# Asians and beards - is this a cultural thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304 "2003-02-15T21:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/1 "2003-02-15T21:18:58Z")
I’ve been allowing my goattee to get long lately, now I can just barely get the hair on my chin to reach my eye. I shaved off my moustache for hygienic reasons, so all I have left is a long but somewhat thin beard. In the last few weeks two different Asian women I come into contact with have made comments on my beard while giggling, one commenting on how long it is. A third Asian woman at the deli gave me extra pastrami (added it to the order after weighing it) and kept staring at my beard, although maybe by now I’m starting to assume that all Asian women are staring at my beard for various reasons. What the hell does this mean? I’m sorry I don’t know more about the ancestry of the women in question, they could be Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, I’m not sure. All of them seem to speak English as a second language (judging from accent) and they seem to range in age from app. 30 to maybe 50 or so. Does a long stringy beard mean something to middle aged Asian immigrants? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/2 "2003-02-15T21:38:26Z")
Dunno, but many, if not most, Asian men have little or no facial hair… hrh ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/3 "2003-02-15T22:02:07Z")
I read in the _Culture Shock! Thailand_ book that the Thai women consider beards as the sign of old men exclusively. Since old people are venerated in East Asian culture, that means she was showing respect for your advanced age by giving you extra. However, there go your chances of getting a date. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/4 "2003-02-15T22:12:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hrhomer \* > \*\*Dunno, but many, if not most, Asian men have little or no facial hair… > > hrh \*\* Tell that to a sikh. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/5 "2003-02-15T22:19:57Z")
Maybe they think you are [Uncle Ho](http://histgeo.free.fr/troisieme/deco/hoch.html). ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/6 "2003-02-15T23:15:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ticker \* > \*\*Tell that to a sikh. \*\* You’re right - I should have said “east Asian.” hrh ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/7 "2003-02-15T23:28:41Z")
Hmm, maybe they just think it’s funny seeing the beard of an old and/or scholarly man on a big white 30 year-old. I don’t know, but it sure is weird. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/8 "2003-02-15T23:33:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hrhomer \* > \*\*You’re right - I should have said “east Asian.” > > hrh \*\* Important, if tangential, point. To Americans, Asian implies Japan/China/Korea, etc. People from India are Indian. To the British, Asian implies India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka, etc. People from the Far East are Oriental. I’m assuming we’re talking about the “Oriental” type of “Asian” here. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/9 "2003-02-16T00:00:23Z")
**jr8** See the many previous threads… I agree that in the UK, “Asian” pretty universally implies Indian, Pakistani, etc, but we don’t all call East Asians “Oriental”. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/10 "2003-02-16T05:57:46Z")
The word “Oriental” is sorta taboo here in the states. We’re kinda dumb here, apparently… hrh ---
**Author:** ![Marduk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Marduk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marduk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/11 "2003-02-16T06:05:43Z")
Hmmm. I’ve never encountered anyone who considered “Oriental” taboo. But I do live in the south and each region has its own taboos. Maybe the west coast considers it taboo? I do know that “Chink” is taboo though. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/12 "2003-02-16T06:07:48Z")
Didn’t some of the images of Chinese emperors show men with very long, pointed beards? Also, perhaps if most oriental/east asian men can’t/don’t grow beards, it’s an extra novelty for the women to see someone who has? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-beards-is-this-a-cultural-thing/155304/13 "2003-02-16T11:21:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raygirvan \* > \*\ ***jr8** > See the many previous threads… I agree that in the UK, “Asian” pretty universally implies Indian, Pakistani, etc, but we don’t all call East Asians “Oriental”. \*\* Maybe it’s a generational thing; upon reflection, I’ve heard it mostly from British men over 40.