Show Your Face…or Don’t
Sunday
Despite being quality face insulation, beards grow faster in the spring and summer. March-July are the peak growing months, according to a study.
Monday
Why yes, there is a World Beard Day. It is the first Saturday in September.
Tuesday
“Pogonology” is the study of beards and facial hair.
Wednesday
A study into beards and racial backgrounds concluded that men from Mediterranean countries tend to grow the thickest beards. Chinese men tend to have more facial hair around the mouth, and Caucasian men having comparatively more hair on the cheeks, chin and neck.
Thursday
The first fifteen US presidents were beardless until Abe Lincoln. He was famously encouraged to grow one by an 11-year old girl who thought his thin face would look better bearded and thus get more votes. All presidents since William Howard Taft have been beardless.
Friday
Various religions have positions or traditions as to beards. Orthodox Jews believe that they are forbidden in Leviticus to shave the “corners of the beard,” hence the long sideburns. Amish men, once married, never shave their beards again, but do shave mustaches. Muslims, Rastafarians, and Sikhs all grow beards as symbols of devotion, as Greek Orthodox priests traditionally do. Meanwhile, observant Mormons and Buddhists are customarily clean-shaven.
Saturday
Alexander the Great encouraged shaving by his own troops before one major battle, and beards are indeed largely discouraged or forbidden in today’s militarizes, though sometimes with religious exceptions. One of the modern reasons against beards in the military is that they’d prevent a tight seal of gas masks.