Tag Archives: bias

about beards.org

All About BEARDS for twenty-four years

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Welcome to the home of excellent beards!

The above greeting was the headline on the home page of All About BEARDS when the site made its debut on the worldwide web on January 17, 1996. I started the site to take a stand:

  • to proclaim that beards are okay, that beards are actually way more than okay
  • to declare that beards are natural and worthy and should be embraced rather than shunned
  • to stress that beards merit respect, appreciation, and even admiration
  • to state that it’s all right to have questions about beards and how to grow a beard and to seek out information about beards
  • to provide much-needed information on the right way to grow a beard as well as helpful information on beard styles and beard grooming
  • to encourage and inspire men all over the world to grow their beards

Ever since that first day twenty-four years ago, the site has steadfastly remained true to the bearded cause. That was the start of All About BEARDS’ efforts to increase beard acceptance. The goal has always been to enable men to be free to grow their beards as they see fit.

Beard progress

Yes, beards have come a long way since 1996. In recent years and still today, beards are seen in far greater numbers and enjoy a lot more acceptance. Today beards are seen much more frequently in popular media than probably ever before. A notable indicator is the number of beards seen in television commercials. Back when All About BEARDS first started, it was highly unlikely to ever see a beard in a television commercial. Nowadays it seems that nearly every man appearing in a television commercial has a beard, usually even a full beard. That’s some beard progress.

In the years since All About BEARDS started, many more companies have eased or lifted restrictions on employee beards. Men in a variety of professions are growing beards and finding that their beards are not a detriment to a professional appearance. This represents great progress. However, plenty of employers still maintain outdated restrictions on beards.

Today beards are seen less like an oddity and more like an accepted, everyday thing. And beards these days regularly summon plenty of compliments from both women and men. Many a time I’ve had people go out of their way to compliment me on my beard.

That pesky anti-beard bias

Despite all the gains in acceptance and the increased goodwill toward beards, there remains a surprising amount of anti-beard sentiment. Lots of people still voice strong criticisms of beards with great conviction. They may claim that all beards are unsightly and unkempt. They may say that beards are unclean. They may say that beards are offensive or disgraceful.

Others may allow for beards, but impose their own restrictions, especially with respect to size or length. Some state that beards that exceed a certain length, sometimes as little as a quarter of an inch, are absolutely unacceptable and must not be tolerated. In most of these cases, they appoint themselves to decide whether others may grow their beards or to what extent these beards may be permitted to grow. They are also quick to insist that new beard growers stop that beard-growing nonsense immediately and shave. They can be unrelenting in their demands that new beard growers obey their wishes. All of this serves as a reminder that much more progress is needed to counter anti-beard bias.

All About BEARDS: 24 years -- Chris' beard
All About BEARDS: Growing strong for twenty-four years!

Do your part and grow your beard

When it comes to beards, I continue to stress that there is strength in numbers. This works in many ways. Overall, the more beards there are, the more common they become. As beards become more common, greater numbers of people become accustomed to them. With increased familiarity with beards, more acceptance follows.

Each bearded man has the opportunity to be a positive role model, improving the image of bearded men in general. Bearded men and beard fans should actively encourage other men to grow their beards. And those new beard growers should do the same. This increases the number of beards in the world and helps grow more acceptance of beards. Now do your part and grow your beard! Also share this post and encourage others to grow.

Many thanks go to all of the wonderful friends who have supported and grown with All About BEARDS during the last twenty-four years!

about beards.org

All About BEARDS for twenty-three years

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Adding more beards to the world

Twenty-three years ago today a little beard website made its online debut: All About BEARDS. That was the small beginning of a worldwide mission to promote beards and the growing of beards. Accompanying this effort was the important mission of providing helpful information about beards. The site developed an easy-to-follow guide on how to grow a beard successfully. The All About BEARDS beard-growing guide has helped thousands of men around the world to grow their beards. Before these men started growing, the site helped convince them to do so. In many cases, the All About BEARDS site inspired them to grow and bolstered their confidence to stay with it all the way through to beard success.

By promoting beards without wavering, All About BEARDS set out to increase public acceptance of beards. With the increased popularity of beards in recent years, it may be hard to fathom that beards used to be far more rarely seen. And it was not long ago that beards enjoyed far less acceptance than they do today.

Recently Scott, pictured above, reported that he was speaking with a young man who is just a year older than the All About BEARDS site. In reference to All About BEARDS, the young man asked Scott why there would be a need for a website devoted to promoting beards. Scott mentioned this exchange to one of his dearest friends. In response, she told Scott to tell me, “Mission accomplished.”

The heartbreak of anti-beard bias

While I was delighted to hear that congratulatory “Mission accomplished”, All About BEARDS‘ mission will never be fully accomplished. Even today while beards seemingly enjoy great popularity and acceptance, the negativity of anti-beard bias remains surprisingly prevalent. It may not be as readily apparent as before. But it still lurks about and makes itself known with too much frequency.

There are people who still comment about how much they detest beards. There are still those who ridicule new-beard growers and insist that they shave. Or, these self-appointed beard police often inform bearded men that their beards must be trimmed down substantially or shaved off altogether. Why should someone else hold so much veto power over your beard? And thanks to these people, there are still far too many men who are too reluctant to grow their beards. It is not easy to eliminate the harm of anti-beard bias. However, All About BEARDS will continue undeterred.

Growing for the future

  • Scott, beard photo 2: all about beards, 23 years
  • Scott, beard photo 3: all about beards, 23 years


Click on either image above to view larger.

One of the main ways to grow beard acceptance is for as many men as possible to grow their beards. The more bearded men there are, the more others will grow accustomed to being around beards and, with that, acceptance follows. There is strength in numbers.

Of course, when beards are more common, beard-growing pioneers may long for the old days when having a beard made them stand out even more. When beards were less common, those who steadfastly remained bearded often felt that having a beard made them more unique, making them stand out from the rest, and giving them a certain mystique. They have a point when stating that when every man has a beard, having a beard may not make them feel nearly as special as before. However, we still have a long way to go. Even today at large public events I may look out into the crowds and see that beards are few and far in between.

When it comes to the future of beards, I still say that more is better. Adding more beards to the world by inspiring more men to grow their beards is one of the best ways to make the world more beard-friendly. And the more beard-friendly the world becomes, more men will feel free to grow their beards as they see fit.

If you are one of the thousands of men who grew their beards with inspiration or assistance from All About BEARDS, I express to you my hearty thanks. If you grew your beard without inspiration or assistance from All About BEARDS, I thank you for growing as well. And if you have not yet grown your beard, I invite you to visit our guide on how to grow a beard and start growing for the future right now!

about beards.org

Twenty-two years, all about beards

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Here we are again at another all about beards anniversary. Today marks twenty-two years since that little site started out on its mission to promote beards, share information about beards, and celebrate beards. During this time, we have helped thousands and thousands of men all around the world to grow their beards. This, “adding beards to the world”, is among our proudest achievements.

Adding more beards to the world is one of the best ways to increase acceptance, and even respect, for beards. The more beards there are, the more the general population becomes accustomed to them. The more the general population becomes accustomed to beards, the more accepting of beards people become. With that, more people are less likely to harbor that pesky old anti-beard bias that surprisingly and stubbornly resists fading away. The anti-beard bias was much stronger in the early days of all about beards. And it was even stronger for years and years prior to that. Anti-beard bias, however, still remains stronger than many may realize. Plenty of people still feel entitled to tell new beard growers and established beard growers alike that they should shave. A milder form of anti-beard bias allows for limited beard growth, but not too much, with the limit defined by the beard critic. Grow your beard a bit beyond stubble length and you may hear, “That beard’s too long. You’ve got to trim that down.” Here at all about beards, we think that beard critics do not have the right to dictate what restrictions must be imposed on a man’s beard.

Anti-beard bias will never disappear completely. However, we are happy to see that it is much weaker now than it was twenty-two years ago. In recent years beards have made great gains in numbers and in acceptance. We could not be happier, except for the movement to continue in favor of beards.

Ready to grow your beard? Be sure to check out our tried and true beard growing guide and start growing today!

We will always keep growing. We are all about beards.