Alexey Emelyanov/Alamy
Pat French
Longdon-upon-Tern, Shropshire, UK
Homo sapiens are no different from any other mammal. Their likelihood of breeding success is indicated by signs of health, vigour and group status.
The human beard has evolved in the same way as a lion’s mane or a baboon’s bum: it is one of the indicators to a potential mate of an individual’s ability to produce, defend and support offspring.
This primeval messaging has long been used by cartoonists. Animated films transmit their story through easily inferred visual messages. The beard has been used in a number of them to indicate status and reliability. The lion’s mane is used similarly in the magnificence of King Richard’s “beard” in Disney’s Robin Hood. By contrast, the story’s antagonist, Prince John, is shown with minimal adornment to his chin. In the case of Popeye, the reverse indicates that our clean-shaven hero is clearly the underdog, until he realises the benefits of his plant-based diet.
Those who don’t shave know the beard still conveys its original message and is the first indicator of maturity. The earliest silver hair tends to appear in the beard.
Today, the more physical indications of the beard have been replaced by a search (by both sexes) for eternal youth in order to find a partner. By shaving off their beards, men are removing an obvious comparator of vigour, thereby avoiding competition. Further, they are rendering their face juvenile in the pursuit of youth.
Peter Bursztyn
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
I began shaving 66 years ago – a full wet shave with lather and safety razor. Start to finish, it took 10 minutes.
A few years later, at age 19, I graduated from university. In celebration, 10 of us took a two-week wilderness canoe trip well north of Montreal, during which I abandoned shaving.
Once I got home, I decided the reddish beard looked good and never shaved again. Saving those 10 minutes every day for 64 years (233,600 minutes) amounts to 3893 hours, or about 162 days.
Of course, this isn’t pure “profit”. Every four weeks or so (13 times a year), I tidy my beard with an electric trimmer. This is quick, taking just 3 minutes, so 39 minutes annually.
Multiplied by 64 years, this comes to 41.6 hours – less than two days for a net saving of 160 days. I don’t know of any evolutionary implications, but it is a positive entry in life’s account ledger.
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