Beard

:For another meaning of this word, see Beard (female companion)

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A beard is the hair that grows on a man's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip (the opposite is a clean-shaven face). In the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom, sexual potency, or high status, but also a lack of cleanliness and refinement, or an eccentric disposition.

Related Topics:
Hair - Clean-shaven - Facial hair

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Beards also play an important role in some religions. Zeus and Poseidon are always portrayed with beards, but Apollo never is. A bearded Hermes was replaced with the more familiar beardless youth in the 5th century.

Related Topics:
Religion - Zeus - Poseidon - Apollo - Hermes

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Amish and Hutterite men shave until they are married, then grow a beard and are never thereafter without one, although it is a particular form of a beard (see Visual markers of marital status). In Orthodox Christianity, beards are worn by the priesthood, and at times have been required for all believers - see Old Believers. Sikhs do not remove a single hair from their body. Many devout Muslims also grow their facial hair, in emulation of the Prophet Muhammad.

Related Topics:
Amish - Hutterite - Visual markers of marital status - Orthodox - Christianity - Old Believers - Sikh - Muslims - The Prophet Muhammad

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In Judaism, Leviticus 19:27 states that "Ye shall not round the comers of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." Talmudic rabbis understood this to mean not that a man not be clean-shaven, but only that he should not shave the hair with a razor. Because it has two blades, while a razor has only one, rabbinic law permits the use of scissors to trim the beard. For this reason, many Jews use electric razors, which have two or more blades. Regardless of the fact that it is not entirely required by law, many Jews wear a beard simply because it is customary, and it signifies their Jewishness.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Leviticus - Talmudic - Rabbis - Razor - Rabbinic law - Scissors

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In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporary Western Europe.

Related Topics:
17th century - 1698 - Peter the Great - Russia

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Beards returned to fashion after the Napoleonic Era, and were out of fashion again by the first part of the 20th century. Beards, together with long hair, were reintroduced to mainstream society in Western Europe and North America by the hippie movement of the mid 1960s. By the end of the of the 20th century, the closely clipped Verdi beard, often with a matching integrated moustache, was relatively common, as was a stubble beard (especially on younger men). Full beards nonetheless remain a fringe phenomenon.

Related Topics:
20th century - Europe - North America - Hippie - Stubble - Fringe - Phenomenon

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Beard hair is most commonly removed by shaving. If only the area above the upper lip is left unshaven, the resulting facial hairstyle is known as a moustache; if hair is left only on the chin, the style is a goatee. It is decidedly less common to see a beard or goatee without a corresponding moustache.

Related Topics:
Shaving - Moustache - Goatee

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