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Why The Beard?
Dear Mr. Glass: My name is Virginia and I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say that men shouldn't have beards. Papa says, "If you see it in Mr. Glass' website, it’s so." Please tell me the truth: Why do you have a beard? *Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, Virginia, I have a beard. It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no beards. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. Not have a beard! You might as well not wear shoes! Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No beards! A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, beards will continue to make glad the heart of society.* apologies to Francis Pharcellus ChurchIt's Science
A journal article Evolution and Human Behavior (DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.02.003) suggests that facial hair may have an impact on how others perceive individuals with beards.It's History
Two-term President of the United States, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Nobel Laureate, writer, triumphant military commander, ardent conservationist, adventurer, rancher, and deputy sheriff, Theodore Roosevelt had facial hair and he was awesome!
He beat up an armed cowboy during a bar fight with his bare hands.
He battled the freezing elements to chase some boat thieves down a frozen river.
He led his troops up San Juan Hill to aid soldiers there after capturing under heavy artillery fire a totally different hill.
He gave a rousing campaign speech for nearly an hour just after being shot in the chest.
He even managed to be awarded the Medal of Honor after being dead for about a 100 years.
If our 26th President chose to have facial hair, then we would be remiss if we decided to not follow suit in some manner in tribute to his awesomeness.
Even so, beards come into and go out of fashion as society changes.
According to Christopher Oldstone-Moore, there have been four major beard movements in history. Prior to the Fourth Beard Movement, beards were favored in the early 19th century by socialists and radical reformers who wore facial hair as a form of protest.
Stripped of its subversive connotations after the revolutions of 1848, the beard spread into the bourgeoisie and then into the ruling class.
It's Charity
Adam Garone has an impressive moustache, and it's for a good cause. A co-founder of Movember, Garone's initiative to raise awareness for men's health — by having men grow out their moustaches every November — began as a dare in a bar in 2003.
Now, it's a worldwide movement that raised over $126 million for prostate cancer research.
