ABSTRACT
Designer stubble has grown into the designer beard. The list of men in the limelight who have full beards has skyrocketed. Top of the list are David Beckham, Brad Pitt, Sting, Johnny Depp, and Michael Sheen. Men will often grow beards when they have suffered a bereavement, a trauma such as divorce or job loss, or an injury. Young men tend to grow beards in order to look older and to give them gravitas. Beards may also be a reaction to the fact that gender roles are not so clearly demarcated. The most striking aspect of beard behaviour is that it seems to be primarily aimed at other men. In a survey conducted by Lynx on people’s attitudes to beards, sixty-three per cent of the men claimed that they thought they made men appear more manly and attractive and ninety-five per cent of women found men with stubble a turn-off.
