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I've been thinking about beards lately. A full grown beard can make a guy's head, face, and jaw in particular look a lot bigger than it would otherwise. A mammoth jaw is intimidating, and could scare off predators. Did evolution reward the beard?
I've been thinking about beards lately. A full grown beard can make a guy's head, face, and jaw in particular look a lot bigger than it would otherwise. A mammoth jaw is intimidating, and could scare off predators. Did evolution reward the beard?
That's a very interesting thought, and seems logical to me. I wonder if primitive human females were more attracted to a male with more facial hair. After all, it seems a lot of our traits are probably geared toward reproducing as much as possible. The appearance of an especially large mouth and jaw region may have intimidated predators, and that may have drawn females to those males with loads of facial hair from a sense of safety and protection for them and their offspring. Or it could be something completely different! Regardless, I can grow a beard but I hate the way it feels, so I'm cleanly shorn. Perhaps I'm hurting my chances of passing along my genes by going against nature, but I also don't want children, which probably also goes against nature. Man, in the wild my genes wouldn't have a chance!
That's a very interesting thought, and seems logical to me. I wonder if primitive human females were more attracted to a male with more facial hair. After all, it seems a lot of our traits are probably geared toward reproducing as much as possible. The appearance of an especially large mouth and jaw region may have intimidated predators, and that may have drawn females to those males with loads of facial hair from a sense of safety and protection for them and their offspring. Or it could be something completely different! Regardless, I can grow a beard but I hate the way it feels, so I'm cleanly shorn. Perhaps I'm hurting my chances of passing along my genes by going against nature, but I also don't want children, which probably also goes against nature. Man, in the wild my genes wouldn't have a chance!
I hate to break it to you, but having a beard is NOT a chick magnet.
Over the years, on three separate occasions I have experienced it where a lady was expressing 'interest' in my beard. In each instance, she revealed that she was a hair stylist and she would love to try a few things with a full beard [Garibaldi-style beard meaning full width and down to my chest]. Being a male and giddy at the thought of an attractive female showing interest in my body, I was easily led.
On each of those three instances, once they got to 'trimming' I ended up walking away clean shaven.
These three occasions happened to me at roughly ten year intervals.
It has been my observation that any female who expresses 'interest' in a full beard, is secretly hiding a desire to shave it off.
On the other hand, twice I have been denied employment due to wearing a beard.
Once it was an older female who was going to hire me, on the condition that I shave first.
The second time, it was the employers' wife who insisted that no man could work for her hubby with a full beard.
I have had opportunity to read a few papers on the topic, and as I understand it, females in a culture where they have gained dominance and can openly express authority and power, see a man with a beard as a threat to their power base.
Females in our culture today, do not see themselves as submissive. Females own property, operate businesses, and run for elected office.
Females are the majority, males are the minority. Males may occasionally control a business but it is at the discretion of the females of our society.
In the case of female attraction, my intuition tells me that it's important to strike a balance between the primitive appeal of the beard and the cultural oddity of it. I think the current balance in our culture can be found in full facial stubble.
In the case of female attraction, my intuition tells me that it's important to strike a balance between the primitive appeal of the beard and the cultural oddity of it. I think the current balance in our culture can be found in full facial stubble.
While stubble is popular, stubble is not a beard.
However stubble does re-enforce the idea that beards are itchy.
Just like leg hair stubble is irritating.
Once hair grows longer, is regularly shampooed and gets an occasional hot-oil treatment it relaxes and becomes soft.
I hate to break it to you, but having a beard is NOT a chick magnet.
I think the person was talking about earlier times. Among many ancient societies men were expected to have facial hair and beards were seen as a sign of being a man. It's kind of a visible sign that a male had reached sexual maturity, more or less.
As for leg hair, on women, it seems like maybe it protects against some skin irritations or just provides warmth of some kind. Although in most species I think the female has a thicker amount of hair on our legs so maybe we've selected for women to be as close to hairless as possible.
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