# Asians and facial hair **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081 "2009-04-14T16:40:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/1 "2009-04-14T16:40:01Z")
I hope this doesn’t come off as racist, but I’ve been thinking about for, well, decades. How come I rarely see men of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean descent sporting a nice full beard? Is it a cultural thing, or a genetic thing? If the latter, what explains the fact that on rare occasion, I do see one? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/2 "2009-04-14T18:51:27Z")
Confucius say Asian beard grow slow, easy shave. Confucius also say some Asian lazier than other. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/3 "2009-04-14T18:58:42Z")
On the other hand, the [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid#Features) says (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > “An interesting hypothesis put forward by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould many years ago was that the package of the Mongoloid anatomical changes **could be explained by the phenomenon of neoteny, whereby an infantile or childlike body form is preserved in adult life**.[32] Neoteny in hominids is still one of the simplest explanations of how we developed a disproportionately large brain so rapidly over the past few million years.[32] The relatively large brain and the forward rotation of the skull on the spinal column, and body hair loss, both characteristic of humans, are found in foetal chimps.[32] Gould suggested a mild intensification of neoteny in Mongoloids, in whom it has been given the name paedomorphy.[32] Such a mechanism is likely to involve only a few controller genes and could therefore happen over a relatively short evolutionary period.[32] **It would also explain how** the counterintuitive retrousse [turned up at the end] nose and **relative loss of facial hair got into the package**.”[32]" Not sure what all that means… ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/4 "2009-04-14T19:22:50Z")
My SO can grow a beard…he is Chinese. But it doesn’t come out as a “nice, full beard” - it grows like a Fu Manchu beard and neverever will it grow the way white men grow their beards. And this is pretty common amongst most Asian men. Less hair on the cheeks, most hair on the chin. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/5 "2009-04-14T19:27:43Z")
Many native American men also have very little facial hair. Legend has it that the site of bearded conquistadors really freaked them out. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/6 "2009-04-14T19:33:08Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > If the latter, what explains the fact that on rare occasion, I do see one? The simple answer to this part is that not all East Asians are the same genetic strain. Consider the Ainu people of Japan, who are notably hairy. Do a Google image search on Ainu, and you’ll see lots of heavy beards. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/7 "2009-04-14T21:17:50Z")
I grew up surrounded by Asians and I would say very few men have beards because for most of them, it’s just not possible. I know maybe a dozen classmates, associates, and relatives who have/had mustaches (or sprouts of hair in the approximate shape and location of a mustache), but attempts at facial hair beyond that fail. Most Asian guys do not have enough hair follicles on their chins or cheeks to grow a beard, and the guys I’ve asked about it said the hair grows very slowly. Three weeks of growth looks like my Caucasian SO’s two-day growth. It winds up looking pretty lame and becomes annoying, so they maintain a clean-shaven look. None of my Okinawan relatives, who were definitely hairier than most, have facial hair, though it’s possible they _could_ grow it but choose not to. There may have been a general cultural and regional bias against facial hair there, though, as I rarely saw any men of any ethnicity with full beards. It’s not like they need it for warmth in Hawaii. It wasn’t until I visited other states, particularly in the Midwest, that I saw many men with full mustaches and beards. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/8 "2009-04-15T03:23:34Z")
There are obvious exceptions, of course. I mean look at Lance Ito(OJ’s judge). [Lance Ito’s Beard](http://a.abcnews.com/images/TheLaw/ap_ito_070918_ssh.jpg) However, it’s just not that common. I lived in China and most Chinese men just didin’t grow beards. They had to shave to maintain a clean face, but couldn’t grow a full beard. It’s OK. I’m white and my beard is pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/9 "2009-04-15T08:54:20Z")
Not that many Nordic or Slavic guys can sport a full beard, either. I know I can’t. There just isn’t enough hair on the face to cover it. IME, North European guys capable of a “nice full beard” are a minority, despite the popular Viking imagery. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/10 "2009-04-15T09:48:39Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I hope this doesn’t come off as racist, but I’ve been thinking about for, well, decades. > > How come I rarely see men of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean descent sporting a nice full beard? Is it a cultural thing, or a genetic thing? If the latter, what explains the fact that on rare occasion, I do see one? The distribution of body hair is genetic, and like many genetic traits, varies among populations, both as individuals and as broad averages among larger groups. Contrary to a simplistic view often expressed on this board that group and racial differences are “just skin color” there are lots of other genetic traits that are expressed with more frequency within a given population. Obviously the broader the grouping, the more individual variation you will find, but the cohort you describe tends, as a group, to have an average difference in their body hair that is genetically based. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/11 "2009-04-15T10:57:13Z")
Ok I am Asian and I am a bloody hairy beast. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/12 "2009-04-15T19:56:02Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Ok I am Asian and I am a bloody hairy beast. From where? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/13 "2009-04-15T20:42:17Z")
South/Central Asia. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/14 "2009-04-15T21:09:20Z")
Gosh guys, we live in an Internet age and it takes 14 posts to disprove the idea that Asians can’t grow beards… I typed “Chinese” + “Beard” into [flickr.com](http://flickr.com) and got many, both real and historical depictions, of Chinese men with beards [1](http://www.flickr.com/photos/jermfestphotography/3266661800/), [2](http://www.flickr.com/photos/slavers/728767331/), [3](http://www.flickr.com/photos/klctcentre/2903052514/), [4](http://www.flickr.com/photos/antydiluvian/2368797192/), [5](http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayswww/403335319/), [6](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristin-and-adam/375134668/), [7](http://www.flickr.com/photos/phaceman/3248795869/), [8](http://www.flickr.com/photos/expatriategames/2961794616/), [etc](http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=chinese+beard). I used the country of China for just an example, feel free to replace that with: Japan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia (a very populous Islamic country, probably has quite a few bearded men), etc. Debunking racial threads are so much easier with pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/15 "2009-04-15T21:25:39Z")
No one’s saying all Asians are physically incapable of sprouting any facial hair whatsoever, just that many of them cannot grow enough of it to make a full beard. Your photos (the ones that are of actual human beings with real hair on their faces) support this. Also, many of us either are Asian or have lived in Asian communities. Who needs the internet? ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/16 "2009-04-15T22:28:22Z")
> [@AudreyK](#): > > No one’s saying all Asians are physically incapable of sprouting any facial hair whatsoever, just that many of them cannot grow enough of it to make a full beard. Your photos (the ones that are of actual human beings with real hair on their faces) support this. > > Also, many of us either are Asian or have lived in Asian communities. Who needs the internet? Say waaahh, my photos support this, eh? I take your easy challenge. This time I simply typed “Japanese” + “homeless” in [flickr.com](http://flickr.com) to get a clear representative of a group of Asians who would have no societal pressure to conform to social norms about facial hair. [1](http://www.flickr.com/photos/lost-moments/695079289/), [2](http://www.flickr.com/photos/manganite/188074268/), [3](http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevor303/2999260286/), [4](http://www.flickr.com/photos/27059988@N08/3417757704/), [5](http://www.flickr.com/photos/arni_katz_photography/3395927612/), [6](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7861049@N06/2587086950/), [7](http://www.flickr.com/photos/lost-moments/241950848/), [8](http://www.flickr.com/photos/true2death/832255582/), [etc](http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=japanese+homeless). Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Redfrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@Redfrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redfrost)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/17 "2009-04-16T13:10:36Z")
**orcenio** you once again proved the point that Asian men _typically_ do not grow full, thick beards. The photos you linked to showed men with thin, wispy facial hair with only a few (5ish?) that had thick beards. Re-read **AudreyK** ’s post because sums up what’s being discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/18 "2009-04-16T13:22:30Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > From where? South Asian men (like **AK84** and I) have the opposite problem- we have too much facial hair. If I don’t shave daily I look like some sort of skinny tanned gorilla- thick black hair over my chin, throat and cheeks (nearly all the way up to my eyes). Plus, when you have black hair, you can’t get away with hoping nobody will see your fuzz. Since I don’t shave daily, I often look like a skinny, tanned Sasquatch. Plus, I’m only 26. My dad didn’t come into his full allotment of facial hair follicles until his mid-thirties. He looks like a skinny, tanned Sasquatch with middle-age spread. ROWR! ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/19 "2009-04-16T13:51:12Z")
> [@Redfrost](#): > > **orcenio** you once again proved the point that Asian men _typically_ do not grow full, thick beards. The photos you linked to showed men with thin, wispy facial hair with only a few (5ish?) that had thick beards. Re-read **AudreyK** ’s post because sums up what’s being discussed. You say that my pictures still prove **AudreyK** ’s point, by the beards being not “thick” enough, eh? Hmmm… it’s starting to seem to me that one needs to set up quite a few subjective perimeters for this racial wisdom o hold true. I have no idea what you deem is thick, but this time I simply typed “old” + “beard” + “china” into [flickr.com](http://flickr.com). I got… [1](http://www.flickr.com/photos/aglimpseoftheworld/286530228/), [2](http://www.flickr.com/photos/31296501@N03/2980770275/), [3](http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancewebel/308512513/), [4](http://www.flickr.com/photos/runnerone/1886862767/), [5](http://www.flickr.com/photos/winklerw/139869405/), [6](http://www.flickr.com/photos/herwigphoto/438392763/), [7](http://www.flickr.com/photos/38159369@N00/806185834/), [8](http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmiehomeschoolmom/2383980527/), [9](http://www.flickr.com/photos/echbremmer/3365865008/), [10](http://www.flickr.com/photos/vicki-rich/295228640/), [11](http://www.flickr.com/photos/guypaterson/530388384/), [12](http://www.flickr.com/photos/solupine/2811241389/), [13](http://www.flickr.com/photos/thechinatravelcompany/2941274018/), [14](http://www.flickr.com/photos/nospuds/241022714/), [15](http://www.flickr.com/photos/33330359@N04/3305674864/), [16](http://www.flickr.com/photos/runnerone/3184578376/), [17](http://www.flickr.com/photos/22365700@N06/2183199991/), [18](http://www.flickr.com/photos/iancowe/1446454079/), [19](http://www.flickr.com/photos/quarkness/1418401534/), [etc](http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=old+beard+china&s=int)… Just tell me which ones match up to your acceptable level of “thickness.” ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081/20 "2009-04-16T14:12:16Z")
Number of Korean males I know who are physically capable of growing a neck beard: 1. The vast majority of Korean males can’t grow, say, a [sam beam](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&q=sam+beam&revid=805080818&ei=TTrnSfqgK8uGkQX1l4iBBw&sa=X&oi=revisions_inline&resnum=0&ct=broad-revision&cd=1). If I didn’t shave for a month, I’d get a small patch of maybe 30 or so half inch wiry hairs at the very tip of my chin. Compared to any of my friends in America, there is no question something in our genetic makeup is different, and acknowledging this is about as racist as observing black people have darker skin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-and-facial-hair/493081.md?page=2)