Beards, for me, are itchy and uncomfortable. Plus, being clean-shaven was a mantra from my late mother (see my signature line.)
Why Do We Shave?
- Thread starter Shutterbug57
- Start date
Nope.
I imagine getting them on you is probably a lot easier than getting them off of you!
Ok - so I tried to do a bit of research on the question of why we shave. Here's a quote from page 28 of the "Standardized Barbers Manual" published by the Associated Master Barbers of America (revised 1928 edition):
"The word barber comes from the Latin word "barba," meaning beard. It may surprise you to know that the earliest records of barbers show that they were the foremost men of their tribe. They were the medicine men and the priests. This was because primitive man was very superstitious and the early tribes believed that every individual was inhabited by good and bad spirits which entered the body through the hairs on the head [including, presumably, the face]. The bad spirits could be driven out only by cutting the hair......and this made the barber the most important man in the community."
So it appears that we shave to keep the good spirits in, and to keep the bad spirits out. I'm not very superstitious (unlike my primitive forefathers), but as someone who thoroughly enjoys my shaves, I can say this: shaving does seem to consistently put me in better spirits......so maybe they were on to something after all.
Shave well!
"The word barber comes from the Latin word "barba," meaning beard. It may surprise you to know that the earliest records of barbers show that they were the foremost men of their tribe. They were the medicine men and the priests. This was because primitive man was very superstitious and the early tribes believed that every individual was inhabited by good and bad spirits which entered the body through the hairs on the head [including, presumably, the face]. The bad spirits could be driven out only by cutting the hair......and this made the barber the most important man in the community."
So it appears that we shave to keep the good spirits in, and to keep the bad spirits out. I'm not very superstitious (unlike my primitive forefathers), but as someone who thoroughly enjoys my shaves, I can say this: shaving does seem to consistently put me in better spirits......so maybe they were on to something after all.
Shave well!
Yes. That is me to a tee
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Folks might not realize that a lot of people have to shave everyday just to survive. A lot of industry have chemicals that are toxic and SCBA could be needed. Fire fighters who have to enter buildings that are full of nasty smoke and unknowns.
I shaved every day to work in a industrial setting in case I had to dawn a potable mask in a belt bag so I could exit to safe harbour.
There are a lot of other jobs that require cleaned shaven faces not just for survival but dress code like military and business.
I shaved every day to work in a industrial setting in case I had to dawn a potable mask in a belt bag so I could exit to safe harbour.
There are a lot of other jobs that require cleaned shaven faces not just for survival but dress code like military and business.
When I worked with TB patients I HAD to be klean shaven!
I look like a bum with facial hair, or mentally ill.
Or someone at Woodstock.
I can't rock ANY of those looks.
Or someone at Woodstock.
I can't rock ANY of those looks.
Are you speaking of folks that caught tuberculosis or folks that know me in real life?
I shave because I enjoy both the process and the result. I maintain a mustache and some beard because I look better with them. And the LOTH married me when I had them and wouldn't recognize me without them. I did one clean shave during our years together. We had a good laugh.
Professionally, some well maintained facial hair told my clients that I was confident that my results would justify my excessive rates. And kept me from being mistaken for an employee.
Professionally, some well maintained facial hair told my clients that I was confident that my results would justify my excessive rates. And kept me from being mistaken for an employee.
Same here.
Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
Of the many reasons, the white stubble isn’t a good look for my ego.
Why do I shave? Several reasons. First, my beard is coarse and grey and I look about 20 years older than I really am when I dont shave. When I do shave I look, smell and feel much better. I also love the manly art of shaving, especially with a straight razor. Also, my beard itches like crazy if I let it grow. My wife likes it when I take care of my grooming. I cant imagine starting my day without a shave. Finally, I am just so pleased with how much money I have saved by taking up old school shaving. And if you believe all that, I have some swamp land to sell you.
I also have a large and flamboyant handlebar moustache. If I grew a beard my moustache would not be so obvious.
Hi,
This is me as well. Breathing toxic fumes seeping by the seal is bad for continued breathing.
Shave and live. Don't shave and die.
Stan
I suspect that this has something to do with the social approval of shaving. The removal of facial hair not only makes a male more recognizable to his group, it distances him from hair- or fur-covered lower primates and other animals. True, in the latter part of the 19th Century in the West, a beard was seen in terms of manliness: the mark of a man who either was busy (read: "successful") and had no leisure time for a shave, or had the resources to have the beard professionally tended by his barber. Then, as someone else mentioned, along came World War I, and the necessity for a clean-shaven face for gas mask-wearing cropped up.Are you asking why do we, as a society, shave, or why do we INDIVIDUALLY shave?
Society wise, I heard a theory that once men (and women) began living together, in groups, a shaved man was seen as more compliant and less threatening, thereby fitting into the group easier and easing any apprehension amongst his fellow males.
. . .⛱
Though I have a neatly-trimmed "Commander Riker" style beard, I shave every 36 to 48 hours because I like the way it feels and makes me feel afterward. And it is a link to a sadly-bygone time when men (and women) tried to look their best, both at home and outside.
This. The same why I brush my teeth or take a shower.
So I won’t look like these guys.
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