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Strollerderby
Boys With Beards — The New Trend?
It’s been nearly 30 years since I’ve been clean shaven. At first it was so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for a girl — not that that’s bad; it just gets confusing in the boy’s locker room — but for the most part it’s because I’m far too lazy to shave every day. And now, I’m not just lazy, I’m a trendsetter. Rather than shaving, it seems teenage boys are choosing to celebrate their new-found facial hair, even to the point of forming “beard clubs” at their school.
The teens, however, are remaining hirsute for different reasons than I. “There’s kind of a beard respect,” said Ryan Cole, a 17-year-old junior at Olentangy Liberty High School in Powell Ohio. “If you can grow a beard, everyone’s like ‘Hey, very nice.’ You have to respect someone with facial hair.” How can you argue with that?
Cole and bearded pal Jared Acker have formed the Beard Club, an extracurricular group meeting for the first time this month. The group has a dozen members and two teachers, with beards, of course, as advisers. The group’s mission is to promote “beard awareness and hygiene throughout the school community,” and plans are in the works to discuss the history and care of beards as well as grooming products.
Of course, the fact that beards make a man look older hasn’t been lost on the teens. “People think I’m a teacher when I walk into a classroom,” said 18-year-old Acker, who hasn’t shaved in years. “I’m the kid with the beard, and I have been for a long time.” And when you’re a teenager, looking older is a big deal.
Photo: kabir
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1 Comment
noslot commented on Jan 11 10 at 10:31 pmWhen I was in High School, I decided that shaving was too much work, and grew a beard. Add in that I wore a 3 piece suit and tie to school everyday (social experiment started earlier) and everybody thought that I was either a teacher, administrator, guest lecturer, or trespasser (right after Columbine lots of problems and a couple of arrests.) I also know that my looking older led to many benefits, from free food for my friends to not being carded for alcohol purchases (can you say party connection?) to never being stopped for skipping class. I say good for them. Beards make a man feel like a man, especially with all this manscaping crap going on. I know many men are afraid that women won’t like it, but stubble is rough and beards are soft (if taken care of properly) plus, an added bonus if you live in a cold region is you have extra insulation.
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