Beards: Manly or Impossible.

[RoosterRedux]

I have had a big bushy gray beard for the last 6 months...my women friends like it (or so they say) and the rest of my friends seem to stand in awe.

It is certainly an expression of an inner self...but what is that inner self saying?

I have learned to groom this bush without the help of barber. I did go to a beard barber once, but he never asked me where I was headed re: my beard.

We need a thread here on FR about beards.

Folks who have never had one cannot know the joy...and the pain.

[RoosterRedux]

I shave my head and have done so for about 15 years.

Love it. It matches my personality (which is pretty much no nonsense).;-)

If I had known how much trouble hair is when I was young, I would have started shaving my head when I was in college. As my Mom used to say when I was a kid, some girls are gonna like you (and the way you look) and some aren't. Focus on the girls who like you and then you can just be yourself.

When I shave my head, I am being myself.

As to my beard, I have gotten a lot of positive comments (it's mostly silver...and very thick).

The comments I have gotten are not the ones I was shooting for.

I wanted comments like "hey, nice Viking beard."

Instead, I got comments (from girls) like "dignified, elegant."

Who the hell wants to be dignified or elegant.

Guys want to kick ass.

[Texan5]

Good example of who should be allowed to have a man-bun-guys like Toshiro Mifune...

MrT5 was career Army-he started going bald in his 40’s-when bald guys became sexy, he started shaving what was left off his head. When he retired from the Army and went to work as a civilian, he wore a neatly trimmed beard and mustache for awhile-his facial hair was still mostly black with only a little gray, but he decided he looked better clean shaven-he was right. He was always slim and fit, so he looked macho and fine bald...

[Bigg Red]

I seriously doubt you would be attracted to the type of women who would send such.

[amorphous]

Lol, yeah, you’re right about that! ;)

[rlmorel]

Yes, many of those career military folks get into the habit and keep their erect and trim appearance in their retired life. My dad was one of those as well.

Funny. It just gets so imbued in them. My dad just looked the part, he was called on every year to do Memorial and Veteran's Day speeches for the town. It was where he grew up, and as a reserve officer after WWII at the age of 21, he was the Post Commander for VFW in town. Sheesh. What was I doing at the age of 21...not that.

He still fit into his uniform perfectly. Here he was on Memorial day in 1995, when he caused a stir by saying (on the anniversary of the dropping of the the atomic bombs) that it was war, and if we had more, earlier, we should have dropped them! (The local papers did what the media does with those kinds of statements...

When my dad retired and we settled down and I made friends, they are all extremely intimidated by him (not because he was mean or wanted to be intimidating) but because he was so serious and quiet.

Rarely spoke.

All my friends, until the day he died referred to him not as "your dad" or anything like that...

They called him with obvious respect: "The Commander".

I loved it. They would call and say things like "Were you able to borrow The Commander's car?" (He drove an enormous, rust pitted and dented cream yellow 1973 Buick LeSabre that looked similar to the image below (with more rust pits and a few dents) and me and my friends were going to spray paint it haze gray, put navy-style numbers on the bow, paint a name in black on the stern, and affix a couple of cleats to each front fender...:)

We didn't, because we weren't 100% sure he would laugh...but it would have been an improvement, we thought!

I so wish we had done that...we still laugh at that memory now.

How I miss my dad.

[rlmorel]

I hear ya. I shaved just enough to keep from getting a real beard...usually once a week or so. Ugh. Don’t miss that scruffy feeling at all!

My poor wife, what she went through...:)

[TADSLOS]

😢🇺🇸

[Bigg Red]

Yeah, I am pretty sure there are some wacko women who are attracted to anyone who is famous. A guy on the street who looks just like one of those guys would not get their attention. Look at the famous murderers who get “fan” mail.

[entropy12]

Yes, and if I get those coarse beard hair longer than say 3 days growth, some on neck begin to curl back into the skin, causing those awful blisters you aptly described.

[entropy12]

I admire people like your dad who keep their shape till the end. Obesity is an epidemic in America. I am late 70’s and try to hit the gym 5-6 times every week, and I have no bend in my posture as well. Exercise is more important to me now than any medications, which luckily I need very very few.

[entropy12]

Prison residents get fan-mail only from wacko’s or losers. But famous men do get lots of women fans who are quite normal in many ways. It is the genes talking, when the stronger cave men were best bet to protect their progeny. Civilization is barely 5000 years old, while human genes go back million years or more. That is why the Paleo diet is better for us.

[rlmorel]

Absolutely, TADSLOS...

Absolutely...:)

[rlmorel]

Yeah. It’s hard. LOL, my dad was rarely seen without a cup of black coffee in one hand and a Pall Mall in the other. Heck, that was what eventually got him, but...a man’s gotta be true to himself.

The coffee and smoking did keep his weight down...and at 72 he was up in a hot attic with me wiring stuff, the sweat was pouring off me and I was miserable with all that damned blown in insulation, but...there he was, with no shirt, a pair of wire cutters in his hand, drops of sweat coming off his nose and eyebrows...humming softly as he always did when he was mentally engaged in a task...:)

Glad to hear you have been able to keep yourself in good shape which limits the meds you need. I admire that as well...I aspire to that!

[Bigg Red]

Cannot dispute your relating this to atavistic tendencies, but here is my opinion. Being attracted to a strong, alpha male is quite normal — this woman is. Contacting some man on TV in these times is not acceptable, and, at the very least, indicates a shallowness of character.

[Bethaneidh]

Well I don’t feel your pain, but I can imagine it. Glad you found a solution.

[rlmorel]

Boy, me too! Happy New Year to you and yours!

[GOP Poet]

I know so ;D and feel blessed to have once experienced and embraced the benefits. But alas. I also enjoy a clean shaven man. The good news is—men can shave :D or not :D.

[GOP Poet]

I know so ;D and feel blessed to have once experienced and embraced the benefits. But alas. I also enjoy a clean shaven man. The good news is—men can shave :D or not :D.

[Bethaneidh]

Combovers are not horrible, but they do sort of look like cheap toupes.