Shaving is a daily routine for millions of people around the world, perhaps a morning shave for men, a weekly leg-shave for women, or the plucking, waxing and laser treatments on other parts of the body. The human relationship to body hair is curious at best.

Did cavemen shave?

We might assume they had facial hair to help keep them warm. But it is also thought that cavemen removed hair from their heads and faces to prevent mites and other critters from forming nests and laying eggs in their hair, and it seems they would eliminate hair from their body by pulling hairs out one at a time, even using rocks or shells like tweezers to speed the process. Ouch. Experts have found artefacts suggesting that shaving has been around since 100,000 BC. Vikings had many reasons for keeping beards – they were needed to keep them warm in their cold climates, and was also an essential part of the Viking aesthetic, and they often went to great lengths to groom their beards to look attractive.

Banned Beards

Beards laws vary from country to country across the years, but the one that caught my interest was that of Peter the Great, Russia's autocrat. He tried to modernise and westernise Russia by introducing a ban on beards in 1698 and empowered police to forcibly and publicly shave those who refused to pay the tax he had created. Resistance to going clean shaven was widespread with many believing that it was a religious requirement for a man to wear a beard, and the Russian Orthodox Church declared being clean-shaven as blasphemous. An elaborate taxing system for the bearded man arose, with charges ranging for two half-kopeks for a one-off trip to the city to up to 100 roubles a year, depending on their status.

Ancient Egypt, the Birthplace of Groomed Beards

During these times, beards held great cultural significance. A well-kept beard was seen as a symbol of social status and men often decorated their beards with elaborate styles, using scented oils and even metal rings. Pharaohs, in particular, wore carefully crafted, forked beards to showcase their divine authority.

The ancient Greek beard was such an indicator of manliness that Spartans would shave off portions of a man's beard as punishment for cowardice. However, Alexander the Great commanded that all his soldiers go beardless, worried enemy soldiers would grab hold of the elaborate beards during battle.

During the European renaissance era, the beard was the defining feature of a man. While the Catholic clergy would remain clean-shaven as a sign of celibacy, most men’s jawlines during this period sported some form of fuzz. That’s not to say that facial hair went unopposed. Henry VIII was another to establish a tax on wearing a beard (though he wore one himself!).

Armies

The armed forces also have a richly hairy past. It is said that military moustache began some 200 years ago when cavalrymen across Europe adopted the awesome black moustache of the Hungarian Hussars, and Armies required officers and enlisted men to wear them to look fearsome – and if you were hairless, you had to get a fake one! The British army, for instance, has a policy regarding beards, which can only be grown with the commanding officer's authority, exceptions only being granted on medical, religious or traditional grounds. However, they are currently debating if this will change to align them with air force and navy policies.

There is even an international club for those with handlebar moustaches, still going strong since its formation in 1947. Their membership requirement is ‘a hirsute appendage of the upper lip, with graspable extremities’, and specifically refuses beards!

To beard or not to beard

Beard fashions came and go, and the introduction of the safety razor means that shaving has become so common that everyone can afford smooth cheeks. Do women really like their men with facial hair? The answer is varied, but a UK study found that women tend to find men with beards more masculine and aggressive, which are both potentially strong signs to search for in a mate!

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan