I see enough men with stubble that women find attractive that I’ll concede women like it. I’ll admit I don’t get it - I see stubble, I think Fred Flintstone.
But leaving aside the appearance, there’s the issue of upkeep. Men do not naturally have stubble. You either shave it off or you grow a beard. Perpetual stubble is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Having that “I guess I forgot to shave this morning” look takes careful planning and ongoing maintenance.
I’m assuming women realize this. Is it just something you don’t think about - “It’s great as long I don’t think about the effort he put into looking casual.” Or is it just you like the results - “We both know it’s fake but it’s still hot.”
I know you asked for women but I don’t care. I would make 2 points.
I think you are mistaken about it not occurring naturally. This had eluded me too because it’s very much true in the case of my face in particular. But for a great many men, it’s possible to not shave for a week or more and have nothing but stubble. I’ll grant you that it’s not literally ‘perpetual stubble’, but I think it takes less planning and upkeep than you think.
In my case I would need to use a beard trimmer without the guard daily or I’d progress beyond stubble, and it’d be totally fake. But most of my friends are in their mid to late 20s and absolutely do not need to shave more than every couple days.
It always seemed to me there’s two separate ‘looks’ where stubble can look good. One is a kind of rough looking sloppy skater type where everything about the guy is untidy including his unshaven facial hair. Certainly seems to appeal to some women.
The other is even more affected, where the stubble is the only thing about the overall image that’s untidy. Stylish clothes, stylish hair, plus stubble. It’s what I imagine when I think of a celebrity sporting the look.
In either case I think you’re obliged to be really thin, particularly in the face. If you don’t have a strong well defined jaw, it’s a really bad type of sloppy.
Unattractive.
I appreciate the effort it takes to drag a metal blade across a face daily. I wouldn’t want to do it.
I like well-groomed facial hair or a smoothly shaved face and neck. I understand taking the occasional break to let facial skin recover, but deliberate stubble seems affected to me at best and slovenly at worst.
I’m not a fan. But I also am aware that a guy can shave in the morning and be a bit scratchy by night time (heck, it happens on my legs!) so sometimes I prefer he has a bit of soft growth instead of scratchy just-shaved-this-morning stubble. I don’t think it looks good as a fashion choice, though.
My roommate has what I would consider constant stubble, tho. He just shaved this evening before a date, and while his face felt smooth it looked as if he could use a shave. His skin and hair just work that way.
It can be very sexy, but is actually uncomfortable to touch/kiss/etc. Most of the guys I’ve dated wouldn’t shave every single day, but not one of them ever did the perpetual stubble look.
Well, no, not really, unless we vary greatly in our definition of “careful planning.” Most guys just shave once or twice a week and the scruff develops in the meantime.
I don’t like it - regardless of the hotness of the man, it still looks sloppy. Commit to a beard or don’t - partway does nothing for me.
My spousal unit has sported a full beard for most of our 25 years together. He went the goatee route once, but decided the full fuzzy face was easier. I think it looks better.
I like it, assuming the guy doesn’t look like Fred Flintstone in other ways. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s artificially maintained. You should know that I also really like goatees, too, because apparently everyone thinks those are nasty.
My mom hates stubble with a passion. She complains about it *every single time *she sees someone on TV with it.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaate. I don’t care much one way or the other about how it looks, but ouch. I don’t especially care for having the lower half of my face (let alone any other parts of my body) abraded away, thanks. Every time my boyfriend forgets or doesn’t get a chance to shave, my face peels for a week.
If you’re keeping it up with a beard trimmer, it’s probably long enough not to feel like sandpaper. I dig it, generally, and don’t see why the upkeep should be an issue. Anything a guy does with his face other than ‘playoff beard’ is going to be artificial.
As a man, it’s been great reading this thread. As a man with stubble 2 out of every 3 days or so, it’s been very cool reading this thread.
Just wanted to point out, many guys are like me and simply cannot shave every day (and yeah, I’m the type that has more than a shadow 8-10 hours after shaving). It’s a choice of some stubble for 24-48 hours or ingrown hairs, pimples and lots of unsightly blemishes. I choose to take the stubble.
I know that has little bearing on the perceived aesthetics, but I wanted y’all to know that not all stubble is either a) pretentious fashion choice or b) lazy.
