
During the Renaissance, the beard was the defining feature of a man - prismatic
https://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/beard-maketh-man
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roenxi
Safety razor was invented around WWII [0] and that is probably linked to the
requirements of wearing a gas mask. Probably has something to do with the
change in fashion.

Fun fact; often there is a general ban on beards in underground coal mines
because the miners need to be able to wear gas masks.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor#History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor#History)

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hokumguru
Firefighters also aren't allowed to grow beards for the same reason.

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mjw1007
The idea of "four great beard movements" seems like an odd framing.

Another way to look at it is that periodically the somewhat-unnatural act of
shaving becomes fashionable.

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zackkatz
This article has the Renaissance in its title, but then continues to discuss
the Elizabethan period. Shakespeare != Renaissance.

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djmips
Also, what about the rest of the world. This is just specific European
history. Seems pretty exclusionary.

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SketchySeaBeast
Do we have a lot of records about the Inuit Renaissance?

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djmips
We know they didn't have large bushy European beards.

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mirimir
I've typically had a beard, because I hate shaving. Or rather, because I have
both a bristly beard and sensitive skin. And no, shaving every day for years
didn't "toughen up" my face.

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setr
Safety razors tend to be quite rough, and the canned foam offers little
protection. Consider using a double edged razor and better cream (my personal
usage is a merkur handle w/ feather blade, and cremo cream; a fairly cheap and
effective set)

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UnFleshedOne
I think safety razors and double edged are the same thing.

But yeah those multi blade cartridges are rather bad, not to mention
expensive. I've seen a pack of cartridges with 6 or 8 blades each for $7 a
piece recently. Not sure how much they last, but my DE blade lasts for months
and costs $0.10 a piece... That "investment" in a $15 DE razor will keep
paying off forever...

EDIT: that life time estimate is on the basis that I shave like one a week
though, if you shave daily you'll go through a few $0.10 blades in a month
maybe :)

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dpark
How frequently do you shave? _Months_ from a blade seems pretty atypical.

I get about the same lifespan from a good safety/double edge blade as I used
to from a Mach III blade, but with less irritation and lower cost (though my
safety razor was unnecessarily expensive so it took a while to actually pay
off). I would guess I get 5ish shaves out of a blade before it’s worth it to
me to replace it.

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UnFleshedOne
I get more than five per blade, but it is hard to keep track, since I shave
once a week or so. Probably depends a lot on hair type and tolerance for dull
blades.

Another point for DE, they don't clog on a week's stubble, I had to whack the
cartridge I used before on every move. I actually broke the handle eventually.

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zaccus
You don't need to read much ancient literature to know that beards have always
been associated with manliness. Going out on a limb here, but my guess is
that's because typically only adult men can grow them. Shocking I know.

Anyway, it's not particular to the Renaissance at all.

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motohagiography
And the foregone conclusion in the article:

"The dramatic uses of the sign of Renaissance masculinity par excellence – the
beard – reveal how precarious, provisional and potentially groundless the
ideology of early modern masculinity was, the very ideology upon which the
sign-system of the stage relied. As we look at today’s hipsters – beards, man-
buns and tattoos aplenty – we may also wonder what lies beneath the surface of
the identities that they construct."

Appears the writer confuses criticism with competence. It's the conceit of
modern academia. Yawn.

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elipsey
I'm sure this is a misunderstanding. I believe the author means to remind us
that fashion and gender norms are arbitrary and performed, not to say that the
hipsters chose theirs' _wrong_. Societal standards of masculinity are of
particular interest here because they capricious, mutable, and especially
likely to result in ass-kickings.

In conclusion the author encourages us to reflect on the difference between
the person and the performance, and hold our assumptions lightly. You are not
your beard.

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klipt
It seems a little clinical and dehumanizing. I wonder how people would react
to similar writing about women:

"The dramatic uses of the sign of Renaissance femininity par excellence – the
hairdo – reveal how precarious, provisional and potentially groundless the
ideology of early modern femininity was, the very ideology upon which the
sign-system of the stage relied. As we look at today’s hipsters – hairdos,
cardigans and makeup aplenty – we may also wonder what lies beneath the
surface of the identities that they construct."

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elipsey
That sounds like an equally valid criticism to me, but if you're sense of
prudence suggests that some people might not want to hear it from a dude, so
does mine. It's understandable that people sometimes feel like their being
attacked en masse by outsiders when we talk about this, but I think we're
better off if we're able to talk about it civilly.

Looking and dressing "right" is hard for some people. Approaching our
expectations with a more removed perspective helps, but does tend to sound
clinical. For what it's worth my gf complains about this kind of stuff in a
way that sounds similar to me, but using somewhat less high-brow language. :)

EDIT: I asked gf what she thought of that paragraph: "meh i don't give shit
it's fine." Then I asked if she thought a man could get away with saying it:
"probably not on the internet LOL". n=1.

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zackmorris
Anyone have any luck growing a beard after a lifetime of not being able to? My
dad could grow one after 40 but no such luck for me. Also I had a few bad
sunburns under my chin snowboarding and I wonder if I triggered something like
an electrolysis effect. I've noticed that some things like drinking alcohol
seem to stimulate brief growth but it's not a permanent fix hah. Also I've
read that testosterone levels today are much lower than what the baby boomers
had, but I don't know how scientific that is. I haven't been to a doctor to
get my T level checked, just curious.

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tobr
I’ve kept a beard since my late teens, and frankly it never occurred to me
that some men may not be able to grow one. This has me curious. Do you mean it
literally doesn’t grow, as in you don’t even need to shave - or just that it
looks thin or uneven when you let it grow?

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magashna
I know people that have the eternal babyface. At most, a few chin hairs but
otherwise smooth. Some people just don't have the genetics for a beard.

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bobthechef
I'm pretty sure that characterization of Aristotle is bullshit. Sadly, there
is a great deal that Aristotle is slanderously impugned with and
mischaracterized with, including his views of women. It's a game of historian
telephone and shoddy scholarship, it seems. In this case, if there's even a
whiff of authenticity to the claim, it would seem that Aristotle's thoughts on
development may have been given an uneducated "normative reading", i.e., one
in which the author attempts to once again reinforce the idea that Aristotle
was a silly bigot that we, in all our modern wisdom, should scoff at and
dismiss as an unsophisticated rube.

Anyway, what's the point of this article? All I see is some woman swinging a
gender ideology axe around looking for something to hit with an hazy
insinuation or superficial remark. I honestly couldn't care less about hipster
beards and no one claims that beards make a man a man, only that beards are a
male feature.

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word-reader
One of the pellets in this scattershot is basically, because sometimes beards
are associated with being a man, and sometimes being clean-shaven is
associated with being a man, there are surely no cross-cultural or cross-
temporal ideals about masculinity at all and being a man can be completely
redefined by lecturers in early modern masculinity or whoever.

That being said, as someone who can't grow a great beard, I'll always have the
Romans; can't blame it on gas masks or TV ads back then.

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rjplatte
This article is trying to say that because the theatre used beards as a symbol
of manliness, the entire male identity revolved around beards. This is
ridiculous.

Hoopskirts were used to represent matronly women in early American theatre:
therefore women gathered around these laughable garments as a symbol of their
femininity.

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buboard
Article makes it sound as if beardlessness is some kind of default? Not sure
if true

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kevin_thibedeau
Stop shaving and let us know how that turns out.

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lacampbell
It's been a while since I've lived in a western city - is the bearded hipster
still a thing? My gut tells me it must have passed its expiry date by now, but
I'm not sure.

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0xdeadb00f
Yes it's still a thing. I don't even think it's decreased, society just seems
to care less about them than before. Because hipsters are "growing up", and so
are the people who criticised them in the first place, you don't hear about it
as much anymore. ("criticised" seems like the wrong word, but I can't think of
another that fits).

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decoyworker
I have a theory that lazy/poor/busy modern men are the reason that beards are
back in style. Economic factors contribute to trends pretty often.

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stronglikedan
It's much easier to keep clean shaven than it is to maintain a beard, so
beards are not the ideal choice for the lazy man. It's also much less time
consuming to shave, so neither are they the ideal choice for the busy man.
Razors are the cheapest facial hair grooming tool, so not the ideal choice for
the poor man either. They type of lazy/poor/busy man that _would_ wear a beard
would likely not be clean shaven on a daily basis regardless.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm talking about kempt facial hair, which is implied by the
context of both the article in question and the comment that I'm responding
to. Anyone can be unkempt, but that is never stylish.

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rosser
I have worn a beard nearly continuously for approaching three decades, now.

I used to keep my beard neat enough with a pair of scissors, a mirror, and few
minutes every few days. Then I got a wet-dry trimmer that I used periodically
in the shower. Now I'm just growing it out (about 5 months in), and I work a
dab of shampoo in occasionally.

Beard maintenance _really_ isn't that onerous. I spend vastly more time
grooming my untrimmed whiskers than I _ever_ spent trimming them. Being clean-
shaven takes significantly more frequent effort, and though I have no data
points, given all the process involved in shaving, it probably takes a lot
more time, all-in, too.

EDIT: Phrasing

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mirimir
I keep my beard clean. And I brush it occasionally during the day. I also trim
split ends, as needed. Other than that, it does what it wants.

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mensetmanusman
Regulated labs that use facial respirators do not allow employees to have
facial hair where the attachment seal rests...

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cafard
The defining feature of a man? If so, why were codpieces in fashion?

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h2odragon
Eagerly awaiting the next fashion trend:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koteka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koteka)

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scoobyyabbadoo
Well of course, this can be deduced scientifically: most characteristics of
sexual dimorphism in humans are not polite to flaunt in public, but a beard is
one of the few features of sexual dimorphism that is acceptably to show
publicly, so it is only natural that men want to show off their beards.

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mywittyname
It's quite acceptable to be tall and speak with a deep voice in society. Most
male clothing is intended to highlight masculine features, such as broad
shoulders, and present a generally "top heavy" look.

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User23
Likewise plenty of female clothing accentuates physical traits that happen to
be fertility proxies.

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gnzoidberg
Why is this here?

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thermonot
So basically like today.

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dymk
No, now it's laptop stickers

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omarhaneef
That explains why a hipster would describe himself as a "Renaissance Man"

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JohnJamesRambo
Beards are too hot for a global warming earth. I don’t see a fifth age of
beards coming.

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chabes
Beards are not actually as hot as they might seem. Think of how a shady forest
buffers the temperature. Compared to the surrounding area, it is cooler in the
heat of the day, and warmer in the cold of night

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JohnJamesRambo
Lol I’ve had a beard I’ll trust my own assessment.

