I know this is going to sound stupid and a lot of my friends love to laugh at me for this, but one of my least favorite body practices is when men grow out their facial hair. We have all seen this body practice of course. Moustaches, beards, goatees. I absolutely hate all facial hair. I don't care who it is. I don't care how it looks. I don't care how much it is. I hate it. Always. I don't like how it looks. I don't like how it feels. Ew.
In our culture, many men, and sometimes women, feel that if men have "impressive" facial hair that it somehow makes them manlier and this idea seems to have consumed the majority of the population whether they actually participate in this body practice or not. Other than the fact that they are not capable of growing facial hair until they are older, I do not see how having your face covered in nasty looking hair makes you any manlier or more attractive.
Unfortunately, our culture has constructed this concept of facial hair being a part of a manly man's docile body and therefore increased many men's subjectivity to this cultural practice. My boyfriend has sadly been a victim of this and insists that it makes him look older, as suggested by our culture's argument supporting that others will "read" their body as manlier if they are hairy. I did not win in this battle of opinions until he got a job that required him to be cleanly shaven in order to "look more professional." I was thrilled.
Facial hair is not part of a practical body because it serves no real, useful purpose. I wish this body practice would become less common, but I feel that the desire to be "more of a man" will continue to dominate our culture as it has for so many years. In addition, the people that simply feel that facial hair is a good look for them rarely change their mind. Basically, I'm still stuck seeing the hairiness so I will have to continue to deal with it.
Yes, I know I'm weird about this.
I find it interesting that you see facial hair is not part of a practical body, or useful.
ReplyDeleteFisherman in Alaska often have beards to help protect their faces from the harsh weather and seawater. They do not wear their beard to become that image of a more manly man, but do so as a helpful barrier against the environment.
I also find it ironic that a beard is seen as unprofessional, yet the very professors who teach us at our college wear them. Not just any professors, but PHD recipients, some even with honors in the scientific realm.
The truth is most "men" do have facial hair, it's a natural thing so, the fact that some men strive to grow facial hair is perfectly understandable. Besides, having facial does make you look manlier since there are not a lot of women with facial hair, it's a "man thing". In other words, Having facial hair for a man is kind of like having breasts for a woman.
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