On Beards

This is going to be a "hairy" mail today. Excuse my bd un with the slang, but I am going to write about a subject dear to my heart (or is it close to my chin?) I am rarely asked by anyone except not so socially aware children ( but I see no harm in saying "Hey! Why the beard") as to why I wear a beard, but was asked today, and now I am telling not just the curious one but you too. In the course of humanity beard wearers have been ascribed with varied attributes ranging from wisdom, sexually power, wealth to being dirty, uncouth and weird (Hehe Guess which ones fit Jim?). But beard have been found in frequency in every culture in which male facial hair grows. The Egyptians had bearded men, the Romans, Kings, Emperors...you name it. But since you area woman you might wonder why they, and I wear a beard.
There are many reasons for this. Some wear them to cover a "weak chin", because it makes the person look older or more intelligent. Others wear them as a sign that they are different from most other men, the non beard wearers. Still others wear beards because they happened to not shave for awhile and found they looked or felt better than when beardless. Some religions make wearing a beard mandatory ot preferable . Also, wearing a beard gives one a great advantage over a non bearded men. That is, he doesn't have to shave. Shaving the face is different than shaving legs. The face is delicate and can cut easily. It is uncomfortable to shave and I think many bearded men decide that in itself is reason enough to have a hairy face.
I first wore a beard after release form the military, tired of hacking my face with blades and the short hair the military required, I became a longer haired and hairier faced person and liked it. But alas! My beard was not full enough to satisfy, so I shaved and lamented my clean looking shine. About two years later I tried again, and this time the beard grew in well. I have had it ever since and hope that when I die it will be with a beard.
My God! Dying beardless is like dying naked. there is no dignity in it for me, as I have been defined for much of my life partly by my beard. Some people object to make beards, maybe for cultural reasons or because they just think they are ugly to unclean. But a loved one should understand that it is improper to ask a man to shave his beard as it is for the man to ask a woman to shave her head. A common ancient Greek saying was that ,'There are two kinds of people in the world that go about beardless- boys and women. I am neither."
As for bearded Jim, I like my beard for many of the reasons above, not any one in particular. So if you if don't like beards , just try to relax. In time you may see one and smile, A beard is just one of those things that "grows on people" after awhile.