# Beards **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032 "2004-07-01T12:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/1 "2004-07-01T12:01:20Z")
Men: Do you have one? Women: Do you like them? ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/2 "2004-07-01T12:06:20Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/3 "2004-07-01T12:10:45Z")
I’m male, btw. Normally have a goatee, but have a full beard when I’m either too lazy to attack it with the trimmer or can’t find the damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/4 "2004-07-01T12:24:18Z")
I’ve had my beard for almost 20 years now. I have no idea what my face looks like anymore. 😃 FWIW I’m gay and nobody’s ever complained. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/5 "2004-07-01T12:33:47Z")
I’ve had a full beard for 28 years (since I was 19). The two women I’ve had LTRs with liked it. A couple of the women I’ve dated wanted me to shave it, so I stopped dating them. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/6 "2004-07-01T12:38:09Z")
I have a full beard for the past 15 years or so. My wife insisted I grow it – my whiskers are very scratchy and growing them long allows them to soften. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/7 "2004-07-01T13:10:08Z")
My boyfriend has one – it’s not long, but just long enough that it’s not scratchy but is soft and fuzzyish. I’d never kissed anybody with facial hair before. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/8 "2004-07-01T13:27:01Z")
Have had a full beard since early 70’s. Only time I’ve shaved it off since then was for a short term safety inspection project at a nuclear power station (respirators would not seal over a beard). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/9 "2004-07-01T13:30:03Z")
No, darn it all. I hate shaving, but I’m currently working for a company that likes their employees to look like they’re fresh out of college, and having a grey beard doesn’t help any. Any kind of beard at all, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/10 "2004-07-01T13:32:48Z")
I don’t mind goatees and love sideburns, but no way on full beards or mushtaches. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/11 "2004-07-01T14:03:55Z")
I hate to shave. I have a full beard. My wife used to say it tickled her thighs. She liked it. ---
**Author:** ![hybrid\_dogfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@hybrid\_dogfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hybrid_dogfish)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/12 "2004-07-01T14:18:02Z")
Male Clean shaven My girlfriend HATES facial hair of any description. Once when she was about 8 her dad grew a moustache and she refused to even acknowledge his existance until he shaved it off. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/13 "2004-07-01T14:36:55Z")
Yep, got one. I’ve had a beard in some form for 25+ years. My wife of nearly 15 years has never seen me clean-shaven; except for the high-school pictures my mom has of me. Well, with a name like “grizzrich”, I almost HAVE to have a beard, right? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/14 "2004-07-01T14:43:01Z")
Full beard. Had one since I was fourteen, pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/15 "2004-07-01T15:02:57Z")
Also haven’t been clean shaven in many years. I wasn’t allowed to keep a beard while in high school, so after graduation in '89, I’ve kept at least a goatee. I don’t look good with just a mustache, so I’ve always had either a full goatee (most of the time) or a beard (winter or laziness). When I get a head cold that involves blowing my nose a lot, I’ll shave the mustache. My chin has seen the light of day for maybe two weeks total in the last 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/16 "2004-07-01T15:18:47Z")
Full beard here. My wife likes it a great deal. I’ve had facial hair since about two weeks after I got out of the Air Force, and the beard itself for around two years now. I doubt I will ever go back to being clean shaven. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/17 "2004-07-01T15:19:43Z")
The Lifecycle of **Bruce\_Daddy’s** Facial Hair Start clean shaven. One Thursday morning, don’t shave. Allow beard to grow over weekend. Monday morning, shave into goatee. Two months later when goatee is growing into mouth, shave it off. Repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/18 "2004-07-01T15:20:05Z")
Male. Yes. My wife won’t let me shave it. I shaved it once, and her immediate response was, “So… how long’s it going to take you to grow it back?” ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/19 "2004-07-01T16:08:36Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Men: Do you have one? Do you have to ask ? 😉 Seriously I have had a beard when I was the youngest in my working group to look older, and it does help you sem more senior. Now I am getting older I have been beardless for a few years. I may well regrow a beard soon though as I feel the need for a change again. Strangely whether herstute or not, I have allways been Bippy the Beardless, it simply becomes an ironic nickname when I am a beardy. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032/20 "2004-07-01T16:21:06Z")
**Stonebow** has a goatee. He’s had it for as long as I have known him. I think I would secretly be freaked out if he shaved it. Speaking as a woman in general, I like facial hair on a guy, but have seen attractive men without it. I have also witnessed singularly unattractive men with facial hair. It’s sort of a whole package deal. Facial hair, or the lack thereof, alone doesn’t make or break the overall appeal of a guy. Modesty\* prevents me from going into too much detail about why I enjoy **Stonebow** ’s, though. FB \*I know, but sometimes I like to at least **try** to be modest. It keeps him on his toes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beards/253032.md?page=2)