Thread 17997657

Why did men start to shave? Surely it would be seen emasculating to get rid of one of the definining secondary sexual traits of a man, plus the process of shaving must've been quite painful and inconvenient since razor-sharp steel blades were hard to come by. Was shaving the first step towards the current trend of androgynofication of men? Same way as shaving the chest is a trend that only appeared around a century years ago

Romans thought beards made you look like barbarian apes or, even worse, Greekoids and it stuck around after they conquered the world.

>>17997659
Who are these trannies?

>>17997659
>left: men who would look attractive with or without facial hair
>right: men who would look unattractive with or without facial hair
Whats the point?

Japanese men made an account to tweeze their facial hair and stay clean shaven during the edo period (since having a beard was associated with war after the long sengoku era). I thjnk it's really just cultural and depends on the time

>>17997669
Greeks used to have beards. Shaving was something guys did because they were gay or wanted to please the ladies.

I unironically believe beards are a sign of a civilization in decline. It represents men's tacit disloyalty or disregard for their political environment, and a lack of desire to present themselves in the most trustworthy and virtuous manner. A healthy society needs politicians that are slightly anxious about how they carry themselves in public.

having a beard is honestly inconvient at best

>>17997766
Based and romanpilled

>>17997766
Disagree. Every important ancient Chinese dude had a beard

>>17997669
Beards were in and out of fashion for Romans. After Heraclius they were almost permanently back in fashion until 1453.

>>17997766
Shaving was seen as just that in cultures where beards were the norm. Fake vain and gay.
Mind you these were cultures were women married and did'nt chase around whatever guy looked like Justin Bieber.

>>17997766
Beards were seen as just that in cultures that had them. Fake vain and gay.
Mind you these were conservative cultures with strong marriage customs.

>>17997659
Why do you have collages of men saved on your hard drive?

>>17997657 (OP)
>Why did men start to shave?
It can be annoying, very much more so than hair.
>razor-sharp steel blades
A slice of flint is more than sharp enough.

Men's beards go in and out of fashion throughout the ages, same with hair length. When the US military banned long hair after the Revolution there were mass riots and mutinies, it was a massively unpopular decision. Look at how during the Civil War soldiers had massive beards or mutton chops, that disappeared during WWI due to lice concerns. Beards became fashionable in the military again during the GWoT and in the civilian world as well. Now everyone has beards even in the corporate world, in contrast to the clean look of the 50s.

>>17997682
His point is that he does not respect the intelligence of others.

>>17997817
Well beards are annoying to have. Getting caught in shit all the time and having food and drink fall in them. Plus gray beard limits your options if you're not married and want to bang ladies.
But it is the most heterosexual way to present. So there is that.

>>17997657 (OP)
Because of Christianity, a more youthful, androgynous appearance was seen as more heavenly.

>>17997826
>But it is the most heterosexual way to present.
Not as long as we remain in living memory of 00s hipsters.

>>17997846
>muh Christian

I've noticed it's always really short men who have beards for some reason.

>>17997772
>Rome
>1453

>>17997657 (OP)
Alexander started the practice because a beard could be grabbed in battle and makes cleaning/healing wounds more difficult. Cyclists shave their legs for the same reason. It also help with oxygen masks sealing on the skin in modern conditions.

Long hair and long beards are just "handles" for your opponent in a fight. Better to be clean shaven, uniform in appearance and free of vanity.

>>17997657 (OP)
>Why did men start to shave?
probably started because some dude was too lazy to deal with having and maintaining a beard. the human brain wired by social interactions attached all that connotational crap later.

>>17998513
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle

>>17998513
>a beard could be grabbed in battle
ask yourself how practical and likely this actually is, then ask yourself how much it has actually happened

>>17997918
Bears are in fashion with gay men but they tend to be short beads. Everyone wants to look like Ryan Gosling.

>>17997657 (OP)
Theres a theory that beards were more popular in the old days because they helped to protect the face during combat. Not really needed in modern basedciety

>>17997766
Very based

>>17997657 (OP)
Its entirely a cultural bias that switch on/off every time some importante cultural event happens. Here some examples:
>Greeks used to have beard, but then Alexander's popularity made his clean shaved look (couldnt grow a beard to save his life) the new social norm
>Everyone in Rome from the late Republi to Trajan was clean shaved until Hadrian and his popularity made beards cool again (he loved phisolophy and among greek philisophers beards remained a cultural status symbol)
>The romans then kept beards until Costantine made the shaved look popular again (idk why he was shaved. Maybe to show his impressive gigachad chin?)

>>17997817
>during WWI due to lice concerns
more so the need to have tight seals for gasmasks. that's also why tightly trimmed mustaches became popular, you can fit them in the mask

egyptian priests would shave every hair on their body every day with bronze razors because they believed hair was an animal element, thus they became closer to the gods. the germanic tribes would shave only after making a kill in battle; the beard was a sign of penance, a long beard showing you had not killed in some time. a mark of shame.

>>17997657 (OP)
shaving was before steel blades, look at the ancient egyptians.
it was a sign of civilization to distinguish oneself from the barbarians. not necessarily shaving it all off but having it well groomed.
there is always the dichotomy between raw strength and focused discipline.
the romans went back and forth with it, famously they hated the celtic and germanic mustache fashons

>>17998489
>1453
yes, end of the roman empire.

>>17997657 (OP)

Beards are annoying but prior to the development of the safety razor in just before WWI, shaving was a pain in the ass so most guys just lived with having annoying beards.

>>17998751
except for soldiers, were at least from the modern era on there were all kinds of rules about if and what beard styles were allowed.

>>17997657 (OP)
I currently have a full beard (like Wesley in the picture but longer on the chin), but I dislike how the sides puff out (even with a balm or oil there are always some stray hairs standing out).
I think I am going back to a goatee, also to distance myself from the basedbeards around me.
thoughts? Level of historical manliness?

>>17998625
Bro the sterotypes for beards are "metrosexual hipster faggot" and "bald chinlet attempting to fraud".
If you like beards and have good enough genes to grow a decent one, go for it! A handsome man can get away with many dubious affectations.
But don't try to gaslight others into thinking beards have inherent social cachet. You only look desperate.

>>17997659
fpbp

I like how everyone ITT has their own ebin anthropological schizo theory about shaving

>>17998489
Yes that's correct

>>17998945
>litterally cannot form a single thought without passing it through Jews first
You are raped.

>>17997657 (OP)
Depends on the time period, though it became less about utility and more about fashion and trends as time went on.

If I remember correctly, during the Roman times, they were forced to shave since soldiers complained that their helmets didn't fit right due to their beards. It stuck around after that, waxing and waning in popularity as fashion trends go.

In more recent times, beards get filled with soot and other filth brought about by the Industrial revolution. Since cleaning the beard thoroughly wasn't something they want to bother with every day, they either shave it off or shave it down to a moustache.

In current times, the beard has become popular among those most would consider "lesser" or "estrogenated" males, so people shaved down again due to the negative association that beards acquired.

>>17997669
>Romans thought beards made you look like barbarian ape
why, that's the question

>>17998987
see >>17997766

To the Romans it represented you allowing your personal and wild nature be above the idea of Rome. It also represented a lack of readiness.

This was a common theme in Roman culture.

It's basically the same logic as in the military, now that I think about it

>>17998997
In addition, there are and have been units that are allowed to have beards, exactly to signal that they act "outside of the system" and strike fear into the enemy

>>17998987
guess how I know you're unemployed

>>17997760
>shave to please the ladies
>virtually all greeks had beards
now thats some olimpic level dedication to misogyny, no some side time hustler of today

>>17998542

Is hair grabbing allowed in any combat sport? Nope ;)

I can single handedly, beat the shit out of this entire board with a single hand. Come and see......Come and see......

>>17998945
Look at those little handles. Perfect for grabbing as the knee is flying to that massive shnoze!

Nice!

>>17998772
Just pass a beard trimmer, blade down, short length, from cheeks to jaw and it'll cut off all the jutting hair.
As for the goatee, it depends on the style.
Chin-only true goatee: has strong association with rebellion and anti-social behavior since greek times. It's bestial and vulgar, sported by fauns and devils, and 90s nu metal bassists. It sends the message that you don't care about social rules, so it can be controversial, but it can also make you look cool depending on the rest of your personality and style.
Van dyke "goatee" (chin+moustache, separated): very historical baroque beard. Associated with aristocrats, cavalry, pirates, swordsmen, landsknechte and other extravagant warriors who live by their own code at the edge of society. More civilized form of the true goatee. Can make you look like a larping idiot if you don't have the face shape for it, but if you have the right one it'll make you look cool and get plenty of stares and compliments (I speak from experience). It's associated with a pompous and vain personality because it requires constant daily care, so it's also a controversial style like the true goatee.
Round "goatee" (moustache+chin connected): weak, no historical weight behind it. It'll make you look like a 50 year old idiot. It shows that you're not brave enough to sport a true goatee or cool enough to sport a van dyke. Skip.

>>17997766
19th century was a golden age for culture and insane over the top beards so you are wrong.

>>17999116
what was the purpose of this reply

>>17997657 (OP)
anon are you actually retarded

Shaving isn’t inherently feminizing. In many eras, not shaving was the outsider look, as was the case with barbarians, ascetics, and rebels. Meanwhile, shaving could be coded as urban. It’s not a straight effeminate vs. masculine divide; it’s a shifting cultural symbol.

>>17997766
beards serve to hide weak chins
weak chins are a trait of weak men (fed soft slop)
weak men you know the rest

All I've gotten from this thread is that having a short enough beard that it can't hide a strong jaw but enough to show that you don't have dysgenic mutted hair growth is best