Beard: Encyclopedia - Beard

Beard

A beard is the hair that grows on a man's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip (the opposite is a clean-shaven face). When differentiating between upper and lower facial hair, a beard specifically refers to the facial hair on the lower part of a man's chin (excluding the moustache, which refers to hair on the upper lip).

In the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom, sexual potency, or high status, but also a lack of cleanliness and refinement, or an eccentric disposition.

Beard - History

Beard - The Ancient and Classical world

Ancient Egyptians associated facial hair with mourning. With the exception of a pencil-thin moustache or goatees, they generally found beards unattractive.

The nations in the east generally treated their beards with great care and veneration, and the punishment for licentiousness and adultery was to have the beard of the offending parties publicly cut off. They had such a sacred regard for the preservation of their beards that a man might pledge it for the payment of a debt.

The Persians are fond of long beards. We read in Olearius' Travels of a king of Persia who had commanded his steward's head to be cut off, and on its being brought to him, he remarked, "what a pity it was, that a man possessing such fine mustachios, should have been executed," but added he, "Ah! it was your own fault."

When Alexander the Great was going to fight against the Persians, one of his officers brought him word that all was ready for battle, and demanded if he required anything further. On which Alexander replied, "nothing but that the Macedonians cut off their beards, for there is not a better handle to take a man by than the beard." This shows Alexander intended close fighting. Shaving was not introduced among the Romans until late. Pliny tells us that P. Ticinius was the first who brought a barber to Rome, which was in the 454th year from the building of the city. Scipio Africanus was the first among the Romans who shaved his beard, and the Emperor Hadrian (says Dion) was the first of all the Caesars who nourished his beard.

It was a custom among the Romans to consecrate the first growth of their beard to some god; thus Nero at the Gynick games, which he exhibited in the Septa, cut off the first growth of his beard, which he placed in a golden box, adorned with pearls, and then consecrated it in the Capitol to Jupiter.

For the Romans a bearded man was a proverbial expression for a man of virtue and simplicity. Roman servants or slaves were not allowed to pull their hair, or shave their beards.

During grief and mourning a Roman would let his hair and beard grow (Livy), while the Greeks on the contrary used to cut off their hair and shave their beards on such occasions (Seneca)

This custom probably possibly led to a tradition in England of widows concealing their hair for a stated period after the death of their husbands. We know of more than one instance of a widow closely cutting off her hair, but these sorrowful observances are becoming less and less frequent.

Among the Catti, a German tribe (perhaps the Chatten), a young man was not allowed to shave or cut his hair till he had slain an enemy (Tacitus). The Lombards or Longobards, derived their Fame from the great length of their beards. When Otho the Great used to speak anything serious, he swore by his beard, which covered his breast.

Beard - From the Renaissance to the present day

In the 15th century, the beard was worn long. Clergymen in 16th century England were usually clean shaven to indicate their celibacy. When a priest became convinced of the doctrines of the reformation he would often signal this by allowing his beard to grow, showing that he rejected the tradition of the church and perhaps also its stance on clerical celibacy. The longer the beard, the more striking the statement. Sixteenth century beards were therefore suffered to grow to an amazing length, (see the portraits of Bishop Gardiner and Thomas Cranmer).

Strangely, this trend was especially marked during Queen Mary's reign, a time of reaction against protestant reform (Cardinal Pole's beard is a good example). At this time the beard was very often made use of as a tooth-pick case. Brantome tells us that Admiral Coligny wore his tooth-pick in his beard. Queen Elizabeth I, succeeding Mary, is said to have disliked beards and therefore established a tax on them.

In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporary Western Europe.

Beard - Modern attitudes in America

Up to and following the American Civil War, many famous heros and General officers had distinguished beards. Following World War I, beards fell out of vogue. There are several theories as to why the military began shaving beards.

1. When World War I broke out in the 1910s, the use of chemical weapons necessitated that soldiers shave their beards so that gas masks could seal over their faces.
2. The enlistment of military recruits for World War I in 1914 precipitated a major migration of men from rural to urban locales. This was the largest such migration that had ever occurred in the United States up to that time. The rural lives of some of these bearded men included the "Saturday Night bath" as a reality rather than as a humourism. The sudden concentration of recruits in crowded army induction centers brought with it disease, including head lice. Remedial action was taken by immediately shaving the faces and cutting the hair of all inductees upon their arrival.

When the war concluded in 1918 the "Dough Boys" returned to a hero's welcome. During this time period the Film Industry was coming into its own and "going to the movies" became an extremely popular pastime. Due to the recent Armistice many of the films had themes related to World War I. These popular films featured actors who portrayed soldiers with their clean shaven faces and "crew cuts". Concurrently, "Madison Avenue's" psychological mass marketing was becoming prevalent. The Gillette Safety Razor Company was one of these marketers' early clients. These events conspired to popularize short hair and clean shaven faces as the only acceptable style for decades to come. It has been noted that there is a close and consistent association of long standing in American film between facial hair and role -- if one lead male character has more facial hair than another, he is far more likely to be the antagonist, and the man with less (or no) facial hair the protagonist.

From the 1920s to the 1960s, beards were virtually forbidden in mainstream America. The few men who wore beards during this period were either old, Central Europeans in academia, or part of the counterculture, such as the "beatniks". Even today there is some degree of prejudice against beards and against men who wear beards, although it is much less serious than it once was; beards are normally much more accepted in the Western world than they once were.

Following the Vietnam War, beards exploded in popularity. In the 1970s, beards were worn by hippies and businessmen alike. Popular rock and folk musicians like The Beatles, and the male members of Peter, Paul, and Mary wore full beards. The trend of seemingly ubiquitous beards in American culture subsided in the mid 1980s.

Beard - Beards in Religion

Beards also play an important role in some religions.

The Jews thought it ignominious to lose their beards (Bible: 2 Samuels ch. 10, verse 4).Leviticus 19:27 states that "Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." Talmudic rabbis understood this to mean only that one should not shave their beard with a razor with a single blade. Because scissors have two blades, rabbinic law permits their use to trim the beard. For this reason, many Jews also use electric razors, which may have two or more blades. Despite this apparent leniency, Torah Law also prohibits cutting the beard close to the skin with a scissor, only that if someone shaves with a scissor he is exempt from punishment (Rambam's Mishne Torah, Laws of Idolatry, 12:8). The minimum length of the beard is devired from Laws of Nazirites, where it states that "ke'en ta'ar" is as long as one can fold the hairs from tip to root. Other later codifiers disagree with Maimonides on this matter; however, the lenient view that scissors down to the bare skin are permitted has no basis in any of the Tannaitic and Amoraitic writings.

Judaism's traditions have influenced other Abrahamic religions. In Eastern Christianity, beards are often worn by members of the priesthood, and at times have been required for all believers - see Old Believers. Amish and Hutterite men shave until they are married, then grow a beard and are never thereafter without one, although it is a particular form of a beard (see Visual markers of marital status). Many devout Muslims also grow their facial hair, in emulation of the Prophet Muhammad.

In Greek mythology and art Zeus and Poseidon are always portrayed with beards, but Apollo never is. A bearded Hermes was replaced with the more familiar beardless youth in the 5th century. Sikhs do not remove a single hair from their body.

Very long full white beards have now been ubiquitously associated with wizards. Such wizard examples as Merlin of the famous King Arthur tale, and Gandalf of the famed Lord of the Rings paved the stereotype of the old wizard with the long white beard.

Beard - Early Christian attitudes

• St Clement of Alexandria
  • "The hair of the chin showed him to be a man." St Clement of Alexandria (c.195, E), 2.271

• • "How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them!…For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest--a sign of strength and rule." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.275

• • “This, then, is the mark of the man, the beard. By this, he is seen to be a man. It is older than Eve. It is the token of the superior nature….It is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.276

• • "It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble adornment." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.277

• St Cyprian
  • "In their manners, there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced." St Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.438

• • "The beard must not be plucked. 'You will not deface the figure of your beard'." [Lev 19:32] St. Cyprian, 5.553

• Lactantius
  • "The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength." Lactantius (c. 304-314, W), 7.288

• Apostolic Constitutions
  • "Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, “You will not deface your beards.” For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c.390, E) 7.392. (1)

Beard - Modern prohibition of beards

Beard - Sport

Today, for practical reasons (with some exceptions), it is illegal for boxers to have beards.

Beard - The Armed Forces

Many armed forces still prohibit beards for reasons of hygiene, discipline, or tactical demands (such as the proper fitting and seal of a gas mask); they may also be permitted for cultural, religious, or traditional reasons. In the British Army, a moustache is permitted for those over the rank of Sergeant (non-commissioned officers) and Major (Commissioned Officers)

The Canadian Forces permits moustaches, provided they are neatly trimmed and do not pass beyond the corners of the mouth; an exception to this is the handlebar moustache, which is permitted. Generally speaking, beards are not permitted to CF personnel with the following exceptions:

• members wearing the naval uniform (tradition)
• members of an infantry pioneer platoon (tradition)
• Sikhs (religious requirement)
• Orthodox Jews (religious requirement)
• members with a medical condition which precludes shaving

These exceptions notwithstanding, in no case is a beard permitted without a moustache, and only full beards may be worn (not goatees, van dykes, etc).

Personnel with beards may still be required to modify or shave off the beard, as environmental or tactical circumstances dictate (e.g. to facilitate the wearing of a gas mask).

According to the regulations of the Israel Defense Forces, it is prohibited to grow a moustache or beard, except under one of the following circumstances:

• The soldier is a practicing Orthodox Jew and requests to grow a beard for religious reasons.
• The soldier requires a beard for medical reasons; this claim must be accompanied by medical documentation specifying the period of time during which his beard is medically necessary.
• The soldier attains express permission to grow his beard from a high-ranking officer.
• The soldier already has a beard upon his enlistment and requests to continue growing it.
• The soldier is on permanent service (beyond the national service requirement).

If a soldier has obtained permission to grow a beard, the beard must either be:

• A full beard - one that extends from the sideburns to the chin on both sides of the face.
• A goatee - starting from the middle of the face on both sides and extending to the chin, including a moustache.

The Spanish Legion allows beards to be grown.

In the United Kingdom, the Royal Navy allows "full sets" (beards and moustaches together) but not beards or moustaches alone. The other British armed services allow moustaches only. Exceptions are beards grown for religious reasons (usually by Sikhs), though in the event of conflict in which the use of chemical or biological weapons is likely, they may be required to shave a strip around the seal of a respirator. Beards are also permitted for medical reasons, such as temporary skin irritations, or by infantry pioneer warrant officers, colour sergeants and sergeants, who traditionally wear beards. Any style of facial hair is allowed in British police forces as long as it is neatly trimmed.

The U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps justify banning beards on the basis of both hygiene and of the necessity for a good seal with gas masks. The U.S. Navy did allow beards for a time in the 1970s and 1980s, but subsequently banned them again. The vast majority of police forces across the United States still ban beards. However, moustaches are generally allowed in both the military and police forces. U.S. Army Special Forces have been allowed to wear beards in Afghanistan in order to fit in with the indigenous population better.

Beard - Sayings about beards

• "There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women, and I am neither one".
  —Greek saying.

Beard - Beard styles

Beard hair is most commonly removed by shaving. If only the area above the upper lip is left unshaven, the resulting facial hairstyle is known as a moustache; if hair is left only on the chin, the style is a goatee. It is decidedly less common to see a beard or goatee without a corresponding moustache.

• Full - downward flowing beard with either styled or integrated moustache
• Chinstrap - a beard with long side burns then comes forward and end under the chin resembling a chinstrap, hence the name.
• Goatee - a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin, in some cases resembling that of a billy goat
• Garibaldi - wide, full beard with rounded bottom and integrated moustache
• Royale (or impériale) - is a tuft of hair under the lower lip. This is also known as a "soul patch" or "flavor saver"
• Van Dyck - a goatee accompanied by a moustache
• Verdi - short beard with rounded bottom and slightly shaven cheeks with prominent moustache

Beard - Reference

1. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, David W. Bercot, Editor, pg 66-67.

See also

• Facial hair
• Beards, moustaches and military styles: Military uniforms
• Removal/shaping of facial hair: Shaving, Clean-shaven, Barber
• Women and facial hair: Bearded women, Depilation

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Beard", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki