Of all the tired arguments hauled out by beard critics, perhaps the most irritating is the assertion that a man with a beard is hiding behind it. Rather than serving as a cover behind which the sheepish may cower, a beard draws attention to its owner, making him stand out from the beardless crowd. For those who are shy and self-conscious, and those who are lacking in self-confidence, growing a beard requires genuine courage and determination. Growing a beard is the opposite of hiding.
Thought I had an original idea to post beards, until I googled it…. love your site.
You’re right! No one’s hiding…. even up here in Alaska, where long flowing beards are rampant, you gotta stop and appreciate and phat beard.
What better test of a sense of commitment could there be than growing a beard and sticking to the decision? Your curiosity about how it will look when fully realized has to overcome the initial jitters about its uncertain early stages. Your sense of purposiveness in being yourself, and having not the slightest need to conform, to please others, to blend in with the crowd, this has to be a powerful quality of character. And in the end beards ARE all about character. Very few dull men or weak men or average men have beards. Meanwhile, a beard–especially an oversize beard–has its external uses. No one can fail to pick you out in a crowded train station or hotel lobby when you’ve arranged to meet for the first time, and no one forgets what you look like you once they’ve met you.
Wow! Douglas, I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Quote:
“For those who are shy and self-conscious, and those who are lacking in self-confidence, growing a beard requires genuine courage and determination. Growing a beard is the opposite of hiding.”
And for those that lack these qualities, growing a beard will put them in you.
When I started growing my beard out for the first time I felt that everybody was staring at me and that I couldn’t hide or ‘blend in’ any more.
Now I could care less what people thought about me or my beard! Let’em stare.
I completely agree with what Cypher said. Although I’m not to the point where I could care less about what people thought, my confidence has grown exponentialy in relation to the growth of my beard. Growing a beard does take some courage, but man is it worth it!
Your right on. I live in the caribbean and many people ask me, “Why a beard, it is warm here?” Well, “Don’t you have hair on your head?”
I am not hiding anything, but maybe a double chin and I love my beard.
Yeah, I’ve heard the “hiding” line a few times. It’s a common piece of slander by people who want a quick shot of feeling powerful at someone else’s expense. It’s only a temporary feeling of power, especially after I tell them they were out of line!
How can we hide when we stick out in a crowd.
They are camelions … hiding behind conformity.
Steve:
Right. It’s also one of the lamest and most-worn-out jabs at beards that there is.
In order to hide behind something, you have to make something to hide behind. I am not making anything, I am simply letting that which is natural take place. I am putting down the blade, not picking up a mask. Not shaving is perfectly natural. Shaving is perfectly unnatural.
Growing a beard is better than shaving.
If you hide your face with something you are by default ‘masking’ therefore a beard is a form of masking so you are in effect ‘behind’ a beard, a beard although natural as Scott says does hide 30/40% of your face. Growing a beard is still and always will be a form of hiding your face, not necessarily mentally but physically.