The new trend in beards raises awkward questions

Women don’t like beards, so who are men growing them for – and why? A psychoanalyst investigates

FIRST POSTED OCTOBER 21, 2009

Facial hair is 'in' for men. Designer stubble has grown into the designer beard. The list of men in the limelight who now have full beards has skyrocketed. Top of the list are David Beckham, Brad Pitt, Sting, Johnny Depp and Michael Sheen.

One explanation for the trend is that it is a good way of hiding from the paparazzi. Big bushy beards are best for this purpose but also signify "I don't work in an office" along with a back-to-nature look that appeals to the environmentalists. Whatever it is that motivates men to grow their own, the trend does raise questions about what is happening to men in our culture and why this sudden assertion of masculinity?

It seems no coincidence that beards are on the rise at a time when the West is struggling with a world recession and the position of powerful men is under threat. It is arguably much tougher these days to be an alpha male and what better way to stand out than with a beard? After all, the beard is a man's follicular armour and provides a visual display of physical strength and stature.

It is also a common way for men to hide their vulnerability. Men will often grow beards when they have suffered a bereavement, a trauma such as divorce or job loss, or an injury. Young men tend to grow beards in order to look older and to give them gravitas.

There is also an increasing awareness in the west of powerful women in all spheres of life. There is not only the alpha female who is fast becoming a rival to the alpha male especially in business, politics and the arts but there is the new image of the 'cougar', the female equivalent of the playboy to contend with. The tables have turned and the cougar preys on the 'pretty boys' who become her 'arm candy'. No wonder that the clean shaven boys of the past are anxious to assert themselves as men.

Beards may also be a reaction to the fact that gender roles are not so clearly demarcated today. When women continue to take over male roles in the workforce and men are increasingly taking over domestic and familial roles being stay-at-home dads - one way to establish male identity is to do it physically. And beards require no exercise.

The most striking aspect of beard behaviour is that it seems to be primarily aimed at other men. There is the famous photograph, for example, of Freud with his followers in the Vienna Circle standing out distinctly in the centre of the group, accentuated by his prominent beard a hallmark of phallic power.

In a recent survey conducted by Lynx on people's attitudes to beards, 63 per cent of the men claimed that they thought they made men appear more manly and attractive, while 92 per cent of women preferred men without beards and 95 per cent of women found men with stubble a turn-off. Men with beards may be having more fun but it's not with women.

FIRST POSTED OCTOBER 21, 2009

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Who are men growing beards for??? Well it's not for fatuous 'girlies' like this writer. Perhaps they aren't growing them for anyone else? What a ludicrous article. Rather than ask why men grow beards you should ask why some men prefer to spend time every day making themselves look like pre-pubescent males. Beards are natural, they grow of their own accord, there doesn't have to be a reason why. The women who don't like beards are mostly those who have never experienced a man with a beard - try it some time dear - or who resent the fact that men have beards and want them all to look like pre-pubescents. Why that would be is open to conjecture. I have had a beard since hair started growing on my face, I find the act of scraping the face every day totally unnecessary, tiresome, and pointless. To cite a survey by Lynx says it all; the chemical smell industry is all about being unnatural, masking natural body odour [which we are told in ads is unpleasant and should be removed and masked by their product] with animal products, and is highly unlikely to come up with any meaningful results since it's highly selective. Just remember, a beard is a natural state for a human male, a scraped, perfumed face isn't. Shall we shave off our eyebrows, underarm and pubic hair next and become totally artificial creatures like a lot of women? I'm sure the perfume industry would be overjoyed.

Posted by Peter Simmons at 10:41am on October 21, 2009

95% of women find men with stubble a turn-off? Not in my experience! I get much more attention from the ladies with a 2-day shadow than with a baby's bottom face. I'd like to know exactly what question was asked here, and whether it was loaded. I also have a gay friend who says he hates kissing women because "there's no stubble". Hmm. Stubbly chests, on the other hand.......

Posted by Muppet at 11:40am on October 21, 2009

So lady, if you want to be on Cammo's candidates list, grow a beard!

Posted by TomNightingale at 11:55am on October 21, 2009

@Peter S: "Just remember, a beard is a natural state for a human male," Does "natural" equate with "better"? A lot of scientists (in all sciences) think not.

Posted by TomNightingale at 12:12pm on October 21, 2009

I agree with most of the comments. What a vapid article - by a lady who is seemingly not an alpha-journalist. I thought August was the news silly season?

Posted by bill@iway.na at 1:26pm on October 21, 2009

Men should be hairy - the hairier the better! Clean shaven does nothing for me, beards should be mandatory! If I am to believe that IÃ¢??m one of the discrete 8% who prefers hirsute males - great! I'm never short of company. And you can bring on the hairy chests and backs as well! Come on Coline, you should be able to do better than this rubbish based on little more than a Lynx survey and a ridiculous mention of Freud.

Posted by Marianne Smith at 2:12pm on October 21, 2009

I wonder how old the women interviewed are! Of course a sixteen-year-old girl would be turned off by the body and beard of a man in his thirties, but more mature women usually like hair on their men. It turns me off to see a full-grown man with no hair on his torso like a woman. Young men who rush to have their body hair lasered off will probably regret it in a few years from now, when the tide has turned and they discover that the women they are attracted to prefer a naturally hairy body. My preference is: "enough hair to look like a man, not enough to look like a bear".

Posted by Suzanne F at 4:35pm on October 21, 2009

Coline hasn't looked back in history has she? What a load of unadulterated twaddle her article is. Men have had beards since, well, since men grew facial hair, and the trend is nothing more sinister than the fact that it's currently fanshionable. I've had mine for more years than I care to remember as I'm not a follower of fashion, but some will grow it and shave it off, then grow it again etc etc as they perceive the fashion to be. Perhaps she's thinking that there's some dark secret that she hasn't been let in on - like they're all closeted gays trying to look butch! I don't think so dear.

Posted by Keith Gowthorpe at 9:29pm on October 21, 2009

Men grow beards so they can hide from over-analytical bores like CC. A lot of male fashion at the moment is based around classic "outdoor" looks like military, nautical and workwear clothing and beards tend to look good with that kind of thing, so maybe there's your answer.

Posted by Bob G at 11:48am on October 22, 2009

I started to grow my beard at the age of 46 (3 years ago). This notion that women prefer clean shaven faces doesn't seem to be based in reality, not from my experience anyway. In my 30's which is supposedly my prime, I got a certain amount of attention from the women I encountered on a day to day basis but that started to wain at around 45 or so (around the time my midsection began to grow) Then, I grew a beard, and the attention I get from female strangers has certainly increased. So much so in fact that my wife has made several comments about it. She loves my beard BTW.

Posted by eric legere at 1:13am on October 23, 2009

This is the silliest article I have ever read by Coline Covington, whose insights I normally enjoy. In the 19th Century nearly all men had beards and so did large numbers even in the 1970's yet both those eras were long before there were any problems from uppity feminists. Also, as many of the above commentators have pointed out - the idea that women don't like them is very dubious, most women do not care all that much about such superficial points of a man's appearance. Its called fashion, Coline, get a grip!

Posted by Hilary Easton at 9:53pm on October 26, 2009