Beards Fork Branch

A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards.

Throughout the course of history, societal attitudes toward male beards have varied widely depending on factors such as prevailing cultural-religious traditions and the current era's fashion trends. Some religions (such as some sects of Islam, and Sikhism) have considered a full beard to be essential and mandate it as part of their observance. Other cultures, even while not officially mandating it, view a beard as central to a man's virility, exemplifying such virtues as wisdom, strength, sexual prowess and high social status. In cultures where facial hair is uncommon (or currently out of fashion), beards may be associated with poor hygiene or an unconventional demeanor. In countries with colder climates, beards help protect the wearer's face from the elements. Beards also provide sun protection.

Biology

The beard develops during puberty. Beard growth is linked to stimulation of hair follicles in the area by dihydrotestosterone, which continues to affect beard growth after puberty. Dihydrotestosterone also promotes balding. Dihydrotestosterone is produced from testosterone, the levels of which vary with season. Beard growth rate is also genetic.

Evolution

Biologists characterize beards as a secondary sexual characteristic because they are unique to one sex, yet do not play a direct role in reproduction. Charles Darwin first suggested a possible evolutionary explanation of beards in his work ''The Descent of Man'', which hypothesized that the process of sexual selection may have led to beards. Modern biologists have reaffirmed the role of sexual selection in the evolution of beards, concluding that there is evidence that a majority of women find men with beards more attractive than men without beards.

Evolutionary psychology explanations for the existence of beards include signalling sexual maturity and signalling dominance by the increasing perceived size of jaws; clean-shaved faces are rated less dominant than bearded. Some scholars assert that it is not yet established whether the sexual selection leading to beards is rooted in attractiveness (inter-sexual selection) or dominance (intra-sexual selection). A beard can be explained as an indicator of a male's overall condition. The rate of facial hairiness appears to influence male attractiveness. The presence of a beard makes the male vulnerable in hand-to-hand fights (it provides an easy way to grab and hold the opponent's head), which is costly, so biologists have speculated that there must be other evolutionary benefits that outweigh that drawback. Excess testosterone evidenced by the beard may indicate mild immunosuppression, which may support spermatogenesis.

Styles

Beard hair is most commonly removed by shaving or by trimming with the use of a beard trimmer. If only the area above the upper lip is left unshaven, the resulting facial hairstyle is known as a mustache; if hair is left only on the chin, the style is a goatee.

* Full: downward flowing beard with either a styled or integrated mustache
* Garibaldi: wide, full beard with rounded bottom and integrated mustache
* Old Dutch: A large, long beard, connected by sideburns, that flares outward in width at the bottom, without a mustache.
* Sideburns: hair grown from the temples down the cheeks toward the jawline. Worn by Isaac Asimov and Carlos Menem.
* Jawline beard: A beard that is grown from the chin along the jawline. Chinstrap, chin curtain and brett are all variations of a jawline beard with distinctions being chin coverage and sideburn length.
* Chinstrap: a beard with long sideburns that comes forward and ends under the chin.
* Chin curtain: similar to the chinstrap beard but covers the entire chin. Also called a Lincoln, Shenandoah, or spade.
* Brett: similar to the chin curtain beard, but does not connect to the sideburns.
* Neckbeard (a.k.a. ''Neard'', a portmanteau of "neck" and "beard"): similar to the chinstrap, but with the chin and jawline shaven, leaving hair to grow only on the neck. While never as popular as other beard styles, a few noted historical figures have worn this type of beard, such as Nero, Horace Greeley, Henry David Thoreau, William Empson, Peter Cooper, Moses Mendelssohn, Richard Wagner, and Michael Costa.
* Circle beard: Commonly mistaken for the goatee, the circle beard is a small chin beard that connects around the mouth to a mustache. Also called a ''doorknocker''.
* Designer stubble: A short growth of the male beard that was popular in the West in the 1980s, and experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 2010s.
* Sea captain: A rounded, bottom-heavy beard of medium length with short sides that is often paired with a longer mustache.
* Goatee: A tuft of hair grown on the chin, sometimes resembling a billy goat's.
* Junco: A goatee that extends upward and connects to the corners of the mouth but does not include a mustache, like the circle beard.
* Meg: A goatee that extends upward and connects to the mustache, this word is commonly used in the south east of Ireland.
* Van Dyke: a goatee accompanied by a mustache.
* Monkey tail: a Van Dyke as viewed from one side, and a Lincoln plus mustache as viewed from the other, giving the impression that a monkey's tail stretches from an ear down to the chin and around one's mouth.
* Hollywoodian: a beard with an integrated mustache that is worn on the lower part of the chin and jaw area, without connecting sideburns.
* Reed: a beard with an integrated mustache that is worn on the lower part of the chin and jaw area that tapers towards the ears without connecting sideburns.
* Royale: a narrow pointed beard extending from the chin. The style was popular in France during the period of the Second Empire, from which it gets its alternative name, the ''imperial'' or ''impériale''.
* Verdi: a short beard with a rounded bottom and slightly shaven cheeks with a prominent mustache
* Muslim beard: Full beard with the mustache trimmed
* Soul patch: a small beard just below the lower lip and above the chin
* Glitter beard: Beard dipped in glitter.
* Hulihee: clean-shaven chin with fat chops connected at the mustache.
* Friendly mutton chops: long mutton chop-type sideburns connected to a mustache, but with a shaved chin and neck.
* Stashburns or the Lemmy: sideburns that drop down the jaw but jut upwards across the mustache, leaving the chin exposed. Similar to friendly mutton chops. Often found in southern and southwestern American culture (see, for example, the Yosemite Sam caricature).
*Closed or Tied beard: Mostly seen among modern Sikh youth, this is a kind of full beard tied by using a sticky liquid or Gel and stiffens below the chin.
* Oakley beard: Described by Indian makeup artist Banu as "neither a French beard nor a full beard". She used the look for Rajinikanth in ''Enthiran'' (2010).

Maintenance

For appearance and cleanliness, some people maintain their beards by exfoliating the skin, using soap or shampoo and sometimes conditioner, and afterward applying oils for softness.

History

Ancient and classical world

Lebanon

The ancient Semitic civilization situated on the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent and centered on the coastline of modern Lebanon gave great attention to the hair and beard. Where the beard has mostly a strong resemblance to that affected by the Assyrians, and familiar to us from their sculptures. It is arranged in three, four, or five rows of small tight curls, and extends from ear to ear around the cheeks and chin. Sometimes, however, in lieu of the many rows, we find one row only, the beard falling in tresses, which are curled at the extremity. There is no indication of the Phoenicians having cultivated mustachios.

Israel

Israelite society placed a special importance on the beard. Many religious male figures are recorded to have had facial hair; for example, numerous prophets mentioned in the Tanakhs with beards">

File:Hindu sadhu with painted face-3311230.jpg
File:Baba in Kathmandu.jpg

Islam

In the Quran, Aaron is said to have had a beard (20:94). Muhammad sported a thick beard along with long head hair that reached his shoulders.

Sunni

In Sunni Islamic jurisprudence there are three verdicts of the beard according to Islamic tradition.

The 1st verdict is that growing the beard is obligatory and that shaving it is haram (forbidden) with the main source for this position being this narration:
Sahih Bukhari, Book 72, Hadith #781 (USC-MSA) Narrated by Ibn 'Umar: Allah's Apostle said, ''"Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard (as it is)."''

The 2nd opinion which is the official position of the Shafi'i school of thought, the beard is only mandoub (recommended) and shaving the beard is only disliked (makruh) but not haram (forbidden).

The 3rd opinion which is among contemporary scholars is that the beard is permissible and that shaving is also permissible.

The extent of the beard is from the cheekbones, level with the channel of the ears, until the bottom of the face. It includes the hair that grows on the cheeks. Hair on the neck is not considered a part of the beard and can be removed, According to the first opinion, which says that it is obligatory.

Shia

According to the Twelver Shia scholars, as per Sunnah, the length of a beard should not exceed the width of a fist. Trimming of facial hair is allowed; however, shaving it is ''haram'' (religiously forbidden). About the permissible size of it, according to Shia-Islam Marja's (among: Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Seyyed Ali Sistani, etc.): if this (its size) is Urfly applicable (true of) beard, it won't be haram.

Judaism

The Hebrew Bible states in Leviticus that "You shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." Talmudic tradition explains this to mean that a man may not shave his beard with a razor with a single blade, since the cutting action of the blade against the skin "mars" the beard. Because scissors have two blades, some opinions in halakha (Jewish law) permit their use to trim the beard, as the cutting action comes from contact of the two blades and not the blade against the skin. For this reason, some poskim (Jewish legal deciders) rule that Orthodox Jews may use electric razors to remain clean-shaven, as such shavers cut by trapping the hair between the blades and the metal grating, halakhically a scissorlike action. Other poskim like Zokon Yisrael KiHilchso, maintain that electric shavers constitute a razor-style action and consequently prohibit their use.

The ''Zohar'', one of the primary sources of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), attributes Sacred to the beard, specifying that hairs of the beard symbolize channels of subconscious holy energy that flows from above to the human soul. Therefore, most Hasidic Jews, for whom Kabbalah plays an important role in their religious practice, traditionally do not remove or even trim their beards.

Traditional Jews refrain from shaving, trimming the beard, and haircuts during certain times of the year like Passover, Sukkot, the Counting of the Omer and the Three Weeks. Cutting the hair is also restricted during the 30-day mourning period after the death of a close relative, known in Hebrew as the ''Shloshim'' (thirty).

Sikhism

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, commanded the Sikhs to maintain unshorn hair, recognizing it as a necessary adornment of the body by Almighty God as well as a mandatory Article of Faith. Sikhs consider the beard to be part of the nobility and dignity of their manhood. Sikhs also refrain from cutting their hair and beards out of respect for the God-given form. Kesh, uncut hair, is one of the Five Ks, five compulsory articles of faith for a baptized Sikh. As such, a Sikh man is easily identified by his turban and uncut hair and beard.

Rastafari Movement

Male Rastafarians wear beards in conformity with injunctions given in the Bible, such as Leviticus 21:5, which reads "They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh." The beard is a symbol of the covenant between God (Jah or Jehovah in Rastafari usage) and his people.

Buddhism

Buddhist monks shave both their scalp and facial hair, as part of Pabbajja.

Modern prohibition

Civilian prohibitions

Professional airline pilots are required to be shaven to facilitate a tight seal with auxiliary oxygen masks. However, some airlines have recently lifted such bans in light of modern studies. Similarly, firefighters may also be prohibited from full beards to obtain a proper seal with SCBA equipment. Other jobs may prohibit beards as necessary to wear masks or respirators.

Isezaki city in Gunma prefecture, Japan, decided to ban beards for male municipal employees on 19 May 2010.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has found requiring shaving to be discriminatory.

Sports

The International Boxing Association prohibits the wearing of beards by amateur boxers, although the Amateur Boxing Association of England allows exceptions for Sikh men, on condition that the beard be covered with a fine net.

The Cincinnati Reds baseball team had a longstanding enforced policy where all players had to be completely clean-shaven (no beards, long sideburns or moustaches). However, this policy was abolished following the sale of the team by Marge Schott in 1999.

Under owner George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees baseball team had a strict appearance policy that prohibited long hair and facial hair below the lip; the regulation was continued under Hank and Hal Steinbrenner when control of the Yankees was transferred to them after the . Willie Randolph and Joe Girardi, both former Yankee assistant coaches, adopted a similar clean-shaven policy for their ballclubs: the New York Mets and Miami Marlins, respectively. Fredi Gonzalez, who replaced Girardi as the Marlins' manager, dropped that policy when he took over after the 2006 season.

The Playoff beard is a tradition common with teams in the National Hockey League, and now in other leagues where players allow their beards to grow from the beginning of the playoff season until the playoffs are over for their team.

In 2008, some members of the Tyrone Gaelic football team vowed not to shave until the end of the season. They went on to win the All-Ireland football championship, some of them sporting impressive beards by that stage.

Canadian Rugby Union flanker Adam Kleeberger attracted much media attention before, during, and after the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Kleeberger was known, alongside teammates Jebb Sinclair and Hubert Buydens as one of "the beardoes". Fans in the stands could often be seen wearing fake beards and "fear the beard" became a popular expression during the team's run in the competition. Kleeberger, who became one of Canada's star players in the tournament, later used the publicity surrounding his beard to raise awareness for two causes; Christchurch earthquake relief efforts and prostate cancer. As part of this fundraising, his beard was shaved off by television personality Rick Mercer and aired on national television. The "Fear the Beard" expression was coined by the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder fans and was previously used by Houston Rockets fans to support James Harden.

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Brian Wilson, who claims not to have shaved since the 2010 All-Star Game, has grown a big beard that has become popular in MLB and with its fans. MLB Fan Cave presented a "Journey Inside Brian Wilson's Beard", which was an interactive screenshot of Wilson's beard, where one can click on different sections to see various fictional activities performed by small "residents" of the beard. The hosts on sports show sometimes wear replica beards, and the Giants gave them away to fans as a promo.

The 2013 Boston Red Sox featured at least 12 players with varying degrees of facial hair, ranging from the closely trimmed beard of slugger David Ortiz to the long shaggy looks of Jonny Gomes and Mike Napoli. The Red Sox used their beards as a marketing tool, offering a Dollar Beard Night, where all fans with beards (real or fake) could buy a ticket for $1.00; and also as means of fostering team camaraderie.

Beards have also become a source of competition between athletes. Examples of athlete "beard-offs" include NBA players DeShawn Stevenson and Drew Gooden in 2008, and WWE wrestler Daniel Bryan and Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick in 2013.

Armed forces

Depending on the country and period, facial hair was either prohibited in the army or an integral part of the uniform.

In animals

The term "beard" is also used for a collection of stiff, hairlike feathers on the centre of the breast of turkeys. Normally, the turkey's beard remains flat and may be hidden under other feathers, but when the bird is displaying, the beard becomes erect and protrudes several centimetres from the breast.

Many goats possess a beard. The orangutan also possesses a beard.

Several animals are termed "bearded" as part of their common name. Sometimes a beard of hair on the chin or face is prominent but for some others, "beard" may refer to a pattern or colouring of the pelage reminiscent of a beard.
*Bearded barbet
*Bearded Collie
*Bearded dragon
*Bornean bearded pig, Bearded pig
*Bearded reedling
*Bearded saki
*Bearded seal
*Bearded vulture
*Bearded woodpecker

See also

* Barbatus (disambiguation), a common Latin name, meaning "bearded"
* Beard Liberation Front
* Joseph Palmer (communard) defended himself from being forcibly shaved in 1830
* The Beards (Australian band)
* World Beard and Moustache Championships
* Shaving

Notes

References

Further reading

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* (reprinted 2014 by the British Library, )
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* (alternative title: ''Beards: an "omnium gatherum"'')
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External links

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