# Why is Tarzan beardless? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434 "2003-01-14T02:07:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/1 "2003-01-14T02:07:10Z")
In movies and TV (yeah, yeah, I know they’re not realistic to begin with) Tarzan is always depicted as clean-shaven, though his hair is quite wild. You’d think that someone who was raised by apes and away from civilization would look totally ungroomed. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![gris\_gris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@gris\_gris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gris_gris)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/2 "2003-01-14T02:12:45Z")
holy crap thats a good point! I can’t beleive i never thought about that. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/3 "2003-01-14T02:14:45Z")
Tarzan shaves himself with his father’s hunting knife. He knows that Men are clean-shaven from pictures in the books left in his parent’s cabin. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/4 "2003-01-14T02:19:45Z")
Burroughs addresses this in the first novel, _Tarzan of the Apes_. Tarzan was the son of Lord and Lady Greystoke, who died in the jungle, leaving their infant son to be raised by apes. He inherited his parents’ belongings, including many illustrated books. In Chapter 13, Tarzan faces puberty. > [@](#): > > He was worried because he had not clothing to indicate to all the jungle folks that he was a man and not an ape, and grave doubt often entered his mind as to whether he might not yet become an ape. > > Was not hair commencing to grow upon his face? All the apes had hair upon theirs but the black men were entirely hairless, with very few exceptions. > > True, he had seen pictures in his books of men with great masses of hair upon lip and cheek and chin, but, nevertheless, Tarzan was afraid. Almost daily he whetted his keen knife and scraped and whittled at his young beard to eradicate this degrading emblem of apehood. > > And so he learned to shave–rudely and painfully, it is true–but, nevertheless, effectively. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/5 "2003-01-14T02:43:19Z")
So how come the blade never dulled? ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/6 "2003-01-14T02:55:26Z")
"Almost daily he whetted his keen knife " He kept re-sharpening it. ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/7 "2003-01-14T02:59:15Z")
… the black men were hairless… ? Methinks a certain author did no research. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/8 "2003-01-14T03:05:17Z")
You betcha Burroughs went light on research. He even put tigers in Africa. But in all fairness, few aboriginal black African men are bearded. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/9 "2003-01-14T03:44:02Z")
And how about Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious in _Sid & Nancy_? He’s so junked out that he doesn’t even notice when he _sets his hotel room on fire_, but he never has even the merest hint of a shadow. (I know, it’s an artistic decision to make Sid seem more of an “innocent abroad,” but once I noticed it I was bugged by it.) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/10 "2003-01-14T04:25:01Z")
Hey people, _Tarzan of the Apes_ is an adventure story about a super hero who lives with animals and rescues people. I don’t think it’s about what Tarzan did when he got up in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/11 "2003-01-14T04:25:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muldoon III \* > \*\*So how come the blade never dulled? \*\* … … … … … Won’t say anything. Too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/12 "2003-01-14T05:50:17Z")
Maybe I’m slow, **Zagadka**. What’s the obvious joke? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/13 "2003-01-14T07:48:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*And how about Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious in _Sid & Nancy_? He’s so junked out that he doesn’t even notice when he _sets his hotel room on fire_, but he never has even the merest hint of a shadow. (I know, it’s an artistic decision to make Sid seem more of an “innocent abroad,” but once I noticed it I was bugged by it.) \*\* Yeah, but…I’ve never seen the real Sid Vicious with much in the way of facial hair. Not even here: http//:www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/viciousmug1.html (well maybe a bit of fuzz on the upper lip, but he’d probably been in custody for a while) Apparently the British are very concienscious about grooming, whether swinging though trees or nodding out in alleyways. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/14 "2003-01-14T14:04:53Z")
as for sid some people just have very little beard growth . it takes me a full month to get what some would call a slight goatee. whereas my friend can have a full beard in a little as three days. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/15 "2003-01-15T00:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > as for sid some people just have very little beard growth . it takes me a full month to get what some would call a slight goatee. whereas my friend can have a full beard in a little as three days. Thank you for sharing that, ma’am… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/16 "2003-01-15T01:09:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*You betcha Burroughs went light on research. He even put tigers in Africa. But in all fairness, few aboriginal black African men are bearded. \*\* Say what? Do you mean naturally, or because they shave? In my experience (and I’ve worked in West Africa quite a bit), most naturally have beards, though different ethnic groups may typically be clean shaven. Certainly some groups in the time and place Tarzan was set would have been bearded. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tarzan-beardless/148434/17 "2003-01-15T04:03:46Z")
\<\< Certainly some groups in the time and place Tarzan was set would have been bearded. \>\> Ah, but some groups wouldn’t. And Burroughs very carefully disguised the actual region where Tarzan roamed. When he was young (before he came into contact with Europeans), he might only have seen one or two tribes. The Great Apes who raised him did not range far in their travels: see [Straight Dope Staff Report: What kind of ape was Tarzan raised by?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtarzan.html)