If you have a beard you are not outdoorsy. Stop telling people you are. You are an urbanite that wants to look outdoorsy (skinny jeans do not scream wilderness). There is little need to have a beard in the forest (unless you want ticks and Lyme disease). In a world where the shaving industry is a huge cash cow, there is a growing trend or counter-culture to that beardless “business man of the 50’s” revival. So what is the place of beards in today’s urbanized society?
King of fashions counter-culture today seems to be the beard; grow is long and grow it strong (TWSS). It is important to understand what emotions it invokes in the public. When men see a modern city living man wearing a large beard there are a number of different responses:
Wow, look at him.
Hipster.
I hope he likes working at Urban Outfitters.
I wish I could grow that.
I could grow a beard like that.
Envy is an idea built on fashion. Dating back to the beginning of time we have seen people wanting what other people have obtained. Those in a position of power, at say Coca Cola, will never have a beard because society deems it something for lower society to wear. Let it be known, those high level executives would very much enjoy growing a beard as substantial as the employee at the shoe store that helped his daughter pick the correct gym shoe; equally as much as the worker whispers their desire for the Tesla that the business man drove to the store.
In the current state of our country beards are seen as an oddity, restricted to slight positions in society. Here in Atlanta you see no beards holding deeds to the mansions in Buckhead. However, only 4 miles away in Little Five Points you will be hard pressed to shade your eyes from such. The barriers that beards place upon a person is high. Many companies have no beard policies for it’s employees (see Publix). We are well deplaced from the time when Kings wore beards to show their ability to bath daily and could remain sanitary.
King James I, Ruled in the 1600s
Once leaving the city you will see beards on some farms, but they can be unsafe around modern farm equipment. The Amish still grow beards but their lifestyle keeps them out of the way of blenders, table saws, or Kitchen Aid grain mills. True outdoorsmen keep a beardless face for health reasons. When one is without a good place for general hygiene and grooming it is best to limit the amount of places bugs can house themselves. So this leaves one contemporary place for beards to live, youth filled cities.
After the turn of the industrial revolution and professionalism the beard that was so common in the 1700s was cast aside. Today in a world of computer work and phone conferences I ask that large companies look to making a more Beard Friendly working environment. Having the ability to grow a enviable beard does not take away one’s ability to perform multi-million dollar deals and make educated decisions. So we ask, Stand Tall and let your beard Grow Long.
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