Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

A Trimless Trend

Martin Bodger

HISTORICAL:

BEHIND THE BEWHISKERED:

Contents Introduction

5

The Amish

11

Grace Bedell & Abraham Lincoln

15

Russian Beard Tax

22

The Bears and the Beards

26

Dihydrotestosterone

33

Interviews

37

Trev Packer

50

David Dade

56

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival 2014

79

Challenging the overall outlook on Facial Hair

99

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Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

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INTRODUCTION Beards, a man’s most personal possession as stated in the slogan for The British Beard Club, and that couldn’t be truer. Throughout history they have provided men with courage, warmth, sex appeal and the ability to express who they are, but not without coming under scrutiny from those who don’t share similar ideals of what a man should look like.

~5~

I have done the research, collated the history, facts and been on a journey of my own to discover everything I can about the beard and how it has invented its own culture as it slowly recovers from a long silence of oppression among the bearers.

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend “I met this brilliantly bearded Gentleman at the Yorkshire Beard Festival in Scarborough, he was manning the T-Shirt stall, wish I could’ve got one now.”

~6~

Introduction

“A Beard is a man’s most Personal Posession” - TBBC Slogan

This book is dedicated to the Men and Women of the world who share an all around love for the grizzly man, this book is dedicated to all those as well who were kind enough to take part in this project as I present to you, everything about this one thing.

A man’s most personal possession,

~7~

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BEA

TH

~8~

~9~ Introduction

ARD HE

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~ 10 ~

HISTORICAL:

The Amish

The Old Dutch style (Beard with no Moustache) adopted

by Amish men stemmed back to the early days of when wearing a Moustache was common among those in the military. Amish being a Pacifist Group didn’t want to associate themselves with any form of Militant Style or those who would wage war and so this led to the culture strictly forbidding residents of the community from growing Moustaches.

~ 11 ~

Very few men in the Western World even considered growing Moustaches but the tradition of the bald lip remains strong in the Old Order Amish people which number to around 200,000 in North America.

Beards are practically the essential requirement of

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

being Amish due to its ties of the depictions of Men in the bible, but not all Amish men are traditionally permitted to grow beards.

~ 12 ~

The Amish

Once a man has married, only then will he be permitted to stop shaving his beard and allow it to flourish to however long it can grow.

~ 13 ~

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HISTORICAL:

Grace Bedell & Abraham Lincoln During the Fall of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was in the works to becoming the next President of the United States, but before that eventuality came to fruition a young 11 year old girl by the

name of Grace Bedell sent an adorable letter to the soon to be president saying he should grow a Beard because “All the ladies like whiskers!�

~ 15 ~

Hon A B Lincoln...

Dear Sir My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin's. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are.

Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brother's and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband's to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try to get everyone to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chatauque County New York.

I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye Grace Bedell

~ 16 ~

~ 17 ~ Grace Bedell & Abraham Lincoln

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Grace’s endearing letter caught the eyes of Abraham and he made sure she got a reply. ~ 18 ~

My dear little Miss Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received - I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters - I have three sons - one seventeen, one nine, and one seven years of age They, with their mother, constitute my whole family - As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affection if I were to begin it now?

Your very sincere well wisher A. Lincoln

~ 19 ~

Grace Bedell & Abraham Lincoln

Miss Grace Bedell

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In 1999, the very same place where Grace and Abraham met, 2 statues of them were erected in their honor in Westfield, New York.

This statue not only commemorates a moment in history where a great president would carry on to end slavery, but also a momentous occasion showing the origins of the iconic Lincoln Beard and it is all thanks to a little girls letter.

Lincoln wore his beard proud for the remainder of his life before eventually passing away in 1936.

The train that took him to the station where he met Grace carried him back the same way.

A final farewell to a brilliantly bearded Man and Leader.

~ 20 ~

~ 21 ~ Grace Bedell & Abraham Lincoln

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~ 22 ~

HISTORICAL:

Russian Beard Tax September 5th 1698, A Russian Tsar (Tsar meaning Monarch or Supreme Ruler) by the name of Peter the Great was responsible for forcibly snipping men of their beards as a form of extreme make over since most European men were clean shaven.

However an overwhelming response of men were desperate

to keep their beards and following this he instigating a tax which insisted that any bearded man must pay a fee of 100 roubles annually. Those who had paid the tax were permitted to keep their beard under the conditions of the annual payment.

~ 23 ~ A History: Russian Beard Tax

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Following this they were presented with a copper token which depicted the shapes of a facial hair symbol, indicating that the tax had been paid.

The token also proclaimed “The Beard is a useless Burden�, as an attempt to slowly bleed beards out of his society he was trying to change.

~ 24 ~

Russian Beard Taxv

The only people with beards who were able to avoid these 100 Annual Roubles fees (Which was considered a small fortune in those years) were those of Religious Orthodox. The law on wearing Beards and Beard Tax was finally abolished in 1772.

~ 25 ~

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Beards and Sex Appeal, yes it’s true a lot of people find beards to be the damndest of all sexiest things on this planet, grabbing that tuft of hair and...

Actually I probably shouldn’t go into the nitty gritty of it actually, let’s keep it PG. The LGBT communities have a sub group of men called Bears, muscular or large men who are

of the harier variety, and that includes being heavily bearded!

So I posted a picture on one of the LGBT Bear groups and simply asked what do the men of the group find sexiest about beards, the answers were pretty basic if not somewhat amusing but it goes to show that just about anything can be considered a turn on for any number of people.

~ 27 ~

The Bears and the Beards

The Bears and the Beards

Bob Smash

One sentence. Beards are sexy because beards are manly. Plus every girl wants a man just like daddy only not exactly like him because eew.

Aaron S. Cohn Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

I grew mine following the end of a long-term relationship with a guy who liked me clean-shaven.

After I grew it and shaved my head, I got tons of compliments and people saying I looked much younger, which was surprising! The beard frames and gives character to my round babyface.

Cory Fee

Beards and facial hair represents masculinity in a very physical manner that few other traits can even come close to. Of course, being a gay man I am very attracted to masculinity both as a projection of physical traits and one's mannerisms, so both are quite important in the overall determinable of sexiness, but the beard is one of the simplest forms of passive declaration of one's masculinity to the outside world.

Being one with the beard is being one with both your inner and outer manhood.

~ 28 ~

As to why, maybe it has something to do with an attraction to masculinity. There's also the fact I almost never saw a beard as a child, because I grew up in a military environment (which is also why I'm NOT into uniforms - they were routine and had no fetish quality...). My Grade Six teacher was probably the first man I can remember who had a beard (my uncle lived on the other side of Canada, so I didn't see him much). I used to stay after class to clean the boards and erasers - and I'm allergic to chalk! I still owe him a copy of my first book (got published in 2012 in a poetry anthology) must try and find him...

James Vacca

I started growing facial hair as a way to hide my double chin and as a small act of rebellion against my Jesuit highschool dress code. But I've always been attracted to men with beards; I think it definitely has to do with the masculinity that we usually associated with beards. I do dig some clean-shaven guys but generally I go for the fuzz

~ 29 ~

The Bears and the Beards

Tim Murphy

Nathan Krantis

I think it's simple. Beards are a mark of masculinity.

As someone who enjoy his men to be rather masculine it's an obvious draw for me. Another part of it stems from the contrast they provide, not just for myself but for those who grow them. Something about soft eyes and a grown in beard just melts me. I find them to be comforting, and in terms of texture they're wonderful on the fingers. In short. I love hair, in all its capacities.

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

To further expand on this: I, personally, am a huge fan of the “opposites attract” mentality. I’m a fairly normally sized guy with a medium amount of body hair. So I like guys who are larger than I (be it chub, or muscle, or a mix of both), also because of the ... intimidation I guess? I dunno it’s difficult to describe. I like a man to be a MAN. And I like girls who are pretty little flowers.

~ 30 ~

~ 31 ~ The Bears and the Beards

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SCIENTIFIC:

Dihydrotestosterone Dihydrotestosterone, (or DHT for short) is a male sex hormone that is responsible for Male Pattern Baldness and Bearding, it is synthesized in the Adrenal Glands, Hair follicles, Testes and Prostate by an Enzyme called 5a-reductase.

~ 33 ~

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DHT’s levels are affected by the seasons and changes in weather so if during the Summer you see a lot more bearded men well, then there’s the science for it.

So in theory, the more bearded a man is, the less hair he will have on his head. Male Pattern Baldness, also know as “Androgenic Alopecia” or “Androgenetic Alopecia” is caused by the hair follicles sensitivity to DHT, through this the follicles shrink from exposure and cause abnormal an shortened lifespan for the production of hair.

~ 34 ~

Dihydrotestosterone

Typical male pattern baldness in men begins above the temples and vertex, or calvaria of the scalp. As it progresses, a rim of hair at the sides and rear of the head remains effectively giving the person with the condition a free hairstyle!

This hairstyle has been referred to as the ‘Hippocratic wreath’, but it has rarely progressed to complete baldness.

~ 35 ~

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~ 36 ~

INTERVIEWS Though it’s no doubt big beards are making quite a comeback it’s been known to still come under a lot of negative scrutiny. Friends and family badgering others to shave, saying they look untidy and even in some cases people losing their jobs over something as natural as allowing your body to express itself as it once did so very long ago.

Men forced to conform to a standard that demands they “Tidy Up” for the

majority of a society that has yet to accept the bewhiskered gentleman.

Interviews have been conducted with men who’ve been growing beards for some time, questions asked about how it’s changed and affected the lives of themselves and those around them.

~ 37 ~

I contacted a few forums and online groups, and received responses from bearded men and they responded with things that have happened to them in regards to people reflecting on their bearded look.

Taking it one step at a time I asked them what initially compelled them to grow a beard and here is what they had to say.

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

Tim Chambers

Stu Yarrow

“Dad's always been bearded. The men of the family have a weak chin. It keeps my face warm.

“Ever since I could grow one I've always had a beard of some kind.”

~ 38 ~

Mike Jury

“I wasn't compelled as such more a case of not wanting to wet shave anymore, progressed onto hair trimmers, then stopped altogether.”

“I decided to grow it to see whether I liked it or not (which I did), then I decided to grow it bigger!”

It’s a common theme with bearded men who grow them to the big bushy standard that they want to grow them as long as they can, shaving isn’t so much a thing has being lazy but instead is just a way of having fun and

the very idea of shaving would appear to be equivilant to cuting of a limb, albeit less painful.

This would depend on who you trust to trim it and/or mutilate it.

~ 39 ~

Interviews

Trev Packer

People are bound to take notice of something that isn’t seen as normal in their eyes. Sure beards aren’t quite as unusual as seeing a man strolling down the street in a tight dress and high heels .

So what have our men here experienced from Friends, Family or total Strangers when it came to sporting this full blown natural look?

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

Mike Jury

Tim Chambers

“My wife loves the beard, family members not as much, I’ve also had negative comments from people at work, but it hasn’t changed my reserve to grow the beard”

“Never the beard.

Dreadlocks had to go in the end though.”

~ 40 ~

Trev Packer My family at first weren’t very supportive, there were a few comments about getting it cut off, trimmed etc, that was when it was shorter, now it is at the longest it’s been so they’ve accepted it.

“I’m a bus driver so sometimes I get grief off annoying kids when I’m driving around, but I mainly get positive reactions, definitely get more attention when on a night out, especially from the ladies.”

Beards have had mixed responses from the general public, people tend to mock others just to be a pest, then there’s the community that love and/or are attracted to men with a grizzly face.

~ 41 ~

Interviews

Stu Yarrow

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

For some men, the tempting thought of allowing your beard to grow as long as possible is almost like a competition as such.

Such competitions actually exist, and length is a primary contributing factor when it comes to the quality of a beard, the longer the better.

Just one over bearing rule is that the wearer takes the utmost care of their beard. When the questions were posed the answers were pretty brief so there have been a few spreads dedicated for each of the guys for helping out and joining in with the publication. So here is what they had to say in regards to how long they plan to grow their beards for.

~ 42 ~

Interviews This guy was brilliant, welcoming, polite, and very proud of exhibiting his long flowing display.

That guy in the back though had a habit of appearing in my shots, didn’t seem pleased about something...

~ 43 ~

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~ 44 ~

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Trev Packer

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Interviews

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~ 45 ~

“ As

Stu Yarrow

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As

~ 46 ~

�

Possible ~ 47 ~

Interviews

Long

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Mike Jury I would like to get to terminal length and maybe...

~ 48 ~

~ 49 ~

It Interviews

With

Compete

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~ 50 ~

Behind the Bewhiskered:

Trev Packer ~ 51 ~

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Trev Packer is the regional organiser for The South Saxon Beardsmen ~ 52 ~

I’m also the Facebook British Beard Club manager, its a different ship to run than our local Thatch’s but the premise is the same and that’s helping men with Beards to find local Thatch’s, competitions etc to join and meet men with Beards We came up with a few ideas and settled with The South Saxon Beardsmen,

Logo above designed

by Dan Kelby feelthesteele.blogspot.co.uk/

~ 53 ~

Trev Packer

“

The South Saxon Beardsmen was founded on the 16th November in a Café in Brighton.

Myself and David Dade the President of The British Beard Club; The British Beard Club wanted a Thatch for Bearded men and their partners to talk about Beards and non related Beard banter,the normal sort really.

“ Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

Its a very exciting time to be Bearded, one that I'm very excited to be part of.

David Asked whether I would like to be the regional organiser, So I jumped at the opportunity (I have a Beard) so it wasn’t a difficult decision.

The Aim of our thatch is to raise funds for Bowel and Prostate cancer which is through T-shirt and other Merch sales, We are currently planning Beard Competitions and raffles etc.

”

We hope to have our first Beard competition later in the year as well as new Merch which our FB fans go crazy for.

~ 54 ~

UNITING THE BEARDED COMMUNITY

� ~ 55 ~

Trev Packer

We are proud of our thatch and have stormed onto the FaceBook scene gaining more fans rapidly since our conception, at present we have 585 likes, which is very humbling indeed. Its not just fans from the Sussex and Kent area, we have fans ranging from the USA right through to Iran and Egypt which to be honest its fantastic, its all about...

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~ 56 ~

Behind the Bewhiskered:

David Dade ~ 57 ~

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David Dade is the President of The British Beards Club ~ 58 ~

“

I attended the Brighton 2007 World Beard and Moustache Championships partly because I'd been helping the Club hosting the event with their Web site for competitor registration, and partly because I'd been to several previous WBMCs in the USA in 2003 and in Berlin in 2005, and had been hooked by the experience of attending and competing in a Beard and Moustache Championships.

At that event there was some discussion among the

British bearded category entrants, led by a keen and bushy-bearded man called Russ Sherwood about the fact there there was no Beard Club in the UK.

~ 59 ~

David Dade

What influenced you to start up the British Beards Club, and has anyone benefitted from it?

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Of course the hosts of the WBMC that year was The Handlebar (Moustache) Club, which has been going since 1947, but was a Club for Moustached men only.

Nothing more happened about forming a beard club after the WBMC for several months, and we learned that Russ had passed away suddenly, which came

Stu

as a shock. Then in September 2008, I was contacted by a couple of British bearded chaps who had been competing at the 2008 European Beard and Moustache Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

They'd been talking to some of the members of The Handlebar Club, also competing there and who had suggested

German ~ 60 ~

ny

David Dade

uttgart, me (still as bearded Webmaster of The Handlebar Club's Web site), as I might be the person to resume the idea of creating a UK Beard Club – and so I did! I registered the The British Beard Club Web site name in November 2008.

What we have done in the last five years is

raise the profile our Club to be known as having valid opinions about Beards in Britain, so that now we get regular calls from newspapers, radio stations and TV programme-makers for comments on beardrelated news items, and casting calls for film and TV shows.

~ 61 ~

Has having a Beard ever caused any problems in life for you or anyone else that you know?

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I've been quite lucky I guess in that the places I spent most of my working life were rock music recording studios, rock festivals and mostly studio technical areas where beards were commonplace and almost expected among the technicians. I have a partner who likes beards, so that wasn't a problem either.

However, we had a former member of the Club - a seaman; a trade where you'd think beards are completely normal - who'd had his very substantial beard for around 25 years, then suddenly the management had a change of direction and dress-code, and ordered him to shave. Of course he resisted, and many of our Club members offered advice both legal and moral, but he was suspended for

~ 62 ~

'

His union got involved, but the company eventually dodged the issue by making him redundant.

~ 63 ~

David Dade

'

mis con duct

What fruits have come from playing such a big role in the bearded community?

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I touched on one of these earlier, and that is that as a result of my association with the Club I have found myself appearing on numerous TV and radio shows, whether in an "Eggheads" team, on the Rob Bryden Show or on local radio stations answering questions and giving opinions about beard-topics of the day, from David Beckham's beard, Jeremy Paxman's

beard or Prince Harry's.

If I'd not been a member of the Club, or not grown a beard, these things would never have happened.

Egghe ~ 64 ~

~ 65 ~

David Dade

Rob Brydon eads Show

How long have you been growing your beard, and what first inspired you to start?

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

I hated shaving from my earliest days at school age and I always seemed to get a rash on my neck, and the neck stubble wore out my shirt collars, so although I was given an electric shaver early on by my dad, I really needed to wet shave to get close, and it was just too involved, timeconsuming and likely to end up with cuts.

I grew my first beard

when I was about 19. It wasn't very dense then, but looked pretty much like an intentional beard but with a rather weak moustache. After that when I got my first and only lifetime job at 20, I trimmed it to a goatee.

I last shaved completely in 1985 except my moustache, and have never shaved completely since then.

~ 66 ~

David Dade

Also, I just felt that I was meant to be bearded. Even as a boy, I knew I wanted to grow a beard as soon as I could – to be as natural as my maker intended, and I still feel that way.

~ 67 ~

Have you got any recommendations like do’s and don’ts advice for anyone trying to grow a big beard? other way round, go for muttonchops. Sometimes patches will become hidden by longer growth elsewhere - I know a few guys who could show you bare patch in their beards the chin, but it's.

en

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Patchy beard growth can be a problem which is usually purely down to genetics, and probably no amount of shaving or applying lotions will cure that. What you have to do is work with what you've got, not what you'd like to have.

It may be that you can grow a really good goatee but have patchy cheek growth, so emphasise the goatee and shave the cheeks, of if it's the

~ 68 ~

~ 69 ~

David Dade

etic covered by the rest of the growth, so no-one notices if you don't keep on trimming it, and Let It Grow!

I prefer to use mild shampoos and conditioners from the “Paraben-free� range

by Faith In Nature, which do not contain the strong detergent Sodium Lauryl Suphate used as a foaming agent in shampoos and many other products, and which is used for cleaning up engine oil spills in workshops!

Otherwise, just eat a balanced diet, exercise well, have enough sex, don't shampoo too often, do brush your beard often with a boar's bristle brush, apply your favourite beard oil, of which there are now many good ones, and join The British Beard Club!

Has anyone ever commented on your beard and/or been a bit of a irritating bugger about it?

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That guy

I've been bearded for so long that I don't think people who know me really notice it much.

On the street, I get the usual “ZZ-Top” catcalls and sometimes and gratifyingly “Great beard!”, or just a grinning thumb's-up. At work I was known as

“Dave - that guy with the huge beard”, which was great for my bearded ego!

with th ~ 70 ~

~ 71 ~

David Dade

BEARD

he huge

What do you think about the current state of affairs with beards being considered unsuitable?

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

It's just an excuse to label all bearded men as lazy, dirty and unkempt.

Some men do not have the resources or the will to be able to look after themselves or their appearance, and that is sad but a fact of modern living.

In reality, those men

who grow a beard-bychoice probably spend as much or even more time washing, grooming, waxing, oiling and primping their beards than most shaven men.

We find that all the members of The British Beard Club are very interested in beard care

~ 72 ~

year or so in the number of younger men you see on the street, in the tube, in pubs and out shopping with really quite substantial beards, carefully groomed but with a lot more than just designer-stubble, and the burgeoning of cottage-

industry manufacturers of beard care oils and grooming products, I'd say beards are becoming the norm. I was in a village-style barber shop recently, and both the guys in the chairs and their craft barbers were bearded, and three of the four guys sitting waiting for their turn were bearded. In fact one mid-20s guy in the chair was getting a really sharp beard trim but no haircut!

~ 73 ~

David Dade

SHARP

and favourite grooming products, and often seek and share advice from other bearded members about how to be comfortable with who they are and how they look Judging by the sudden increase over the last

The club has done some great work for cancer charities, how much has been raised so far?

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Well, we always state to new members that part of the £10/year membership subscription will be donated at the end of the Club year, which starts in February for historical reasons, to Prostate Cancer UK / Men United. So in 2012 we were able to donate £600 to that charity, then last December 2013 we

also raised money for Beating Bowel Cancer by asking our members to add an extra £1 to our half-year subscription charged to members who joined us in the month of "Decembeard", and matching that with another £1 each from Club funds and from other sources to make a donation of £230.

~ 74 ~

~ 75 ~

David Dade

ÂŁ1000

Finally, because of the large increase in membership during 2013 as a result of the popularity of our First British Beard and Moustache Championships, which The British Beard Club and The Handlebar Club put on in September 2013, our recent end of year donation to PCUK for 2013 was a magnificent ÂŁ1000.

What are your thoughts on the idea of Bearded Women, much like Harnaam Kaur, the woman who appeared on the news.

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I believe in letting people be themselves, and I'm very glad that she has worked though the prejudice and come out the other side happy with herself and her beard, and that is fine with me. There are all kinds of people in the world, and that's what makes it interesting.

In the early years of The British Beard Club, we had a number of enquiries

from ladies-with-beards, but it was hard to tell if these were genuine or just mischief makers having a lark. Usually our enquiries for more details and clarification went unanswered. We do also have a number of lady beard-admirer members, some with bearded partners who are also members and some are ladies who are pure beard aficionados.

We welcome members to join us of whichever sex or persuasion.

~ 76 ~

�

David Dade

Harnaam Kaur is a Sikh woman living with a condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome which causes unusual hair growth on women.

~ 77 ~

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~ 78 ~ Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival 2014 I had made plans to visit Scarborough to attend the Beard Festival, so I asked a good friend of mine in Leeds if I could stay there for a few days and visit the event during, the day after my arrival in Leeds we made our way to Station and then onwards to Scarborough.

The entire town is beautiful and rich with Victorian architecture and has aged gorgeously, we weren’t sure where the Spa Complex for the event was so we jumped in a Taxi and off we went!

~ 79 ~ Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival, 2014

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On the approach we saw others arriving at the spa complex to take part in the family friendly event, and I managed to run into this brilliantly dressed character.

I wasn’t able to get direct shots from all of the brilliantly bearded men at the festival, some were a tad camera shy, but for those who did I

managed to get them to hold up the signs I had made for the occasion.

One man in particular was sporting this fantastic Scottish style piece fashioned entirely from Red Stripe Lager cans!

~ 80 ~

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

He was awesome enough to produce this brilliant pose for the camera.

~ 81 ~

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Scarborough is a gorgeous, quiet and tranquil little seaside town, and that feeling held up even under the sudden change in weather. ~ 82 ~

~ 83 ~ Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

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~ 84 ~

~ 85 ~

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

Not 20 minutes after arriving at the Scarborough Spa Complex, it began snowing clumps of Sleet, and despite the cold weather the bearded bands played on and even snuck in a few christmas songs.

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Everyone was indoors by now, though there were a few brave bearded folk standing underneath the frosty showers. ~ 86 ~

~ 87 ~ Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

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~ 88 ~

~ 89 ~

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

There weren’t just Bearded folk though, there was a whole diverse crowd of Beard lovers here!

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~ 90 ~

I wanted to cover my hat in them...

~ 91 ~

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

We managed to score ourselves a couple of badges bought with a ÂŁ3 donation to the fundraiser, I bought 2 to pin to my hat.

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Though beardless, he sure took a damn good photo! ~ 92 ~

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

Couldn’t say the same for this chap... ~ 93 ~

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Towards the end of the event the weather had calmed down and all the bearded men were asked to move out towards the open roof lobby for a big group photo, had a few poses under my belt, some stroking my Beard.

Towa th end

Over all the trip was fantastic, I managed to overcome my slight shyness and say hello to a few strangers, get involved in a few things simply for the sake of excited spontaneity.

~ 94 ~

ards he d...

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

If I had the money I’d head up to the next one in Aberdeen, adequately titled Al’Beard’een.

~ 95 ~

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

All the best to the organisers of the event in the future ~ 96 ~

~ 97 ~

Visit to the Yorkshire Beard Festival

I hope to see you all again soon!

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

~ 98 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair What book isn’t complete without an essay, it seemed fitting as this attempts to display a love for it by introducing cool facts both bad and good (But mostly good), the positivity it has spread and just the general awesome quality by having a grizzly face,

it changes how we look especially perceptions, but it’s for the most part looked down upon. The following essay attempts to challenge these preconceptions.

~ 99 ~

Introduction

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

This essay will be challenging the preconceptions of beards being the untidy and scruffy style that tends to revoke people of their status for attractiveness or suitability to engage within a work force. it'll also be discussing how in the past beards have been considered detrimental to everyday life and how in the present day some of these judgements still linger, as well as whether

or not they have a place in today’s world.

In Britain, like many nations, the contemporary cultural standard views men with beards not as gentlemanly as in the past, but as the uniform

of the lazy, slovenly, and brutish.

~ 100 ~

Was quite difficult to have people let me take pictures of them, some were quite camera shy.

Gen tle man ly ~ 101 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

I really wanted this mans hat.

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

“

Others will argue that stubble, or 5 o’clock shadow is perfectly suitable.

Others still will tell you that beards, moustaches etc, have no place in the working environment, and should be reserved for religious extremists and vacations only Some simply grow beards because it’s been shown to level out the symmetry in their face, adding to the confidence in how one looks.

But is it fair to totally dismiss the strengths

and talents of someone based on how they decide to style their face, are there any genuine measurable detrimental effects to someone who grows a beard?

~ 102 ~ Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

LEV OU TH SYMM IN THE FAC

VEL UT HE METRY N EIR CE

There have been psychological studies into why beards have been looked down upon, some evidence linking to historical times during the age of sword and shield where commanders (Especially Alexander the Great) would demand soldiers shave their beards for fear it be used against them in battle, grabbing it for example so they could come in close for the kill.

It would appear employers dislike a fully grown beard due to the first impression it can make.

�

~ 103 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

Psychology

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

~ 104 ~

~ 105 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

“Beard-wearers who choose not to shave for religious, aesthetic or medical reasons have done battle with their disapproving employers in the courts multiple times over the years.� You can read the full article on the BBC News Website (BBC News, 2013)

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

They feel it makes the individual appear untidy or ‘scruffy’, and makes the bewhiskered man appear downright lazy, thanks in part to our clean shaven grandfathers post WWI. This opinion, however, is quite easily challenged.

~ 106 ~

Psychology

Can it be that the confidence a man has to grow a beard make’s others nervous because they feel inferior to someone who has the strength and emotional security to not care what society thinks?

Abraham Lincoln, for one, grew his Beard because an 11 year old girl said “All the ladies like Whiskers!” the full article can be read on the Daily Mail Website (Mail Online, 2012) and he was a Self Educated Lawyer as well as the President of the United States that ended slavery.

~ 107 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

When looking at the history of the world, most of the men we’d call “great” were barbate in nature.

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

~ 108 ~

~ 109 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

“In their 1997 book The Handicap Principle, Israeli physiologist Avishag Zahavi and her evolutionary biologist husband Amotz proposed that beards are a costly signal of male competitive ability, since they can easily be grabbed by rivals during fights.

According to this theory, a man with a full beard is advertising his confidence in his own fitness: He thinks he can beat his competitors even with the “handicap” of the beard.”

The full article can be read on the New Republic Website (New Republic 2014)

Positively Bearded

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

David Dade, founder of the British Beard Club has been growing his beard since his mid-twenties and has seen a considerable rise in membership in recent years, indicating a societal shift back to hirsute men being acceptable. The membership fee’s for his club go towards various cancer research charities and has aided to the appearance of

bearded men as being upstanding members of society organising ‘beard themed’ fundraising and charity events.

Charity ~ 110 ~

Events

~ 111 ~ Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

~ 112 ~

“Well, we always state to new members that part of the £10/year membership subscription will be donated at the end of the Club year, for historical reasons, to Prostate Cancer UK / Men United. So in 2012 we were able to donate £600 to that charity, then last December 2013 we also raised money for Beating Bowel Cancer by asking our members to add an extra £1 to our half-year subscription charged to members who joined us in the month of “Decembeard”, and matching that with another £1 each from Club funds and from other sources to make a donation of £230.”

~ 113 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

which starts in February

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

JUDICE Judging by the evidence, employers appear to be worried that if a fully bearded man were to be working at your local convenience store, customers would turn tail because the person behind the counter would be a threat to them. While some bearded men may be aggressive, so might some clean shaven men.

The problem, like most stereotypes, arises when

people cannot get past preconceived prejudices they learned at home, in school, and in the work place.

In rare cases there are those who simply cannot stop from growing a

~ 114 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

E

beard, it grows back so quickly that shaving over and over does more harm than good.

Under these and similar circumstances, could this be considered an act of discrimination if employers simply won’t employ because of how someone decides to style their faces?

PRE ~ 115 ~

Diversity

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

POLYC

Harnaam Kaur, a female teacher in Slough,UK with a condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome causing abnormal hair growth on women, has spent her life under the scrutiny of others because of her “Condition”.

Recently, she declared she was no longer afraid of how society views her

condition and decided to accept who she truly was. Now, sporting a full beard, she has become a symbol of courage for many women.

Even though there are medical procedures which can amend her condition, she’s now perfectly comfortable with who she is.

SYND

~ 116 ~

~ 117 ~ Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

CYSTIC OVARY DROME

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

~ 118 ~

~ 119 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

“Thick hair began to sprout on her face, chest and arms when she was just 11-years-old and Kaur endured a childhood of cruel taunts and even online death threats.

The bullying became so bad Kaur even considered taking her own life when schoolmates began calling her “beardo”, “shemale” and “sheman”.

She said: “I can laugh about it now but back then it affected me so badly that I began to self harm because it felt better than all the abuse I was getting.“ The full news article can be viewed on the Huffington Post Website (Huffington Post, 2014)

Acceptance

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

GeorgeA ClooneyBa In contemporary fashion and society, beards are making a comeback. While facial hair trends have come and gone, they have mostly been in the form of moustaches and small goatees. It is unclear how, or why, a full ‘bushy’ beard came back into vogue, but it’s no secret they

~ 120 ~

~ 121 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

Antonio anderas are coming back as a more socially acceptable form of self-expression.

With more internationally known celebrities such as George Clooney and Antonio Banderas going unshaven,

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

it seems that more men will jump on the proverbial beard bandwagon. From a simple Pencil moustache to an Old Dutch, or Amish, beard, we are seeing men of all ages forgoing the razor. So how will employers be able to cope with this overwhelming onslaught of aggressive, lazy and untidy folk? In order to keep competitive

in the market, they’ll have to re-examine their judgements and consider the evidence.

Comments collected from the forums of the British Beard Club have shown instances where men that have grown beards have received emails from family and friends that have said they look Untidy. In response, the men have kept growing it as a sign

~ 122 ~

~ 123 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

of rebellion. It’s interesting how there is a dire need to interfere with other peoples life and how they prefer to style themselves and make their decisions, intrusive acts that lead to such things as conforming to an employable style, much like in the past when Homosexuality was considered an Abomination and being Black meant you couldn’t share the same toilet with a white family because rumours of them spreading diseases simply to justify their own bigotry.

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

W

There are a number of women and men who find Beards to be attractive because, in their opinion, it shows men to be more ‘Manly’.

The Daily Mail conducted a survey to 100 women in Australia showing pictures of men with and without beards, and the majority stated that the men with beards were more attractive.

More interestingly, men with a 10-Day beard were rated as very attractive while men with a few days of stubble growth rated much lower.

OMANLY ~ 124 ~

M

~ 125 ~ Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

ANLY

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

nwo s’evaeN rD“ cipot eht ni hcraeser teg ot elbbuts thgil dnuof morf sgnitar tsehgih eht .nemow tsomla saw tI‘ :dias eH a derreferp nemow fi sa a worg dluoc ohw nam ”.t’ndah tub draeb eb nac elcitra lluf ehT liaM yliaD eht no daer ,enilnO liaM( etisbew )2102

~ 126 ~

~ 127 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

“Dr Neave’s own research in the topic found light stubble to get the highest ratings from women.

He said: ‘It was almost as if women preferred a man who could grow a beard but hadn’t.”

The full article can be read on the Daily Mail website (Mail Online, 2012)

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

CON CLU SION

~ 128 ~

workplace is merely a subjective opinion based on the personal, religious, or political opinions of management.

As it turns out, a lot of the prejudice towards beards is stemming from psychological links to the past, displaying their vulnerability by not shaving, showing power and confidence

over something that masquerades as a handicap when in reality, it’s simply a statement of wanting to try something new. There has been no indication that bearded people are a detriment to the working force of society, it appears to be just a matter of who can help earn the most money in this climate, and even then shouldn’t the product matter more than the salesman?

~ 129 ~

Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

In conclusion, the very idea that men with fully grown beards are considered unprofessional or unattractive remains to be only one side of the story as many find this sort of information to be absolute nonsense, and the idea that men with beards are aggressive or threatening in the

Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

Sure you could say that someone who is rude wouldn’t be the best salesman, but any bearded or non-bearded person can be rude and obnoxious, the way someone looks does not define how the person acts, and as the old saying goes: never judge a book by its cover.

Evidence of men and women with exponential beard growth re-enforces the claim that having to let someone go appears to be based on a discriminatory act of just not finding that person attractive personally or just fit for the job and this needs to be addressed.

~ 130 ~

~ 131 ~ Challenging the Overall Outlook on Facial Hair

CON CLU DED

Final Cut Pogonophilia: A Trimless Trend

Just Kidding, I’d never ask any gentleman to cut their beard, what blasphemy! So I guess through it all I’m glad I got to meet so many wonderful people during the process of writing this book, I’d like to thank David Dade from the British Beard Club for allowing me to interview him as well as providing me with some beautiful new beard badges for my cap, they look wonderful! Trev Packer too for getting involved and encouraging others to as well, would have been much in this book had that not happened; and finally thanks to all those at the Yorkshire Beard Festival, I had a fun and bloody freezing time, but it was well worth it to meet so many people with an overall love for beards!

Thank you for reading, keep it cool and keep it bearded you awesome readers, bye for now!

~ 132 ~

~ 133 ~ Final Cut

Image Links

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/ Alopecia.jpg http://delhi4cats.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/beardlong. jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BattleofIssus333BCmosaic-detail1.jpg http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/01/article-22262350F7F8D0300000578-696_964x682.jpg http://cjs12e.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/geor.jpg http://sin.stb.s-msn.com/i/41/ E9B17B19BC83C6928E8A737AAB088.jpg http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1626894/thumbs/o-HARNAAMKAUR-570.jpg http://mcclurgmuseum.org/blog/wp-content/ uploads/2011/02/6e026560ae743814159b3f80f8c670cd.jpg

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/Gracebedell.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d7BKtKnBxgM/TePOd0sMrbI/ AAAAAAAACRI/O5CfyX0H8Yw/ s1600/GRACE+BEDELL%2527S+LETTER+TO+ ABRAHAM+LINCOLN.png http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/lookingforlincoln/files/2008/12/ bedell.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/ Abraham_Lincoln_O-55,_1861-crop.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/ Peter_der-Grosse_1838.jpg http://craphound.com/images/tumblr_ mcpz8fABHD1rnseozo1_500.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/f/ f3/20120812153730!Flag_of_Russia.svg

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http://www.qualiafolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ BearPrideFlag.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/ Dihydrotestosterone-3D-balls.png http://img.answcdn.com/view:crop/ getty/Health/27876aa9/90034342. jpg?&w=300&h=250&x1=0&x2=482&y1=100&y2=502 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/ Alopecia.jpg http://delhi4cats.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/beardlong. jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/logo2014_g_130.gif http://u.jimdo.com/www60/o/sa6549607c78f5c11/img/ i293a23fb83fe4507/1391480852/thumb/stuttgarteuropean-best-destinations.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/2012/ FrazerDavidDelRBShow340.jpg https://c2.staticflickr. com/4/3510/5727980104_97cbc8b3f0_z.jpg

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http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/EggheadsTeam.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/2012/ FrazerDavidDelRBShow340.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/memberphotos/ DavidDadeWBMC2011.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/DDListens.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/memberphotos/ DDMSB2013big.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ambrose_Burnside2.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/ BattleofIssus333BC-mosaic-detail1.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/ Royal_Irish_Rifles_ration_party_Somme_July_1916.jpg http://www.davidamess.co.uk/sites/www.davidamess.co.uk/ files/prostate_cancer_uk_logo.jpg

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http://www.qualiafolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ BearPrideFlag.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/ Dihydrotestosterone-3D-balls.png http://img.answcdn.com/view:crop/ getty/Health/27876aa9/90034342. jpg?&w=300&h=250&x1=0&x2=482&y1=100&y2=502 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/ Alopecia.jpg http://delhi4cats.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/beardlong. jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/logo2014_g_130.gif http://u.jimdo.com/www60/o/sa6549607c78f5c11/img/ i293a23fb83fe4507/1391480852/thumb/stuttgarteuropean-best-destinations.jpg

~ 138 ~

http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/2012/ FrazerDavidDelRBShow340.jpg https://c2.staticflickr. com/4/3510/5727980104_97cbc8b3f0_z.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/EggheadsTeam.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/2012/ FrazerDavidDelRBShow340.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/memberphotos/ DavidDadeWBMC2011.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/images/DDListens.jpg http://thebritishbeardclub.org/memberphotos/ DDMSB2013big.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ambrose_Burnside2.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/ BattleofIssus333BC-mosaic-detail1.jpg

~ 139 ~

For a long time now, beards have been identified as something with equivilance to someone being lazy, brutish and dirty.

This book attempts to turn that on it’s head and introduce to you a whole community that envelopes itself in celebration of the natural look of a man, as well as all the good it has done.

The Beard isn’t simply something that can be grown.

The Beard, is a way of life.