Beard Envy (Published April 2013, Avenue Calgary)

A man lets his beard run wild in the lead up to his wedding day and inadvertently creates a conversation about facial fair

Ever since King C. Gillette’s 1903 safety razor, the beard has mostly slept in the halls of academia or temples, or in back alleys.

Perhaps from its elitist and vagrant reputations grew the old saying “Never trust a man with a beard.” And maybe that’s why Canada hasn’t had a bearded prime minister in 117 years. But the beard’s resurgence of the past few years has businessmen, band members and Beckham alike challenging this assumption.

Psychology is on their side. A 2010 Journal of Marketing Communications study showed that, in everything but underwear ads (don’t tell Beckham), bearded men are perceived as more credible and trustworthy. And, when it comes to social situations, a 2012 Behavioural Ecology article showed that, even in cultures as disparate as Europeans from New Zealand and Polynesians from Samoa, both males and females perceive bearded men as older and of a higher status. [continue reading]