Lately I’ve been seeing men with short hair and big, full, trimmed beards–like lumberjacks, romantic poets, or Mormon patriarchs. Not scraggly, afterthought, “don’t own a razor, man,” hippie-ish beards, but groomed, intentional in-your-face (as it were) facial hair that seems to be making a statement. What is it saying?
Not zillions of guys, but a few, and in mainstream jobs, retail settings, at the mall, etc. There’s a cell phone kiosk at one of the upscale malls here and two of the guys look like the guys in these pictures. At Wal-Mart this morning, one of the checkers had short hair and a beard as in these pictures, but he also had several tiny silver pierced earrings on the top of his left ear.
Is this a thing now? Is there an anthropological basis for this style? It seems to be a pendulum swing in the opposite direction from the 5-day-growth that was passing for a beard in recent years?
Beards aren’t my thing, but I’m okay with them. Who cares, right? But long disgusting beards with shaved heads, that crosses a line. Free country and all that, but I don’t have to approve.
That first pic is rather like me, although my beard is a little shorter and more scraggly. I do it because I like it. Fashion has nothing to do with it–I’ve had a beard for 15 years.
I’m not sure the full head of hair with full beard look is any better. I remember watching the World Series last year and thinking it looked like the All-Amish championship game!
