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听 听 听 听 听 听 We have been watching the Stanley Cup playoffs these past couple of weeks and part of the ritual for players is the playoff beard. It鈥檚 understandable that athletes don鈥檛 want to change anything that seems to be working in their favour and one of those practices is allowing one鈥檚 facial hair to be left untouched and untended. I get it鈥攖he longer the beard, the longer the playoff run, until hopefully the ultimate prize is achieved.
听听听听听听听听听听听 While some players adopt this ritual, they probably don鈥檛 even realize that historically beards were deemed to be a sign of masculinity and dominance of other males. Sporting a beard, particularly a rather fearsome one, was a warrior symbol. And believe me, some of those hockey games look like war on ice! But what about after the battle is done, what then Joe Thornton? How about a little trim so you don鈥檛 frighten small children when you walk down the street?
听听听听听听听听听听听 Beards have been around throughout history. Scientific studies claim that men grow beards to attract women, especially when there are fewer females in the marriage pool. Middle Eastern and Indian cultures see beards as a sign of wisdom and power. (The image of a man stroking his beard always seems to suggest thoughtfulness, but it could be very much like hair twirling鈥攋ust an absent-minded habit.)
In early times, a man鈥檚 profession鈥攕uch as bishop, judge, soldier, or even clown鈥� could be denoted by the cut of his beard. The beard was symbolic of the mountain man, but it was probably grown more for practical reasons than aesthetic ones. This is much like ranchers who often grow one to protect their faces in winter from the harsh elements.
William Shakespeare wrote about beards in several of his plays.
鈥淗e that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man,鈥� he wrote. But the bard also warned against 鈥渁 beard neglected鈥� and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing said, 鈥淟ord, I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face! I had rather lie in the woolen.鈥�
Many famous figures have sported a beard. I can鈥檛 even imagine Abe Lincoln without his chin whiskers, and Ernest Hemingway had a very sharp-looking beard in his twilight years. Country music artist Kenny Rogers has one of the most recognizable bearded faces in the business. Sean Connery (still my favourite James Bond character) has donned one of the sexiest beards around. And then there鈥檚 Santa Claus, that mythical figure with his perfect mythical beard.
听With all of these wonderful role models, I am at a loss to explain why some men have decided to grow their beards to the point of looking like Tom Hanks in his role for Cast Away. No doubt Duck Dynasty has had some influence on the current scraggly style that some men have adopted.
But I鈥檓 here to tell you that the burly, neglected look has very little appeal, particularly to women, and, frankly, has become rather boring. To the men out there who think they鈥檙e being trendy鈥攇o to a barbershop and get a trim. Believe me, you鈥檒l still turn heads, but in a good way.
I admire a nicely kept beard that suits the man, but whenever I see a scruffy, long mess of facial hair, all I can think of is a limerick by Edward Lear that I learned as a child.
鈥淭here was an old man with a beard,
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲ho said, 鈥業t is just as I feared!
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥溾�楾wo owls and a hen
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥溾�楩our larks and a wren
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥溾�楬ave all built their nests in my beard.鈥欌�澨�
