3D

Wearing beard — fashion or exception in a modern city?
Before leaving to the Crimea I decided to grow a beard. I thought it would make the luggage smaller, and the expenses would not be so visible. I had a great rest, came home and realized that I didn’t want to shave it off. What’s that? Manly laziness or maturity, eagerness or a chance to change one’s life?

A beard is hair covering chin, cheeks and the front part of neck. Men tend to get it during the puberty period, women sometimes have it, but it’s an exception. Castrates do not have it at all. In some tribes men do not wear beard, or do wear a small one (as it grows badly) — e.g. redskins and Mongols.

Documentary history of west-European countries allows us to see the process of men’s appearance standards alternation. At late Middle-Ages and early Renaissance (XIV—XV centuries) an ideal man was that looking like a youth, so men’s faces were shaved. Later on (from 1500 to late Renaissance in 1620) most men had thick beards and long moustache. When baroque époque started (in 1620) beard went out of fashion, and in 1680 moustache also disappeared. Till the middle of the XIX century a shaved men’s face was a specimen of ideal manly appearance. After the revolution of 1848 in Europe beard and moustache became a mass phenomenon. But starting with the second quarter of the XXth century the inverse process was noticed: one could see shaved faces more often.

The alternation of wearing and shaving off hair on faces is explained by changing the ideal of manly beauty. When the standard of a masculine man dominates, the époque is characterized by mass wearing beards and moustache — they are considered to be the most evident signs of manhood. When a momanlike man standard becomes popular, men’s faces become shaved, and sexual characters like hair are removed. Dominating trends are always typical for wide levels of the population — irrespective of their profession or social status. But there are always some strata of society who stay independent and devoted to their appearance traditions.

In the East beard is a symbol of wisdom. Antique philosophers wore beard as their professional sign. The longer their beard was, the brighter their mind was considered to be. Also, beard was the indication of man’s primogeniture, power and maturity. All saint aged men wore beards. Those who had state power in the Middle East, used false ones. They underlined that lion as a king of all animals also wears beard. The Arabs still respect beard and take care of it. They swear by the beard and in order to express the best wishes to a guest or a friend, they say: «Let Allah save your beard!». They often tell a story about an Arab who was wounded in the chin. He said he would rather risk his life than let his beard be shaved off just to witness the wound. In Eastern countries grey beard is still considered to be a sign of wisdom, age and honorable old age.

The Korean dragon is one of mythological snake’s varieties. It’s associated with Korean mythology, but unlike many of the dragons in other cultures it does not have wings, but has a very long beard.

Wearing beard in Russia was traditional according to many customs and religious rules. They were registered in The Kormchaia Kniga, the Nomocanon and the provisions of the Council of the Hundred Chapters. The Russkaya Pravda fixed a very big fine of 12 hryvnyas to those who shaved beards or moustache. Those who killed a free person got a fine just three times bigger! Peter the Great made everyone to shave beards. But that was different from a traditional Orthodox view upon men’s beauty, that is why it caused mass protests.

Photo: Beard sign, 1705
Since 1699 men who wore beards had to pay fine, and those who did it regularly, got special coined money — as a beard sign.

The Emperor ordered “to take a census of all the male and female dissenters wherever they live and to set a double fine”. Those who tried to escape from census were prosecuted. Later on, they were made to pay double fine or condemned to penal servitude. Nevertheless, according to the edict, the Old Believers could live openly. They were prohibited to convert their people to dissidence. And dissenters were not admitted to public positions, their witness to “true believers” were not accepted. All the Old Believers had to wear a special dress which made them differ, and to pay fine if they wanted to wear beard. In XIV century beard became an obligatory attribute of one’s devotion to Slavophilism tradition. At first, Nicholas the First ordered Slavophil noblemen to shave their beards. Some of them won a right to wear it — after the Crimean war was over. The final beard “rehabilitation” in the upper classes of the Russian society deals with Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II époque.

In some countries beard is a symbol of mourning. They start growing it after some close people’s death. In the regions where rebel wars are held, those wearing beards are often suspected of being close to gunmen groups. According to esoteric version beard is a solar symbol. Since a woman is a symbol of the Moon, and a man symbolizes the Sun, a face with beard is alike radiant sun. A beard is also considered a sign of reclusion and contempt to high life. As some superstitions say, beard brings luck to its owner, that’s why they don’t recommend shaving it before some important events.

On finding out what is beard from the biological, historical and religious point of view, I decided to look at modern bearded men and ask them some questions.

The first person whom I interviewed was a parson from the church on Nemiga river.

I put several questions to archpriest Anatoly Kovalev and was surprised with his responsiveness.

A: Why do you wear beard?
A.A.: Because God gives beard to a man. It is natural, like all other things in the world. Of course, one should look after his beard.

According to Christian symbols, beard is a divine attribute, because God created man in his image and likeness. As time passed, beard started to mean belonging to the Russian Orthodoxy, as Protestants and Catholics usually shaved beards. But shaving beards in Orthodoxy was considered a sin. A fine for tearing out beard was four times as big as the one for injuries.
Shaving beards was condemned by several decrees in XVII century. There was a very popular parable about a goat that couldn’t stand his being shaved and jumped into a gulf. In the time of patriarch Ioachim those who shaved beards were forbidden to be buried together with orthodox people. They believed that God takes men to Heaven by their beards, and women by their plaits. So the absence of a beard was like a lost chance to be saved.

The Old Testament prohibits shaving beard: “Do not cut your hair off your head and do not spoil the edge of your beard”. Shaved beard symbolized the loss of one’s honor. In Christian anthropology God created people in his image and likeness, beard is one of the elements of man’s image, so the one shaving beard changes it counter to nature and to God also. The prohibition as for shaving beards was fixed in regulations of Saint Apostles.

From the priest’s speech I found out that the first attempts to shave beards off were taken before the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I have to note that archpriest Anatoly’s beard is well-groomed and can be compared to Vadim Prokopyev’s beard only.

It was an ordinary passerby whom I stooped the next and asked: “What does beard mean to a man?”.

A passerby Eugeny decided to grow a beard to “protect himself” from people, but he gained a converse effect. «They are coming up all the time — joking or with serious intentions» — he says. Thus, his beard helped him to be shot in a movie.

A: Eugeny, what is beard for a man?
E: For me it’s protection from bad people.
A: When did you decided to grow it?
E: 6 years ago.
A: How do you look after it?
E: I just don’t shave it off.

Man’s not so strong, but beard is long.
Beard does not make mind.
Chins without BEARDS deserve no honor.

A hurrying man was hard to talk to — just a couple of photos and… he was gone. The third experimental one is a student. Where to find a bright personality? In crowded places: underground, squares, avenues and (sure!) McDonald’s.

As I supposed, a zany student was stopped near McDonald’s.

A: Hi, what’s your name?
S: Hi, I’m Sergey.
A: When did you decide to grow a beard?
S: In the 10th form.
A: Wow! What did your parents think about it?
S: Mom took it right, Dad is still nervous about it.
A: What did teachers at school say?
S: (laughing) as my beard is red, they asked if I dyed it.
A: What after graduating? Will you shave it off before going to army?
S: I’m not going to army, so — no. Not to shave beard and hair is a question of principle to me.
A: Some variants to dodge the army?
S: Yeah, will try to.

Alexander the Great ordered his soldiers to shave their beards off, so that no enemy could catch them by the beard.
Cuban Rebellions headed by Fidel Castro fighting against Batista’s regime, were known as “barbudos” — bearded.

As for glamorous beards, I decided to ask a famous restaurateur in Minsk Vadim Prokopyev.

As it turned out, having a stylish beard is not so hard, one just needs a trimmer.

Vadim is lazy about changing his beard style, but keeping it neat is his first duty. When I started telling about salons where beards are brushed with a special comb, washed with shampoo and plunged into aroma baths, he didn’t even listen to me saying: “A man should not pay too much attention to his appearance. Those who do are either narcissists or … you know”…And I agree — there should be some reason and limits — in everything.

A: Why do you wear beard?
V.P.: I have never thought it over.
A: Does beard oblige to wear a certain suit?
V.P.: No, it’s about everyone’s privacy.
A.: Do you have many bearded clients?
V.P.: There are enough.

As for a statement «Beard does not make success» – he refused to comment it.

Further communication with people failed. The Chief of the Suvorov Military School refused to answer the questions, and people in the Ministry of Defense press-centre are always too busy. I waited for Lyapis Trubetskoy’s answer for several weeks, but then it turned out that he did not like talking about his appearance. Sergey Dorofeev (ONT channel) is always on move, “lazy” media-centre did not give any assistance. But I managed to visit barber’s shops.

The first one “Valentina” is situated in the centre, I had been there before that visit. It turned out that only one master deals with bearded men, and he was away on holiday. The second one was wedding salon, next to the registry office. They were shy to be interviewed, but I knew the price — it was about 10 thousand rubles. Not too much, but not too little. But in the soviet-type “Vostok” salon (there are plenty of them in the city) cutting a beard costs 1200 rub. In the evening I managed to find a salon where they trimmed my beard for 4500 rub. I was shocked. First — a man did it. In common salons I have never seen male masters. Second, his arms smelled cigarettes. Third, he was taunting my beard — no baths, shampoos, brushes…
Well, at least I have Internet…

Haircut. Barbers advise using three separate machines: the first one for shaving, the second one for moustache, the third one only for beard. They differ at the width of the blade. Few people agree to spend so much at it, but many of them know what damage may clumsy arm’s motion cause.

7 in 1 set. Haircut, trimming the beard, moustache, temples, eyebrows, removing hair from nose and ears. “Create your personal style” — the producer’s motto says. Self-sharpening blade, 35 minutes of off-line working, hair length after cut — 2—18 mm.

Aromatherapy. Unfortunately, special tools for beard care are a true rarity. Besides, only a professional aroma-therapist can choose individual composition. A mix of chamomile, rose tree, ylang-ylang, lemon and labdanum gives a moistening effect. Aromatherapy is especially recommended to those who have dry hair and smokers — it helps to remove tobacco smell.

Dyeing. Long period of smoking cigarettes or pipe, natural vagueness of beard’s color — these are the reasons to make it one-color. It’s important that the color after dyeing would not differ more than one tone from the hair color. Besides, beard should be darker. Hair dye is not recommended — skin on your chin may suffer from it. One can do it using only special beard dye. The color should be refreshed at least once a week.

Plaits. It’s a delusion that plaits are made with own beard’s hair only. More often masters in the salon choose 10—20 cm hair and plait it into your 3-5 cm hair. Though it has just recently become fashionable, it’s already very popular with certain groups of stylish men. First of all, this plait attracts attention to your personality. Second, it gives a spicy similarity with a country goat (which is true happiness for a punk). The feeling of having a beard plait is fantastic. It’s winded on one’s finger in moments of reverie; it’s brushed, twitched and decorated with colored stripes.

In XIX among those wearing beard were the following personalities: Karl Marks, Victor Hugo, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Engels, Claude Monet, Giuseppe Verdi, Sigmund Freud, Rimsky-Korsakov, Lev Tolstoy. In XX – Nicholas II, Ernesto de Che Guevara, Fidel Castro.

Statistics. I put the same question to 180 women: What’s your attitude towards bearded men?

5	5	7	10	10	Marisha, 18 y.o. Sounds interesting. I guess I have no special feelings, beard does not influence my attitude towards a man. He must be kind – that’s it.




9	10

		15


			11	13	Marina, 25 y.o. My dad is a former serviceman. I got used to the fact a man must be shaved. Tasha, 23 y.o. I like them being shaved.



16
	15





			9
		8
				7	Stef, 51 y.o. I adore beard. Both of my husbands wore them. He can lack penis (sorry), but beard and intellect is enough for me.





18 y.o.	19—23 y.o.	24—30 y.o.	31—45 y.o.	45…

	— Neutral
	— Negative
	— Positive

I have to add only that in the Roman Empire shaved face symbolized a man’s being civilized and made him different from “wild” peoples. At the same time, The Barbados island means “bearded”. We can only guess what beard means at our time. A modern bearded man does not stand out against the crowd and does not have high authority as in religion — at least because it is not so fashionable nowadays. For a XXI century man beard is just a way to de different, but why — it‘s up to everyone.

What does your beard say?

men

а) Goal-oriented, intolerant to others, imperious and not to sympathetic.
б) Romantic, gourmet, able to be a good husband if his wife is not too exigent.
в) A man who can do much with his own hands, emotional, appreciates femininity in women.
г) Tender, emotional, sensitive, sentimental.
д) Life is theatre and we all are actors. Takes everything from life, but devoted to his wife.
е) Searches for a friend in his wife. Likes having rest in a close company. Always says what he thinks.
ё) Fast in thoughts and actions. His wife dominates in family life.

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