Beards are where the Communism is stored. As the ruling class become richer and more obscene, class consciousness grows amongst the working class. Hence, beards.
There is a time while growing a beard that it looks like shit.
Most of the people shave it off to not go through it.
But the pandemic meant people could go for weeks without seeing an other human. Which is the perfect time to grow a beard and get over the awkward phase without getting laughed at too much.
The biggest problem with growing a beard is that it only looks good after a certain amount of time. When people grow beards it's usually when they are on vacation because it is nice not having to shave and you dont have to look professional with a crazy half grown beard.
A couple of years ago the word took an extended vacation and a lot of people took the opportunity to grow a beard.
First there was WWII, when all men had to be skinheads. Those men continued shaving, and this became a culture handed down to their boys. Now, we’re rebelling against the elders who fucked up everything, so we grow beards to show that we’re different to them.
Source. A lumberjack appered in front of me in a dream I had in 2009.
I always figured rona caused a big enough surge in beards owing to WFH allowing folks to get past the scruff hump that beards could be back on the table again.
Could be recency bias, could be that fashion is a cycle that repeats and old fashions are rediscovered.
Could be laziness because at some point it becomes easier to trim a beard once every month than shave everyday.
Some people's skin also can't handle daily trauma from razors.
It also looks more interesting than a vanilla clean shave, imo. People might be looking to stand out for that reason.
Personally I've always found most men look more attractive with beards (I'm a straight dude) so I grew one as soon as I could.
After having it for a while I decided to shave as I hadn't seen my actual face in a few years. After I shaved I realized that I have very chubby cheeks that make me look like a literal child.
In my case, it’s because I prefer it. Razors are expensive, and who has time to shave anyway? I’ve had a beard off and on since college in the 80s, when it made me look about five years older. Now it makes me look about 10 years younger. I’ll take it. :)
I get awful razor burn and I hate shaving. Grow beard, trim the mo' every now and then, go see my barber for a tidy up when it starts getting too wild. So much easier
I feel like beards are a reaction to the clean-cut look of the 1980s and 90s. The mainstream aesthetic was clean-cut brutalism, from architecture to facial hair. People in media lived in almost empty spaces made of concrete and hard lines. Even the grunge/plaid look of the 90s featured beardless dudes with a hint of stubble.
In the 2000s, there was a reaction against that. People looked for alternatives. Hipsters grew beards and mustaches. Instead of IKEA catalogs, movie characters lived in cottage-core wizard hangouts or busy apocalyptic shelters. This will continue for a while.
In the next decade or two we're going to see a reaction against that. Politics are going to get funky and I think that'll help get us back to clean-cut and brutal. But here's hoping for a hirsute solar-punk future. Given a choice, I'd take a 1990s-style perfect shave in a solar-punk future, but that's just me.
The question is: why are you shaving? Why are you so afraid of looking like yourself?
When you have a beard, people respect you. They listen when you talk and hold doors open for you. I have a hard time trusting a man with a clean shaved face, because our interaction is starting off with a lie. I feel the same way about makeup and fake eyebrows and plastic surgery.
As an example of how this trend is being noticed is that Jehovah's Witnesses relaxed the rules around facial hair for men in the United States at the beginning of this year.
Unfortunately, more recent information is googlebombed with people's lightly supported fluff pieces, so a cursory look didn't turn anything like this up for the 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's.
I hate shaving and I think it's a waste of time. I think facial hair can also act to make your appearance more visually interesting if you prefer to keep your hair cut really short like I do.
I've had a beard for 10+ years now. I was going thru a really rough period and didn't do much hygiene. Once I got out of that rut, I kinda liked it. My spouse, who initially said they didn't like beards, complained when I shaved it.
I've always wanted one. I have a baby face and it makes me look older and people take me more seriously.
I have a closely cropped beard. I grew it in the pandemic just to see if I could. It didn't look too bad and my wife didn't object so I kept it. Beats shaving every day.
In the US they were definitely out of fashion in the '80s and '90s. They were fashion statement that said "I'm a gross hippie" or worse, a BeeGee.
I was a teen at the time and the consensus among teen girls was that a beard was the ultimate dealbreaker of a physical attribute. Makes sense, really, because most guys our age couldn't grow a nice one if they wanted to. (And also - hippies are gross). I always respectfully disagreed, and would point to our classmate, Murad. He had pretty well grown facial hair by junior year and he looked fiiiinne.
The exception that proved the rule? Luckily (for Murad) my classmates generally agreed, but refused to back down from their opinion in general.
That attitude persisted, with the occasional appearance of a goatee or soul patch in the late '90s, both of which proved to be a gateway drug that led to the appearance of proper beards. I think a lot of guys would have liked to have beards, but realized that they were driving away potential partners. But they were pretty normal by 2010.
I'll drop this line from wikipedia, which should illustrate just how boringly mainstream beards have become in the US.
Since 2015 a growing number of male political figures have worn beards in office, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.
So many men think they look sexy with a beard.
Reality: You look like a serial killer from the backwoods.
Trim and wash it properly or shave it off.
Facial hair is such a turn off.
I mean, beards are in fashion for several years now, aren't they?
I personally started growing a beard, because my skin is easily irritated and I don't like walking arround looking like a pizza. Luckily I also think I look better with a short, well kept full beard. Beards either take time or look like shit though in my experience.