Gillette research promotes bare-faced chic

Related tags Beard

Gillette, the US male grooming company, claim that sporting a
facial adornment - ranging from beards, and moustaches, to designer
stubble - can seriously hamper your chances of success in the
fields of wealth, politics and power. Tom Armitage reports.

The survey, undertaken by researchers for Gillette's M3Power razor brand, found that over half of the 500 women interviewed preferred the clean-shaven look - simply because the majority perceive men with beards to be untrustworthy.

Perhaps an ironic coincidence, the main thrust of the research pointed out that for nearly 100 years, bearded or moustached US presidential candidates have consistently failed in their attempts to woo voters - with just over a fifth of former presidents donning so-called 'facial furniture'.

And with just over one week to go before US voters take to the polls, it appears both presidential candidates John Kerry and George W Bush have proved without exception.

"The wearing of beards has been seen as a political liability for some time, because of the historical belief that they are diabolical, unhygienic or disguise the wearer's true face,"​ says Allan Peterkin, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

"Beards have been perceived as an expression which could range from communist to anti-establishment,"​ he added.

And it is not just presidents who have made a stand against beards; an overwhelming majority of the richest and most powerful men in America have also elected to be smooth.

The Gillette study mentions that all of the G8 Chiefs of State, and an estimated 82 per cent of the 100 wealthiest men in America, have all managed to successfully resist the temptation of the beard.

The Journal of Mundane Behaviour, an alliance between Millersville University, and California State University, however, appears to refute Gillette's research, claiming that beards are a "signifier of masculinity,"​ which alters according to public perception of that period.

It appears that the hostility directed towards facial hair is only a fairly recent pheomenon, with former well-known beard-wearers including none other than Jesus Christ, Leonardo da Vinci, and a host of ancient Greek philosophers.

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