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Thu 24 Jul, 2008 02:56 pm
The surprise arrest of war criminal Radovan Karadzic, who walked about freely in Belgrade in the guise of an alternative medicine guru after growing an enormous white beard, raises the obvious question: whatever happened to beards?
Are beards now truly at their fag end? Are they as long in the tooth as they could possible be? Are they plumbing new depths as ultimate image disaster?
It used to be, long ago, that a big bushy beard connotated boldness in the warrior. Much later, it was that a beard would give you an intellectual cachet, the air of someone who was wise but also earnestly versed in questions of ideology or philosophy.
Ever since ZZ Top first stormed the charts, however, the beard has strayed ever further into fashion wilderness. Now, wearing one just suggests being out of it.
What did Al Gore do once his bid for the Presidency ended in tragic farce? He grew a big beard. What was the first thing Bill Richardson did when his candidacy in the Democratic primaries finally blinked to an end? He grew a beard.
What happened to Jack, for that matter, when he returned from the island and struggled with his new life back home? He took to drugs and drink, lost it on the surgery workfloor, and grew a beard.
And now there is Karadzic. And bin Laden. A beard, it seems, is now exclusively for those who lost it - or just want to be lost.
Can you trust Jack, when he's speeding in his truck with the stereo pumping out screeching metal noise at max? Can you trust Karadzic? Can you trust Osama? Who would trust someone with a beard?
Discuss.
Me?
But then mine comes and goes.
I forgot to add the poll:
Beardies, a menace II society?
- When I see a bearded man, I cross the street. A bearded woman, I leave the city.
- I do find them somewhat suspicious. I mean, not saying they should lose the right to vote, but... y'know?
- I have no problem with people with beards. Or people with two heads, for that mater. People are just oversensitive.
- I have a beard, and I have not lost it! I HAVE NT LOSTT IT!!1!1!
I'd thought, most here post on
beardcommunity as well?
Too many people with beards use them to hide a lack of facial expression. They just don't trouble to bother with it anymore, and think the rest of us won't notice.
Mine comes and goes as well. I have noticed that historically when someone has thrown a fist at me; it was while I was wearing no beard. I truly believe that on the average, people think you're more dangerous with one. Really.
No, I think it's cause they can't see you smirking at them from under a beard.
OCCOM BILL wrote:Mine comes and goes as well. I have noticed that historically when someone has thrown a fist at me; it was while I was wearing no beard. I truly believe that on the average, people think you're more dangerous with one. Really.
E.G. said that recently too. He started growing out a goatee back around Christmas I think and he now sports this big ol' shaggy goat that he's rather proud of. He says that it definitely changes reactions he gets, in terms of people deferring to him/ not messing with him.
The only reason I quit wearing a beard was because of a skin condition the growth aggrivated.
In the 60s in Texas, I was intimidated by the number of men looking at me with murder in their hearts, and temporarily shaved. I grew it again and was targeted in Louisiana and Alabama, on a trip to Rhode Island. People in Rhode Island were generally less openly against it, although I had a few people follow me around to be certain I would not steal from them. On the other hand, I had people who were taken with me as a result of the beard, including my first wife.
RP's had a beard for nearly all of the almost 20 years I've known him. It's cute.
Funny, Caribou.
sozobe wrote:OCCOM BILL wrote:Mine comes and goes as well. I have noticed that historically when someone has thrown a fist at me; it was while I was wearing no beard. I truly believe that on the average, people think you're more dangerous with one. Really.
E.G. said that recently too. He started growing out a goatee back around Christmas I think and he now sports this big ol' shaggy goat that he's rather proud of. He says that it definitely changes reactions he gets, in terms of people deferring to him/ not messing with him.
Ooh... especially
the Goat. Beans (my Russian Ex) said the goat made me look cruel.
Btw... Turbo Frog is now being courted by Harvard. He received a personal invitation after nailing a bunch of AP tests. He's got valedictorian wrapped up already and is pretty sure he wants to be PresidentÂ… and is now planning his moves accordingly.
I don't think there are qualms about messing with a guy with a beard. I had a full beard back when I played a lot of basketball, and a lot of guys would yap at you about it. Course, if it got too bad, a sharp elbow to the throat would put a stop to it. Maybe the beard was protective against retaliation...
Bill, that's fabulous! Go, Turbo Frog. I'll update E.G.
I can see that beards would change some peoples' affect more than others. E.G. is tall but thin and the thin-ness usually offsets the automatic intimidation factor of the tallness. Plus he's just looked kinda nerdy for a while now (occupational hazard). He has pale skin, pale hair, and pale blue eyes; his goatee is darker than his head-hair and just brings more definition to his face, makes his eyes look more intense, that kind of thing.
Anyway, he says he really notices a difference.
Probably depends on who you interact with too. Pick-up guys are always trash-talking using whatever ammo is available. Elbows are useful, there. (I got more elbows than trash talk though -- the guys were a bit shy about trash-talking women, but if someone was guarding them too closely, the elbows were a reflex, regardless of the guard-ers gender.)
I threw my 'bows under the boards, lady. With the ball, I was a clean player. (Conditioning from playing loads of officiated games: you can get away with murder away from the action or in a scrum, but out in the open floor the zebras are watching.)
Ah, that makes sense. I played one year of "real" b-ball in middle school -- I was a relatively clean player I think, don't remember much -- then all the rest was pick-up and only pick-up, no zebras. (And no sympathy for whiners.)
Funny thing is, though, a lot of those pick-up guys will get pissed off if you lay a hard screen on their blind side or box out like -- well, like us country cagers were taught to box out...
But -- beards!
Man that's ugly.
Something about the proximity of armpit hair makes it even grodier.
I'm two weeks in to a full face. Its warmer on a cold morning. mumpad sys its because I'm insecure about my thinning locks.
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