Is this just something men DO?

Mystic Blossom · Jul 15, 2008

So my ex boyfriend (also a very close friend) is growing a beard. I haven't seen it yet as he lives across the pond, but I will apparently get to see it when I see him in October. And yay, whoop dee do. Facial hair. At least, that's what it is to me. But ever since he started growing it, every conversation goes like this:

Me: How was your day?
Him: Well, my beard is excellent

Me: But what about you?
Him: Oh, I'm great.
Me: That's good.
Him: It's because I've been getting so many compliments about my beard.

And I thought he was just being him, until I was browsing the archives of the online comic Penny Arcade and found this.

So I ask you, men of the world and women who know men better than I, do all men love their facial hair more than themselves? Should I worry that one day, his beard will become a powerful force that will control his every move? Is it doing that already?

I'm so bored at work, if you couldn't tell.

Seaclusion · Jul 15, 2008

I've had my beard for 31 years now. Longer than any other relationship (except mom of course) I've had. I've grown quite attached to it and it to me. It's a part of my personality and I wouldn't know how to act if it were not there.

Richard

Tink · Jul 15, 2008

Some women are lucky that they haven't seen beneath the beard on the man they have been with 30 yrs....

Edited because this is in no way a referance to Seaclusion. I am sure he looks just fine with or without his beard...and no, I am not sucking up. lol

MoonWriter · Jul 15, 2008

I'm not into facial hair. I've never had a beard and neither have any of the women I've dated.

(do your part to keep this world a better place, don't forget to double space.)

quickWit · Jul 15, 2008

My beard told me to tell you that beards are perfectly harmless and nothing to be concerned about.

Tink · Jul 15, 2008

quickWit said:
My beard told me to tell you that beards are perfectly harmless and nothing to be concerned about.

Unless of course you have crawly things living in there...

MoonWriter;2553825]I'm not into facial hair. I've never had a beard and neither have any of the women I've dated.

Jcomp · Jul 15, 2008

I don't know if it's just facial hair that men love more than themselves so much as it's any project that they're working on. Growing and grooming a beard is, I imagine, something of a project. Just like working out. Sometimes the project is yourself, or it's external, but whatever it is you want everyone to know that it's going great.

Xoote · Jul 15, 2008

i dont like facial hair and neither does my man... so thats a bonus

NeuroFizz · Jul 15, 2008

Hey, give us a little mirror time. It's the one way we can change our look without taking 45 minutes each morning brushing sh*t on our cheeks, forehead, nose and chin, smearning sh*t on our eyelids, brushing sh*t on our eyelashes (top and bottom), drawing a line of sh*t around our eyes, packing extra lotion-sh*t in all of the wrinkles around our eyes and on our foreheads, and putting an extra dab on that chin-zit, smearing sh*t on our lips then drawing darker sh*t around the smeared on lip-sh*t, and then slicing a line of sh*t where our cheekbones should be.

Men are so vain about their beards, aren't they?

dolores haze · Jul 15, 2008

I have never seen my husband's chin. I begin to suspect that he doesn't actually have one.

Robert Toy · Jul 15, 2008

Tink · Jul 15, 2008

NeuroFizz said:
Hey, give us a little mirror time. It's the one way we can change our look without taking 45 minutes each morning brushing sh*t on our cheeks, forehead, nose and chin, smearning sh*t on our eyelids, brushing sh*t on our eyelashes (top and bottom), drawing a line of sh*t around our eyes, packing extra lotion-sh*t in all of the wrinkles around our eyes and on our foreheads, and putting an extra dab on that chin-zit, smearing sh*t on our lips then drawing darker sh*t around the smeared on lip-sh*t, and then slicing a line of sh*t where our cheekbones should be.

You aren't alittle upset with the whole make-up routine sh*t thing, are you?

oarsman · Jul 15, 2008

I've grown a beard before and was told it made me looked 10 years older. I haven't grown it back since.

I have a friend who told me that he won't ever grow a beard again. He said he grew one once and women wouldn't leave him alone...like it was a curse or something.

rhymegirl · Jul 15, 2008

Well, it's like this...

My husband grows his beard mostly because I like it. He knows I like it. I think he looks good with a beard.

And then he shaves it off. (Because it gets itchy or he's just sick of it.) He just shaved it off on Sunday mostly because he's getting gray hairs in there and he wants to look younger.

Jersey Chick · Jul 15, 2008

My husband's tried to grow a beard and a 'stashe. But it doesn't work. There are patches just beneath his bottom lip, where hair just refuses to grow. And patches on the sides of his jaw as well. But, like he says, "When's the last time you saw a Cherokee with a full beard?"

Point taken right there...

NeuroFizz · Jul 15, 2008

Tink said:
You aren't alittle upset with the whole make-up routine sh*t thing, are you?

No, just thought it was ironic pointing out folly in men when they engage in a little face decorating.

At least a beard is a good flavor-saver, and it doubles as a useful tool in giving an all-over, beard-rub.

Stacia Kane · Jul 15, 2008

Jcomp said:
I don't know if it's just facial hair that men love more than themselves so much as it's any project that they're working on. Growing and grooming a beard is, I imagine, something of a project. Just like working out. Sometimes the project is yourself, or it's external, but whatever it is you want everyone to know that it's going great.

I agree, absolutely. My husband grows a beard when he's bored. Then he'll get sick of it and shave it off. Or he'll grow it because one of the kids asked him to and then will shave it when they're tired of it. But he loves talking about it and examining it. I like it once it's grown in (I like him bearded or not) but the in-between stage is too rough on my skin.

I also suspect it's got something to do with masculinity. I wouldn't go so far as to say a beard is a visible penis or anything, but not all men can grow a good beard. Some of them have patchy spots or the hair never grows in thick enough or whatever. So I would imagine men who can grow a nice beard feel a little smug. In a cute way.

There's a gentleman who has a son in my daughter's class at school; last year he grew an absolutely gorgeous beard. Very, very thick and dark. I admit I found it really attractive and found him more attractive as a result (all that testosterone!) I told him it was a nice beard one day too (without, of course, mentioning testosterone or virility; I believe my exact words were, "Hey, that's a nice beard!" His face lit up.)

SPMiller · Jul 15, 2008

I remember a pretty Indian girl from a year or so ago. After I kissed her, it went something like this...

Her: I've never kissed a man with facial hair before.
Me: Neither have I.
Her: [laughs]
Me: So how was it?

And I ain't sayin' what happened afterward.

I've only had my facial hair for, oh, seven years now. I'm not sure that I'll have it forever, but it's something I always wanted to do and I grew it as soon as I had the opportunity.

Seaclusion · Jul 15, 2008

SPMiller said:
I remember a pretty Indian girl from a year or so ago. After I kissed her, it went something like this...

Her: I've never kissed a man with facial hair before.
Me: Neither have I.
Her: [laughs]
Me: So how was it?

And I ain't sayin' what happened afterward.

I've only had my facial hair for, oh, seven years now. I'm not sure that I'll have it forever, but it's something I always wanted to do and I grew it as soon as I had the opportunity.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it goes. Some women really hate it, but most really like the wiskers.

Richard

Maryn · Jul 15, 2008

Jcomp said:
Growing and grooming a beard is, I imagine, something of a project. Just like working out. Sometimes the project is yourself, or it's external, but whatever it is you want everyone to know that it's going great.

That's exactly how it seems with men who are executing a change in their appearance.

Whether he's growing a beard, hitting the gym, or changing the way he dresses, it's pretty common for a guy to be able to talk of little else until the beard is grown, the body is toned, or the new look is complete.

Maryn, who's been through the facial hair thing with boyfriends, husband, and now son, who talked facial hair too much over the weekend

Tink · Jul 15, 2008

NeuroFizz said:
No, just thought it was ironic pointing out folly in men when they engage in a little face decorating.

At least a beard is a good flavor-saver

Click to expand...

,

and it doubles as a useful tool in giving an all-over, beard-rub.

Click to expand...

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 15, 2008

I grow mine on a whim. I shave it on a whim.

Some women get perms or dye their hair, I grow a beard.

It's not a permanent accessory.

And when I'm growing it I don't talk about it like it's a big deal, because it's not. In fact, when someone says, "Are you growing a beard," I say, "Maybe, how about them Brewers, huh? 3 All-Stars this year."

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Jul 15, 2008

MoonWriter said:
I'm not into facial hair. I've never had a beard and neither have any of the women I've dated.

They will, eventually. When they reach the right age.

Ol' Boy started growing a beard the day he and I had our first date. With the exception of an eight-year stint with a lumber company when beards were against company policy, he's always had one. And I've never seen him without his mustache, which (according to him) he started growing the instant he could do so as a young man).

A man without a beard is like a boiled egg without salt.

Seaclusion · Jul 15, 2008

Ol' Fashioned Girl said:
A man without a beard is like a boiled egg without salt.

Wouldn't that be a man without head hair?

Richard

Chameleon · Jul 15, 2008

Robert Toy said:

This is so fucking cute!

I don't know how I feel about full-grown beards. I used to be totally opposed to them (I keep thinking of living creatures and food in there). But now that I have seen some attractive guys sporting nicely maintained beards, I think they deserve a chance.

For the ladies who've never seen their men without beards...I don't know how you do it. I would make them shave it at least once...to see what's under there..lol

Is this just something men DO?

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