This thread is interesting. I see a lot of us saying beards are good, but I always thought the conventional wisdom is that they are bad. I used to have big sideburns but people would often say things like, "why cover up a pretty face with hair?" Traditionally, I say screw what other people think, do what you want to do, but now I'm trying to be a "real adult" and shaved it off gradually. I still got girls, but it was suggested I'd get more without it. This could be true, its hard to say though because I'm not in college anymore and girls/women my age are hard to find in the 'burbs. I've heard girls say they can think "stubble is cute but hurts when kissing." I personally love beards and when I meet a dude with one I feel a sense of camaraderie with them, because I know facial hair is persecuted. Since I'm job hunting, I have no facial hair. I think its a shame facial hair is discouraged because its such a big medium for self-expression and style. Its like seeing a chick with short hair, its a waste.
Facial hair was big in the 19th century, but began to fall out of style when gas masks were used in World War I by the troops. Also, a common thing people gripe about on this forum (and I agree with them) that society is feminizing males, being actually masculine is considered bad, and the common conception is that beards are also bad. The general trend in our globalist, western-dominated world is toward androgyny.
