During the week, certain thoughts, words, ideas, etc., pop into my head. Most of these I let flitter away. Some, however, stay with me. Those I deem interesting enough, I Google to find out more.
This week's research topic is based on my quest for the answer of why men have beards.
Before revealing what my research turned up, let me tell you MY opinion...
Men have beards for a number of reasons:
Reason # 1 - it lets a prospective mate know you are, in fact, a man and not a boy who is likely not to be producing sperm yet.
Reason # 2 - the longer the beard, the longer the man has been alive. And that means he must be good at hunting. He would therefore make a good mate and produce good offspring.
Reason # 3 - beards grow because of testosterone, so having a good full beard indicates much testosterone so you are a manly man, woo-hoo.
Notice how these reason are all signs to let females know of your good breeding ability.
Picture the old wise man. Notice he has a beard. A lo-o-o-o-ong beard. Which even us guys take to mean he has been around for eons. That's often why he is wise (he has learned a lot). But he must be wise because he had to be wise to have survived for so long. Double whammy. He is wise because he is old; he is old because he is wise.
So what does the research reveal?
I'm glad you asked. It reveals some interesting stuff.
For instance: There is an African tale that women and men used to have beards, but because a woman did something "illegal" with her beard, the king commanded all women to have their beards removed. Here's the story for your enjoyment...
Long, long ago, women used to grow beards. Their beards were longer, thicker and more beautiful than those of men. They took great care of their beards. Some became so proud of them that they looked down on men, including their own brothers, fathers and husbands. One of the proudest was Nkemdiche. She and her three sisters were admired for their beauty, but especially for their beards.
Their city was ruled by a wealthy and good king named Enyi Mba. His favorite treasure was a gold ring. One day, one of his daughters saw that the servants were very busy and decided to help them by washing all the plates in the household herself. She picked them all up, not noticing that one of the plates had the ring on it, and took them down to a stream to wash. She never saw the ring slip off the plate into the stream. The rushing waters carried away the ring and soon a fish swallowed it.
Downstream, a boy was fishing. He caught enough fish that day to sell some and bring the rest home to his family. After he roasted a fish for himself, he cut it open and found the ring. Excited, he took the ring to town the next day and sold it to Nkemdiche, not knowing that the ring belonged to the king. Nkemdiche did, but was too proud and selfish to return it to its rightful owner. Instead she hid the ring inside her long, thick beard.
It was not long before the king discovered that his ring was missing. No one, including his daughter, had any idea what had happened. The news of the missing ring was announced throughout the kingdom. The little fisher-boy heard of it and realized whose ring he had found in the fish. Knowing that the king would not punish him for his ignorance, he ran to the king's servants and told them how he had found the ring and, not knowing whose it was, had sold it to a townswoman named Nkemdiche.
The king's servants searched everywhere for Nkemdiche, but no one knew where she was. Unable to find her, the king's servants suggested that he offer to marry any woman who could bring back his ring. Soon Nkemdiche came walking proudly into the king's presence.
"I know where the ring is," she announced. "I have it." And she pulled it from its hiding place in her beard. All the servants realized what she had done. The men-servants were shocked, but the women-servants, ever proud of their beards, were amused at how Nkemdiche had fooled the searchers.
The king sent all the women, including Nkemdiche, out of sight and hearing, and took counsel with the men-servants. They talked of how much contempt the women were showing them because of their beards, and how Nkemdiche had used hers to steal the ring.
At the end of the meeting, the king declared, "Let the beards of all the women be shaved. Let every bit be scraped from their faces, even the faces of my wife and daughters. For these beards are full of evil. We know of a paste that will arrest the growth of hair - let it be put on the jaws of all women, so that no girl or woman will ever again grow a beard to trouble men with."
Since then, women have not grown beards.
Well, as you can see, only an idiot would believe this. But hey, when science answers aren't known, a story like this can be accepted by people (remember, you believed in Santa once).
Another more scientific explanation goes like this: Estrogen (the dominant hormone in women) promotes head hair growth while restricting facial and body hair growth. Testosterone, on the other hand, promotes facial hair growth while slowing the development of hair on the head.
This could explain why women can find a bald man sexy. Because it is touching something intrinsic that says to the woman, "This man has high testosterone so is strong and fertile." And, because the baldness is progressive, it also indicates the man has been around for long enough for his hair to stop growing, thus he has the skills to survive so would be a good mate/provider.
In the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, there is a commandment not to shave the corners of the head. Much speculation as to the "why" of this. And some believe it relates to God's other "law" of not harvesting the corners of a field and leaving said corners to God. So maybe the Jewish God has a facial hair fetish? Or it indicates the men belong to God for they have not harvested their facial hair? Who knows?
Cats, it also seems according to
this study, really do not like men with long dark beards, are indifferent to men with short beards and are confused and/or disturbed by men with beards that are incomplete and to a lesser degree by men whose beards have missing parts.
Jehovahs Witnesses, also, it would seem, discourage beard wearing/growing without actually coming out and saying it. It is implied but not stated. As it is not specifically in any Watchtower literature, the assumption is that Joseph Rutherford, the second president of the Watchtower Society, was responsible for the beard phobia - maybe because beard wearing reminded him (and others) of the Watchtower's founder Charles Taze Russell, who sported a full beard. As with most modern-day businesses, when a new person comes in to replace an old person, everything the old person did or used to do is discarded and replaced by the new person's version instead. It would seem even the Jehovahs Witnesses are prone to this.
And just when you thought it was safe to go to your tiddly-winks support group, there comes the
National Association for the Promotion of Beards in Society (NAPBIS). Whose aim is to "Campaign for Fair Representation of Beards in Society." What the? What's next? Affirmative action for beard wearers?
Ever seen a fight break out in public involving a man with a beard? Could that mean that beard wearers are more-placid? Or maybe more intelligent as they never get into fights in the first place? Or maybe, those who shave are aware of all the time and money they have spent/wasted on a pointless activity and are mad as hell.
So there you have it: Beards have a reproductive function by means of being a silent communicator to let women know the man is fertile and a good likely provider.