Why grow a beard?
There are many reasons for growing a beard. One way to find out why men grow beards is to ask them. Here I have summarized some of the main reasons for growing a beard submitted by participants in the beard survey. Following the summary are selections from survey responses.
What were your reasons for growing a beard?
The following list summarizes several of the most frequent responses
to the question above. The list is not in any prioritized order.
- I always wanted to grow a beard.
- I wanted to see how I would look with a beard.
- I like the way beards look.
- I like the way beards look and feel.
- I hate to shave.
- I wanted to change my appearance.
- I look better, more handsome, with a beard
- It is the natural thing to do.
- It is the manly thing to do.
- It suits my personality.
- I wanted to look older.
- I wanted to look more distinguished.
- Growing a beard is a family tradition.
- It is something that women cannot do.
- I wanted to express my freedom upon leaving military service.
In their own words
Here are several sample responses from beard survey participants.
What were your reasons for growing a beard?
I grew a beard because I hated shaving and I like the way beards look.
Went on holiday and couldn’t be bothered to shave. Liked the look of the resulting beard and decided to keep it!
I enjoy the look and feel. It gives some indication of my personality, being the outdoors type.
Couldn’t wait to grow my beard. Always admired bearded men and wanted to look like them.
Like beards. Hate shaving.
Easier than shaving. Looks better.
I feel it really enhances my looks.
I like the look of a nice beard…
Also I grew it to look older. Hadn’t tried it before and wanted to see how it would look.
I GREW IT TO MAKE ME LOOK A LITTLE OLDER, FOUND OUT IT ALSO MADE ME MORE HANDSOME.
I like the way it looks.
ALWAYS WANTED ONE. LIKED THE IDEA I COULD!
Beards are beautiful and a natural part of a man’s face. I cannot fathom fighting a daily battle against something my own body does naturally.
Its masculine qualities. The fact that men can grow beards is a characteristic that nature has given us to distinguish ourselves from the female gender. I thought it would be interesting and
fulfilling for me to grow one. I also have red hair and thought a red beard on my face would add more character.
I was a senior in college and had always wanted to do it and it seemed the right time.
It’s the natural state of a man’s face, and I like the way it looks.
To me, it makes a man look even manlier, and handsome. Men should look as masculine as they can in my opinion. It’s one those things that separate the men from the boys (or girls).
I like the way it looks and feels.
Wanted to see if I could, and prove to those who thought I was so predictable, that I am not. Basically just wanted to try it at least once.
My beard gives me a distinctive look.
A beard highly improves the appearance of a man’s face. A beard is to a face like the music is to a poem. 🙂 Beards are beautiful!
Excited I finally could! Experiment.
I enjoy the look and feeling of having a beard!
Completes the face. Looks good. Commands attention, too.
I like how it looks on me.
I like the look and feel of it.
The beard has become a part of my identity. I can’t imagine myself without it! I can’t imagine shaving it off either!
Made me feel more distinguished. I realized once I grew it, I couldn’t let go of it.
I think it made me look better and more handsome to the girls.
Looks good. Expression of manliness. I hate to shave.
I never dared to grow a beard because I was afraid it would look foolish upon someone barely 20 years of age. But then I had a summer job. I had to get up very early in the
morning and I didn’t have the time to shave. After 2 weeks I had a nice beard and people were very positive about it.
To gain a more masculine look and just the fact that I liked the look of a beard.
Always wanted one. Looks masculine. Part of my personality.
I just liked the look, very masculine.
To see what it looked like.
Wanted to see if I could.
I like the look of a beard, the feel of a beard, and I hate everything associated with shaving.
I have always liked the look of a beard and always thought that one would look good on me.
I like the way they look, makes me feel very manly.
natural thing to do
I like the way it looks and feels. It is one of the few things a man can still do,that most women can not….
Fulfill a dream
Always wanted to.
I thought they looked good. Some girls I dated years ago liked the looks of it. My wife actually prefers that I have a beard. She thinks it makes me look more distinguished. In all honesty the beard kept at proper length helps protect against cold as well as heat. Also, once the beard is grown out, if you need to come home and get changed to go out for a meeting or appointment, you don’t have to worry about the 5 o’clock shadow, as if you weren’t washed and clean. You seem to be more consistent looking, because people will know, “Hey this guy sports a beard”.
Women like men with beards…
I like the look of my face better with a beard.
To put it simply, I look hot with a beard.
How it looks, and how it makes ME feel with it.
All the men in my family have beards.
Always imagined myself with a beard.
I like the way it shapes the contours of my face. I like the feel of a full beard. I like the looks I get from other men who wish they could grow full beards.
It’s masculine. I like it. I don’t have to drag steel across my face daily. I like my beard. It’s part of me and my personality. Besides, others tell me it’s sexy! 🙂
Looks good and feels good.
In some ways I feel that the ability to grow a beard is synonymous with manhood. I always felt that growing a beard was a very sexy thing to do. I like the look, the feel and the reaction I get from others when I have a beard. Beards make a man look unique and distinguished.
looks cool
I have had a beard for 16 years now and will probably have it for the rest of my life. I like the way I look with my beard.
Looks great and very masculine.
Just luv to have a beard.
Makes me feel good and it looks great.
I find it very sexy to have a beard.
I like ’em. I grew one in college and it looked good on me. Then I went into the military and… As soon as I retired, I grew one again.
I look good in a beard and it fills in nicely. Besides, I was in the military for over 12 years and couldn’t grow one then except on vacations. Now I am out of the military and can do whatever I please. 😉
Women wear makeup; men grow beards.
- It’s a socially acceptable way of saying “I’m a man”.
- It’s sexy.
- Keeps my face warmer during winter.
I grew my beard at the age of 23 during a change I was making in my life. My father grew a beard for the Expo 67 year, like many Canadian men did, and that became the way I’ve known him ever since.
I always had an appreciation for beards/moustaches.
Personal – I think it looks GREAT!
Professional – for operas and plays
I feel better about myself with a beard.
HAVING A BEARD IS A VERY SPECIAL THING. IT IS VERY MASCULINE AND SEXY.
Maybe just to prove that I can. They look stately. People treat you differently.
It’s part of who I am.
Because I like beards.
Beards give their wearers some gravitas. I wanted a look that combined virility with intelligence (I think beards are sensual, but also connote power and mind). I tried a goatee first, then went to a full beard, and, about five years ago, let it go long–my beard is now voluminous and fairly lengthy, giving a sort of 19th-century (Lytton-Strachey) look. It is completely distinctive, and gets me comments all the time. Too, there is the nuisance of shaving, which I never really enjoyed all that much, and quit doing at about age 23.
I like the way that it frames my face. I think I look better with a beard.
Liked the look and feel. Like the way having a beard makes me feel.
Purely looks. I like the look of a beard. It sets me apart from the crowd.
The masculine looks that it gave and the sheer feel of the hair on my face were reasons enough to grow a beard.
I just thought that a beard would suit me. Almost all of my historical role models had some sort of beard. Plus, I think beards look cool and add decoration to one’s face. They also provide a more mature appearance, at least for me. I have always seen beards as a part of our natural heritage. Men in every culture have grown them for centuries. Moses, Jesus, Robert E. Lee, JEB Stuart, the Babylonians, Saxons, Vikings, Mongols, and all other sorts of people were proud of them. Unfortunately, our ancestors picked up on that nasty Roman habit of shaving. (Which is a shame because I’m sure that most Romans probably could have grown excellent beards, as a few of them did). I have always admired beards, but most of my family and girlfriends have hated them.
I like the way it looks! It is a part of me.
My father had a beard. My uncles and brothers had (have) them. From a very young age I felt that it “just seemed right” that men should grow beards. I like the way they look.
Well I guess the main reason I grow my beard is because I look better with my beard. Plus I get tired of shaving all the time.
To create a rougher, more manly look.
Beards are cool.
I believe it is the way God intended us to be. He did not provide us with the ability to grow facial hair unless He wanted us to grow facial hair. I also like the way it looks and feels. But my Mom hates it!
I love my beard and have only shaved it a few times, but grew it right back.
I liked the look… I like the fact that it adds a few years to my age, I am 27 and am told I look around thirty (which is great by me). I also enjoy the feel of my beard as I rub my hands through it, I find it very relaxing (kinda a habit I guess).
Beards are *very* sexy…a statement to the world that you have come of age and are ready to meet any challenge.
I wanted one. 🙂
I like the way it looks on me and the way others view me with it. They tend to view me in a different light with it. I keep it short and trimmed.
I think it is sexy and masculine. At first it was also to make me look older. Now I am older and I love my beard.
I really enjoy the look and feel.
Just wanted to grow one.
Wanted to see if I could.
After leaving the military, I felt a big change was needed. Actually I’m lazy and would rather not shave any more than I have too. I have had a beard for 21 years. Think about shaving it off every summer but haven’t so far.
I don’t really know. I just wanted to grow a beard for as long as I can remember.
My father always had one.
released from army
They look and feel good and are distinctively masculine.
It requires some courage to grow a beard. Your Internet site (that I discovered one month ago) has helped me. I only had the moustache so far. Thank you very much.
Because almost every man looks better with a beard than without. Beards are distinctive, stylish, expand the possibilities for personal grooming and expressiveness.
Because I wanted to and could. Grew it in first semester in undergrad (1978) when I left home and have had it ever since.
Looks primarily. I always wanted a beard while growing up because to me it was a symbol of rustic manliness. It also carries with it a certain dignity when it is well trimmed.
To stand out from the clean shaven masses.
Cause I like them and thought it would make me look better (and it has). More men should have them!!!
I think they look cool. I think my face looks better with one.
Initially, I grew a beard to end my problem with shaving bumps, common with many Afro-American men. Also, I wanted to look older.
I FEEL LIKE A REAL MAN HAVING A BEARD.
They look so awesome!
I don’t know exactly why, but as long as I remember I knew that I would have a beard. My father used to tell me that when I used to watch him shave when I was three, I would tell him that I would never shave and that I would have a beard…..and I have only shaved it off twice since I was 18 and it was for only one day and I started over
again.
To me, it is the most meaningful symbol of healthy masculinity.
I grew a beard because I thought that it looked cool, and I have always wanted to grow a beard. My father has a beard and I suppose that had something to do with it.
To give myself a more manly look. I find men who can’t grow good full beards envy men who can. All men have the need to grow beards. If for no other reason, just so they can feel like a real man. All women love mine!
I don’t like to shave, of course. I also think that almost any man who can grow a thick-enough beard looks better with a beard.
See what it was like.
Time saver.
Best thing I ever did.
Wish I did it when I was single. I was nervous at first, but after getting a lot of positive feedback from women, I knew I did the right thing.
I first grew my beard to see how it looked and to see what kind of reactions I got from my friends. Once I grew it out, I realized that I liked it, and my friends did as well.
Beards look great!
I have always been fascinated by the bearded face as long as I can remember.
It seems to me like a manly thing to do.
I love it and it makes me very good-looking and manly.
I was curious what it would look like and feel like.
Some rebellion against having had to stay clean-shaven for 4 years while in the USAF, and partly because it made me look older and more masculine.
I find my beard makes me stand out in a crowd. People can’t help but look a facial hair. I always notice glances to my beard when I am talking with people. This is especially noticeable when you
first meet someone. It makes me feel sexually alive on a daily basis. I often stroke my beard on purpose when engaged in conversation just to heighten this awareness even further. Some people appear to be fascinated when you stroke your beard.
They look and feel great.
It seemed the natural thing to do. To shave is to look artificial for a man. Bad-looking beards are understandable to shave off. My Dad had a beard. Many of my childhood heroes had a beard.
I like the look of a beard on me, as do other folks, both men and women.
I like the way I look in a beard, and my face hates to be shaved.
It looks good, and is natural.
I’ve always been fascinated by beards. It’s such a defining quality for a man. So many men go clean-shaven, and it’s all so uniform. BUT, a man with a beard is distinct, unique, special, because every beard is a little different.
After being in the army for eight years and having been required to shave, I vowed that when I got out I would never shave again unless I desired to. From July 1990 until now I have worn a beard
with the exception of once screwing it up while trimming it and then and only then shaved it off.
I was curious what I would look like totally natural. I figured that God would not have given me a beard if He did not intend for me to let it grow. Since that time I have received many positive comments, chiefly from young women.
Like the look and the fact that unbearded men tend to defer to bearded men.
I like the looks of a beard. Everyone says I look better with a beard.
Always thought they were the best showing of manliness.
I would encourage all men to experience themselves with a beard whether they keep it or not. This will explore just another area of their manliness.
Grow your beard. Now!
If you have made it all the way down here, then you must be fully inspired now to start growing your beard right away! Go to the growing a beard page right now and get started.