The rise of the Beard a new Symbol of Masculinity

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Sasi Nair

March 27, Mumbai

In the 80s and through the early 90s, many of the Indian men, especially south Indian males preferred to keep a moustache and shave off the beard. In the beginning of the 90s and much of the 2000s and early 2010s clean shaven was the norm and many of the multinationals also made it mandatory for their employees to be clean shaven. Women also preferred having clean shaven men, many of the matrimonial advertisements making it a condition.

Then it all changed in a rewind to the ancient Indian tradition, men began growing their beards, perhaps imitating Virat Kohli and other cricketers of the current Indian team. When you look at the world cup winning teams you can spot the difference, in 1983 much of the Indian team captained by Kapil Dev sported moustaches whereas in 2011 MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and others were clean shaven. The current team has gone aggressively full bearded.

Often film stars tend to copy successful cricketers and some cricketers copy movie star style and common men copy both movie stars and cricketers, especially the larger fan base. This is so for fans of both Bollywood and South Indian film industry and now with coronavirus and work from home option, people do not shave at all. Says a young IT professional who now doesn’t go to office and works full time from home, earlier I had to shave and groom myself to what my company wanted me to look like, however, I now have the freedom to keep my beard.

It is not just being religious, beard has now become a fashion symbol as it gives a sharp and serious looks to a man’s face, it also hides the jawline and makes the face-cut look better. Once you grow out one, people tend not to shave it off, even though maintaining a beard is a tough task. Earlier saloon professionals had it easy as they needed to apply the foam and shave off with the blade, now there is more work, says a saloon owner, we need to trim it and style it, colour it, etc. Whether it is a patchy beard or a full grown one, every shape and style varies.

Shopkeepers are now keeping more beard products in their shops: beard wash, beard oil, beard balm, beard comb, beard colour, and beard trimmer, have all become extremely popular. Pictures posted by men on social media where they have their beard on have received higher likes as against the ones in which they didn’t have one. While ladies use make-ups and hairdos to impress men on their social media and matrimonial profiles, men keep a well-groomed beard and click pictures with different camera angles to make themselves presentable.

Women find beard very attractive and masculinity ratings by women on social media have amplified linearly as facial hair profiles increased. Ladies find men having beard as more mature, more stable, and physically fit as well as confident. Perhaps in ancient time, seers and warriors kept beard, in modern world, film stars, sports icons, models and common men, both young as well as the older ones like to grow beards.

All these trends indicate that the beard is here to stay for the long term, long live the beard!

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