with beards? What is the social stigma associated with beards? Well considering I DO work in a library I decided to do a little research�and this is the condensed version of what I found.
Negative Aspects: Folks tend to perceive men with facial hair as "more aggressive, less appeasing, less attractive, untrustworthy, older, dirty, and lower on social maturity" than men with clean-shaven faces.
Positive Aspects: Bearded men are perceived as "masculine, strong, mature, good-looking, dominant, self-confident, courageous, liberal, nonconforming, industrious, and older."
So what does all this mean? I have no idea. It seems that for every negative perception there is a positive one. So perhaps I should look at the practical aspects of having a beard. Maybe I can find a good reason to have or not have one there.
Negative Aspects: Beards require a fair amount of maintenance of to keep them looking good. Beard hair in your food/mouth (though I have to admit I end up with more hair off the top of my head in stuff that I do beard hair). Cannot wear a diving mask without using LOTS of Vaseline. It provides a convenient handhold for small children (and women) looking for things to pull on. Wearing a chinstrap, or resting you head on your chin for extended periods of time will irritate your skin. It catches food and drink rather well. In fact if you are not careful it can cause any glass to become a dribble glass. They can be hot in the summer. There seem to be a fair number of women who don�t like them.
Positive Aspects: You don�t have to shave as much of your face. They help keep your face warm in the winter. It protects your face from sparks when you are blacksmithing. They hide unsightly scars. If you have �bad skin� they help keep you from breaking out as much. They look neat. It gives you something to stroke when you are thinking (Oh stop being gross). Hmm�ok I seem to be really grasping now for good reasons to have a beard. Geez�I figured that there would be more than this.
So now�where does this leave me? If I were to base my decision strictly off this last comparison I would be one waxing fool! But this still does not really answer the question�Why do I have a beard. What is it that causes a man to want to wear one or not?
I guess I really don�t have a good answer. I have one�cause I like it�and I am used to it.
So lemme ask yall. What do you think about beards? Do ya like them? Why, why not? What sort of stereotyping do you think they have associated with them? What are the positive and negative aspects to having a beard? Come on guys�curious minds want to know�and not just mine.
Well as you can tell life has been fairly quiet for me as of late. No complaints really. So with that said�
Yall know what I learned today (Beard Psychology)�now what I want to know is what have you learned today?
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