Daily Five Minutes 9/3/10--Power of the Beard

I grow facial hair relatively easily. Some years ago, one of the sons had a contest with his friends in High School--"No Shave November." They would go the whole month without shaving, and buy the guy with the best beard all he could eat at Del Taco.  I asked if I could participate, and my son said, "No, Dad--you'd win by just forgetting to shave one morning."

Recently I went on a 50-mile backpacking trip with four of my sons and a large group of Boy Scouts and leaders. I did not take my razor, and thus produced The 50 Miler Beard. Here is a blurry rendition of what that looked like:

After I grew the beard, I decided to wear it to church the following Sunday. Behold, the power of the beard!

People treated me differently--with a little more distance and more than a little palpable disdain. It was almost as if silent judgement seemed to be passed on me ("I didn't realize things were that bad for the family!" or "I told you he was inactive!"). It's not that these things were actually said, just that I felt them.  I was a little bolder in my comments in classes at Church. A little more...what? Radical? Intellectual? I don't know. 

I know the power of dress and appearance--I preach it in my classes, to my children, and recognize it in my own world. When I dress well I feel better; when I dress grungy I feel less effective. But the beard was different--it wasn't dirty or unkempt, just a little straggly. And straggly meant...less valuable, I guess, both in terms of self-worth and in others' perceived acceptance of me.

I wonder if I imagined people's responses too much. I had a friend in Hingham, Massachusetts, who wore a full, dark, manly beard for years. He shaved it off once--and immediately looked like he was 12 years old. I didn't lose respect for him, per se, but it certainly felt different. He grew it back.

I wonder why Brigham Young grew the beard he did...

Comments

[Jake G]

You probably know I grow a six-day beard every week; I do it primarily because of facial irritation. One fellow from church saw me on Saturday when it is in full bloom and said something along the lines of, I never thought you'd wear a beard. He seemed surprised due to his personal expectations of people with beards. We need to see more executives in beards. What's the big deal?

[Trevor]

I think it has a lot to do with people's first impression of you -- how you were the very first time they saw you. If the people of your ward saw you first with a clean-shaven face (I hate that phrase, by the way, because it almost denotes spiritual cleanliness as well as facial cleanliness, which would mean that those with facial hair are automatically counted among the publicans and sinners), then they're going to think, "He didn't even bother to prepare himself to be here on the outside, so on the inside he must not be prepared either."

I'm a strong advocate for facial hair, which is a hard thing to be as a BYU student. My wife thinks that the dress and grooming standards make all of the boys look like dorks. I almost didn't get my bus pass because my sideburns were a quarter of an inch too long. I patiently await the day when they decided that if it's okay to have facial hair in the temple, then it's okay to have facial hair on BYU campus.

[Michael]

Yes, gone are the days of facial hair, but then again, did I ever have them? You may remember, I very rarely shave, but that is because I cannot grow much facial hair. I only used one can of shaving cream during my entire mission and still used it for another six months after returning! I had to throw it away at some point because each time I put it down it left a rust ring.

With my current job working with the church, you can imagine there is not much allowed around here. I have heard that a mustache is okay. That being said, I shave on Sunday's so that I can attend PEC and the remaining meetings without being looked down upon. Why do I feel that I would be looked down upon? Maybe it is just the way things are...Don't we all receive comments whenever there is facial hair involved? (Did your cat die?) Then I shave again on Wednesday's so that I can make it through the week without looking too unkempt.

I guess that I really should be happy that I can get away with only shaving a couple of times a week. I must admit, I do save on shaving cream and razors. Speaking of razors, why are the blades so expensive? It's just cheap metal isn't it? The margins must be fantastic.

I will admit, maybe when I am a little more mature I will be able to grow a decent goatee (one of Mary's dreams), then again I will probably not be able to because of my job, my calling, or because I have a family picture or event that I must attend. We have definitely come a long way from the days of early church prophets and their beards that were down to their chests...

[beretta guide rod]

First impressions last as they say. But when an individual starts to speak, you will see the real him.