Science explains why hipsters grow beards

[Gingersnap]

Science explains why hipsters grow beards

Men might be growing beards to appear more attractive to women and more dominant to other men, a study on monkeys suggests

Scientists think they may have solved one of the great mysteries of the age. Why are so many of today's men growing beards?

The answer, according to The University of Western Australia researchers, is because men are feeling under pressure from other men and are attempting to look aggressive by being more flamboyant with their whiskers.

Published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, Dr Cyril Grueter and colleagues were investigating the idea that in big societies, male primates have developed increasingly ostentatious "badges" which may enhance male sexual attractiveness to females and give them the edge over other males.

These include cheek flanges in orang-utans, the elongated noses of proboscis monkeys, upper-lip warts in golden snub-nosed monkeys as well as beards in humans.

The team investigated 154 species of primates, and found more conspicuous badges in males of species where social and physical conflict were common and individual recognition was limited.
i.e. The busier and more crowded with males a society becomes, the more competition there is and the more flamboyant the badges are.

The modern male not only has to vie with hundreds of fellow males in the real world but has to stand out from potentially thousands of rivals online, so clean-shaven men well be turning off women drawn to seemingly powerful men.

"When you live in a small group where everyone knows everyone because of repeated interactions, there is no need to signal quality and competitiveness via ornaments," he said.

"In large groups where individuals are surrounded by strangers, we need a quick reliable tool to evaluate someone’s strength and quality, and that’s where these elaborate ornaments come in.

"In the case of humans, this may also include phenotypic extensions such as body decoration, jewellery and prestige items.

As a heterosexual woman who actually has sex, I think the explanation is a lot simpler. For the past 10 yeas the 'three day beard' has been super popular. With men. Or at least with trendy men. You see it constantly in movies and TV shows and on the runways.

In real life, there is nothing more irritating than having a guy with stubble kiss you or do anything more intimate. Stubble men have to be mostly getting sex from prostitutes (who don't kiss) or from anonymous male sexual partners (who don't kiss). Neither of these groups perform even more intimate acts on tender female flesh.

Guys who favor stubble have simply grown beards to get sex from women. Clean shaven - YES. Full beard - YES. Stubble - NO.

Telegraph

[Celeste Chalfonte]

As a homosexual woman who has had sex with men, albeit long ago, I heartily concur with your comments re: stubble. It's also unattractive and makes men - often hard-working and high-achieving in reality - look like bums.

I also think that it takes a certain strength of feature to carry off a full beard. The sad thing is, many guys who grow beards do so to conceal facial flaws, such as chinlessness. What they hope to hide is usually only emphasized by growing a beard.

[Tom Servo]

As a h… oh you know. I think men have taken to the stubble look and beards because pop culture has told them it's a good look. There's a certain amount of masculinity that facial hair conveys. Whether that is meant to convey masculinity to potential female partners, other men or just to make themselves feel better about their metrosexual grooming habits, who knows.

I kind of look at the resurgence of facial hair as men's way of saying "society is forcing me to accept a more feminine outlook on life — to perfume, to bathe, to dress neatly and crisply, to be a gentleman at all times — this hair is just a reminder that I am still a man."

Celeste also has that astute observation of using facial hair to obscure undesirable features. I'll cop to that one. I've had a goatee for nearly 15 years now because it pulls focus away from my ungainly mellon and rotund features. (When I was younger, thinner and vane, I also wore a baseball hat in public at all times to conceal a balding head that hit me like a rock at age 19.)

I should also confess that my goatee is also due to laziness. It's that much less area I have to shave, which I only do once or twice a week, anyway.

[scott]

Men like the feel of beards in their nether regions. That's why the hipsters are growing them.

[Gramps]

I wear a goatee and a mustache.

The mustache I have had since 1970. I grew it because it was the only facial hair the Army allowed.

The beard is a little over 12 yrs old. A story goes with it. When my wife and I were dating I started growing a beard. We broke up over it. I relented and shaved. I didn't grow the goatee until one day, my wife was undergoing cancer treatment. We were watching a Baseball game and I commented "I guess you have to scratch your balls, spit and grow a goatee to be a big league ball player"

My wife quietly said, I think you would look good with a goatee. Jesus, just now, 34 years later?

I haven't shaved it since.

[Adam]

I grow a beard for the winter and take it off every spring. Done so for about 20 years now. I start it on my birthday (October 24) and I take it off on St. Patrick's Day. Thus, I have something to keep my face warmer in winter, but I don't have to put up with it in the summer. For me, sweating in a beard in the summer heat is absolute misery, and if I didn't have a razor I'd probably just rend the hair from my face. Obviously, there is an inevitable period of some stubble, but it's past in about a week, and after that, regular trimming keeps it soft and comfortable,

I am, however, debating whether to continue the practice, since I see more and more gray hair in my beard with each passing year.

[Gingersnap]

I hate that stubble look. Celeste is right: it makes any kind of man look like he's just come off a 3 day bender.

I'd rather see or interact with a full-out biker beard than with stubble.

Hipster beards just amuse me. I'm certain that their wives or girlfriends are simply thankful that something has gotten rid of the stubble. Actually, the beard camouflage actually works a lot of the time. If a guy has a fairly thick beard and if he gets some tips from a barber on shaping, a beard can eliminate a lot of chin and/or jowl problems.

The trick here is that the beard needs to be groomed specifically to compensate. Just growing it out wildly won't work.

It's like women wearing black to camouflage fatness. A thoughtful mix of strategic black and other colors can really hide 10 or 15 pounds. Just dumping black on head-to-toe simply makes women look like depressed fat people.

[Tom Servo]

I am, however, debating whether to continue the practice, since I see more and more gray hair in my beard with each passing year.

I'm starting to see the gray hairs in my goatee now, too. I guess it won't be long before (what's left of) my head of hair goes that way as well. I actually thought it might happen sooner, since my hair started falling out at 19. But the color has hung in there.

What I really don't understand is why my scalp hair is brown, while the hair on my arms is almost clear. Then on top of that, my facial hair has historically been really red. Like a Viking or something it's so fiery. Not so much any more, but in my 20s it was enough to get me teased.

[Gingersnap]

I'm starting to see the gray hairs in my goatee now, too. I guess it won't be long before (what's left of) my head of hair goes that way as well. I actually thought it might happen sooner, since my hair started falling out at 19. But the color has hung in there.

What I really don't understand is why my scalp hair is brown, while the hair on my arms is almost clear. Then on top of that, my facial hair has historically been really red. Like a Viking or something it's so fiery. Not so much any more, but in my 20s it was enough to get me teased.

Genetics. Every follicle has a different mix of color. It's very common for guys of European ancestry to have virtually tri-color hairs: blond or brunet on top, red in the beard, and brunet in the pits and groin (even with blond as body hair) or some other combination.

Some guys in my family are blond all-over (if you know what I mean) and some are blonds with red beards or redheads with with blond beards.

I'm a natural redhead and the curtains match the carpet but every other hair on my body is white blonde - I mean the lightest possible blonde before you get to white. My mother was a natural redhead and had red/auburn eyebrows, etc. My cousin was a freak and had brown hair but her leg hair was decidedly reddish.

Go figure.

[scott]

Every follicle of mine that used to be red is now gray. It's much more than I thought.

It looks good on my head, I like looking 45. It's terrible in my beard, I hate looking 50. But since I'm also slowly going bald, I shouldn't complain about hair at all.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

My head hair was very dark brown, but with strong auburn highlights (natural, enhanced in summer by constant sun exposure). Virtually no arm hair, but dark and abundant leg hair. By age 50, my face could still pass for ten years younger, but my head hair had gone entirely gray mixed with white. The gray is various shades, from dark charcoal gray at the back and closer to my scalp on top to pure white in the front, with silver and lighter gray interspersed. I actually like it. I think the redder parts probably ended up white. I still have no visible arm hair, and the leg hair remains dark but has gotten very sparse. I decline to comment about "the carpet," as Ginger so delicately puts it, but all of my hair color has always neen totally natural, since I'm far too lazy (and unconcerned about anyone else's idea of beauty) to be bothered with coloring my hair (except for the occasional festive purple streak for special occasions, but there's no question of trying to pretend that's natural).

[Gingersnap]

In my own experience, red hairs don't go gray at all. If they turn, they turn plain white. Red hairs can lose the coppery element over time and look more ginger (as in the spice, not the Brit usage). Some never lose it but they get more white hairs mixed in.

My hair has a distressing tendency to fade to blonde on top with sun exposure so I try to wear a hat when I garden or fish. By August, I'm sick of the blonde streaks and have my stylist take the very top layer back to my natural color. The faded but colored part gets cut off during the winter and the cycle starts over.

[Michele]

Five out of six of us sisters all had some shade of red hair. My carrot-top redheaded sister just looks like she has white/blonde hair. The rest of us have silver strands intermingled with our brownish/red hair. I'm kind of liking it.

[phillygirl]

As for the 3 day stubble look...I agree. I hate it. I went to two weddings where the groom sported that. I thought it looked awful. Their brides disagreed. I figured I'm just old.

[Gingersnap]

As for the 3 day stubble look...I agree. I hate it. I went to two weddings where the groom sported that. I thought it looked awful. Their brides disagreed. I figured I'm just old.

I figure the guys aren't getting any.

Hence the wedding - hope springs eternal.