Between hipsters, ACW re-enactors, and now captains of industry...well-endowed beards seem to be on the rise and making a significant societal comeback. :hmm:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/opinion/sunday/why-ceos-are-growing-beards.html
QuoteWhy C.E.O.s Are Growing Beards
NOV. 28, 2014
Photo
By STEPHEN MIHM
THESE are dark days for the shaving industry. After experiencing a century of fairly steady growth, makers of razors and other shaving equipment have seen revenues level off or fall in the last few years. Beards are back.
One striking feature of this resurgence is that for the first time in well over a century, a growing number of the world's business leaders are sporting facial hair. Google's co-founder Sergey Brin, Goldman Sachs's chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, and Marc Benioff, the billionaire founder and chief executive of Salesforce, are just a few prominent examples.
It's easy to view the bearded business leader as a mere extension of the overall beard trend, or yet another sign that work environments are becoming more casual. But the tangled history of facial hair and capitalism suggests that deeper forces are at work.
Historically, beards in the boardroom have been a barometer of the relative vitality of capitalism and its critics. When capitalism has assumed a more swashbuckling, individualistic persona, hair has sprouted on the chins of entrepreneurs and speculators. But when forces bent on destroying capitalism have been ascendant — or when well-regulated, faceless corporations have defined economic life — beards have waned.
For most of the modern era, beards and mustaches grew only at the margins of society. In the United States, the founding fathers eschewed facial hair. The same cleanshaven look prevailed throughout Europe among the capitalist classes.
In Europe in the 1830s and 1840s, socialists, Chartists and other critics of capitalism began growing beards. As a young man, Friedrich Engels, who would go on to write "The Communist Manifesto" with Karl Marx, organized a "moustache evening" among his friends to taunt cleanshaven bourgeois "philistinism." Marx himself cultivated a huge beard and thick mustache. A Prussian spy later sent to keep tabs on him reported with a mixture of awe and anxiety: "His hair and beard are quite black. The latter he does not shave."
Beards were scary to capitalists. But after reactionaries crushed the violent uprisings of 1848 in Continental Europe, the threat of what the Times of London described that year as "foreign bearded propagandists" began receding in the capitalist imagination. In response, beards started to make inroads among the defenders of free enterprise in Britain and the United States. As one historian of the hirsute, Christopher Oldstone-Moore of Wright State University, has concluded, "fearful associations of facial hair dissolved, and respectable men were at liberty to let their beards grow."
Indeed, beards became an emblem of bourgeois masculinity. Proponents of the new "beard movement" (yes, it was called that) argued that "the bondage of the beard to the dictatorship of an effeminate fashion" had yielded a world of "woman-faced men."
Many factors contributed to this trend. In the United States, the gold rush that began in 1849 threw countless middle-class men into a get-rich-quick world of prospecting where shaving was discretionary. The Civil War must also be credited, as wide-eyed boys went off to war cleanshaven and returned as bearded men.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Notably, this is when we witness the rise of facial hair as an essential accouterment of the capitalist class. Jay Gould, the most feared financier of the era, grew a beard that concealed most of his face, making an already inscrutable countenance even more difficult to read. Other robber barons followed suit.
These men didn't view themselves as conformists, much less corporate drones, but as rugged individualists who single-handedly built vast business empires. Their beards became part of their larger-than-life brand. Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Collis P. Huntington, William Henry Vanderbilt and almost every other member of the vilified capitalist class sported extravagant facial hair.
But nothing lasts forever. From the 1870s onward, as the workers' rebellion revived internationally, a new wave of labor radicals sported long, unruly beards. In the popular press, as the conflict between labor and capital turned increasingly violent in the 1880s, facial hair became a shorthand for the forcible resistance to capitalism. Illustrated newspapers covering the Haymarket bombing in 1886 in Chicago showed radicals wearing unkempt, tangled beards.
Cartoonists soon began depicting labor, and strikers in particular, as modern-day Samsons, pulling down the columns of an orderly society, killing their capitalist adversaries and themselves in the process. One barber quoted by this newspaper around the turn of the century put the matter bluntly, when describing various "cranks" and radicals: "They carry their banners on their faces, proclaiming them Populists or Anarchists, or some other sort of ists."
Most "respectable" men, including capitalists, ran from this image. While the invention of the safety razor by King C. Gillette in 1901 is often blamed for the demise of the beard, businessmen (and labor leaders eager to avoid the taint of radicalism) had already gone for a neatly trimmed mustache before going entirely cleanshaven by the dawn of the new century. The changing fashion may also have reflected a shift away from the untrammeled, individualistic capitalism of the Gilded Age to something more corporate, faceless — and beardless.
In succeeding decades, beards and mustaches all but disappeared. The organization man of 20th-century America was cast as cleanshaven, his individuality subsumed into a larger, corporate identity. Iconic critics of capitalism — Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh — kept alive the identification of facial hair with leftist politics.
But with the end of the Cold War and the defeat of Communism, the groundwork for a scruffy capitalism was laid. In the semiotics of capital today, whiskers no longer code as a threat. With free market ideology essentially unopposed by any major power and energized by the entrepreneurial swagger of the technology world, beards are back in business.
Stephen Mihm is an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia, a regular contributor to Bloomberg View and the author of "A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States."
Not that it matters. On a personal lever (I hate beards), my dad, who was always clean shaven, took on a beard when he retired several years ago.
And on the same theme, the rise of the "Lumbersexual" movement (likely a form of hipsterism):
http://gearjunkie.com/the-rise-of-the-lumbersexual
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgearjunkie.com%2Fimages%2F19985.jpg&hash=49644bddbd07c0196771fe722b96b125a7c3e15b)
I'll shave my beard today :(
They've come back. I think they're mostly on their way out again now. But some men (I think possibly me) simply look better with a beard, so hopefully we're moving into more folically tolerant times :o
Edit: Also that article's an interesting American perspective. Needless to say in late Victorian Britain a strong beard was not a sign of a radical:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fc%2Fc1%2FRobert_cecil.jpg&hash=bffacbbe121aad31365ccf8e0ce712c9cb30c266)
Edit: I always love when I read Trollope and you can normally tell how attractive and morally upstanding his male characters are by his description of their facial hair. In general 'masculine whiskers' are a very good sign. But he practiced what he preached:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fd.gr-assets.com%2Fauthors%2F1199114248p5%2F20524.jpg&hash=281178317b6e2d92fa2b3529c193ef171c8fe24a)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're square now or close to it. I mean, they'd almost have to be.
I don't shave but once every week or so because I'm lazy, not because I'm fashionable.
Quote from: Tonitrus on December 01, 2014, 09:50:26 PM
Between hipsters, ACW re-enactors, and now captains of industry...
You forgot the unemployed.
Quotemy dad, who was always clean shaven, took on a beard when he retired several years ago.
Like I said.
I let mine grow out. What was once a small gray patch on my neck is now about 70% gray.
It's winter in Laramie, so I am growing my annual protective outer coat on my face. A friend calls it my "hobo-beard."
Quote from: PDH on December 01, 2014, 10:14:21 PM
It's winter in Laramie, so I am growing my annual protective outer coat on my face. A friend calls it my "hobo-beard."
Whenever I'm bearded my dad introduces me as 'my son, the Ayatollah' :lol:
Been back for a while.
We still have a long way to go to recapture their 19th century era of glory.
Quote from: Sheilbh
Edit: Also that article's an interesting American perspective. Needless to say in late Victorian Britain a strong beard was not a sign of a radical
Well, that wasn't a very accurate point, anyway. From 1864 through 1892, every Presidential election was won by a candidate with facial hair (all of them except Cleveland had full beards; Cleveland had a mustache). But since then, only the 1904 and 1908 Presidential elections have been won by a candidate with facial hair (and neither of those had a full beard, just mustaches.
Quote from: derspiess on December 01, 2014, 10:22:02 PM
Been back for a while.
Yeah, they've been in for several years now.
Quote from: PRC on December 01, 2014, 11:50:40 PM
Quote from: derspiess on December 01, 2014, 10:22:02 PM
Been back for a while.
Yeah, they've been in for several years now.
Indeed. Even Austrian public TV's ORF news page had an article about it, which is usually a sign that the trend is nearly over. Though I liked them saying that some inner cities these days look like there's a casting call for a historical drama set in the second half of the 19th century.
Also:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweknowmemes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F11%2Fthe-original-lumbersexual.jpg&hash=e74a3730609db171b6b92630a25cef9834dfcd5a)
They always come back, given half a chance.
I wish I could grow a proper beard. While hair sprouts pretty much anywhere on my body, my face has "desert spots" where nothing grows, and my beard grows very slowly. If I don't shave for a week, I look how other guys look after 2 days. Additionally, on my upper lip the hair is dark blond/brownish in the center, and light blond on the sides, so if I let it grow it looks like a hitler/Chaplin mustache from afar. :(
The hair on my chin is the only facial hair that I can properly cultivate.
I have a smallish spot on my chin that's bald due to a scar from my "why don't I see if I can get my face kicked in every six months" days.
I'm getting a grey streak right in the middle of my chin. Dunno what to think about that.
Coming back? In London at least we've already reached Peak Beard. I first spotted a meedja hipster in Soho sporting a full George V and playing darts (ironically) seven years ago and it was a sign of things to come.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F730.no%2Fimages%2Fnews%2FNews_012990_Other_001.jpeg&hash=749fca7a73bd2abc86f66301c2752c7ad49bff59)
Beards are back!
I have friends that look like they take fashion advice from the Taliban.
Quote from: Norgy on December 02, 2014, 05:31:25 AM
Beards are back!
I have friends that look like they take fashion advice from the Taliban.
Should we tell our nuns to take up defences?
Wouldn't hurt to be prepared. Then again, who'd want to go to Northumberland this time of year? Or any other time, really.
I trim mine whenever I start to look as if I just came down from the Sierra Maestra.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cubadebate.cu%2Fwp-content%2Fgallery%2Fcamilo-cienfuegos%2Ffidel-castro-camilo-cienfuegos-foto.jpg&hash=f63dde970f77cefb08ca6e85677159414e9f3aa6)
In your case, beards never left, did they, Larchie? :hug:
Quote from: Norgy on December 02, 2014, 06:10:46 AM
In your case, beards never left, did they, Larchie? :hug:
I've been sporting a full beard continuously since 2011. :osama:
Never went full hipster, though, as it starts getting itchy and uncomfortable (not to mention unsightly) when it gets close to the "latin american guerrilla" stage, so I need to trim every once in a while. Great for winter, though.
The flavor saver.
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 01, 2014, 09:58:13 PM
I'll shave my beard today :(
They've come back. I think they're mostly on their way out again now. But some men (I think possibly me) simply look better with a beard, so hopefully we're moving into more folically tolerant times :o
Edit: Also that article's an interesting American perspective. Needless to say in late Victorian Britain a strong beard was not a sign of a radical:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fc%2Fc1%2FRobert_cecil.jpg&hash=bffacbbe121aad31365ccf8e0ce712c9cb30c266)
Edit: I always love when I read Trollope and you can normally tell how attractive and morally upstanding his male characters are by his description of their facial hair. In general 'masculine whiskers' are a very good sign. But he practiced what he preached:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fd.gr-assets.com%2Fauthors%2F1199114248p5%2F20524.jpg&hash=281178317b6e2d92fa2b3529c193ef171c8fe24a)
Beards made a comeback in the victorian era after almost 300 years of clean shaved faces after the Crimean War. During that war regulations on shaving for soldiers were relaxed due to the harsh conditions and the returning "heroes" often had full beards and an attachment to the habit of wearing one. You see young lincoln (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Abraham_Lincoln_O-36_by_Butler%2C_1860-crop.jpg) (this is he last beardless image of lincoln in the fall of 1860), young darwin (http://greatmindsoftheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Charles-Darwin-9.jpg) or young dickens (http://www.dickensfellowship.org/sites/default/files/images/young-charles-dickens.jpg)
It's a bit funny that a cancer charity drive seems have let men express their masculinity without reproach.
I grow a beard just about every month, between drill weekends.
The Wife says she will leave me when I retire from the Reserves and start looking like uncle Si from Duck Dynasty. :( I'll miss her.
Quote from: lustindarkness on December 02, 2014, 09:03:50 AM
I grow a beard just about every month, between drill weekends.
The Wife says she will leave me when I retire from the Reserves and start looking like uncle Si from Duck Dynasty. :( I'll miss her.
I think I'd look like captain Ahab if I every let mine grow more than say seven days.
Quote from: Viking on December 02, 2014, 08:57:34 AM
Beards made a comeback in the victorian era after almost 300 years of clean shaved faces after the Crimean War. During that war regulations on shaving for soldiers were relaxed due to the harsh conditions and the returning "heroes" often had full beards and an attachment to the habit of wearing one.
The Sideburns during the Napoleonic era were pretty fantastic though
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.napoleonicsociety.com%2Fimages%2Fchap24f_clip_image002_0000.jpg&hash=aa081a82afc4f29318fd68e073e9f524f3b61bad)
Still clean shaven is better. Romans > Greeks.
Quote from: Tonitrus on December 01, 2014, 09:51:30 PM
And on the same theme, the rise of the "Lumbersexual" movement (likely a form of hipsterism):
http://gearjunkie.com/the-rise-of-the-lumbersexual
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgearjunkie.com%2Fimages%2F19985.jpg&hash=49644bddbd07c0196771fe722b96b125a7c3e15b)
Actually, number two is kinda cute. It also appears he's the one of the lot that's mastered the art of
trimming his beard.
Quote from: Valmy on December 02, 2014, 10:09:52 AM
Quote from: Viking on December 02, 2014, 08:57:34 AM
Beards made a comeback in the victorian era after almost 300 years of clean shaved faces after the Crimean War. During that war regulations on shaving for soldiers were relaxed due to the harsh conditions and the returning "heroes" often had full beards and an attachment to the habit of wearing one.
The Sideburns during the Napoleonic era were pretty fantastic though
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.napoleonicsociety.com%2Fimages%2Fchap24f_clip_image002_0000.jpg&hash=aa081a82afc4f29318fd68e073e9f524f3b61bad)
Still clean shaven is better. Romans > Greeks.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fd%2Fd7%2FBust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg%2F480px-Bust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg&hash=551fce963066b8b73f093a351dc685dd33570217)
:contract:
Beards are always in.
I sport a beard when I get lazy & don't shave it for a couple of weeks, I have to say "Allah Ackbar" in response to a lot of "ahhhh, a terrorist".
Quote from: The Larch on December 02, 2014, 10:23:29 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fd%2Fd7%2FBust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg%2F480px-Bust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg&hash=551fce963066b8b73f093a351dc685dd33570217)
:contract:
He was called 'the Greekling' for a reason :P
This thread makes me sad. I can't do a beard for the same reason I was never able to do long sideburns/mutton chops. :(
Quote from: The Larch on December 02, 2014, 06:05:19 AM
I trim mine whenever I start to look as if I just came down from the Sierra Maestra.
Los Barbudos. :wub:
Quote from: DontSayBanana on December 02, 2014, 10:30:28 AM
This thread makes me sad. I can't do a beard for the same reason I was never able to do long sideburns/mutton chops. :(
I can do a solid goatee but a full beard just isn't in the cards. I'd rock some serious mutton chops if I could :mellow:
Now that I'm letting my goatee grow out long I'm getting a a noticeable pattern of white whiskers on my chin. Didn't like it at first but getting used to it.
Quote from: Valmy on December 02, 2014, 10:26:57 AM
Quote from: The Larch on December 02, 2014, 10:23:29 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fd%2Fd7%2FBust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg%2F480px-Bust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg&hash=551fce963066b8b73f093a351dc685dd33570217)
:contract:
He was called 'the Greekling' for a reason :P
There was also Nero, a neckbeard pioneer. :lol:
Quote from: derspiess on December 02, 2014, 11:20:51 AM
I can do a solid goatee but a full beard just isn't in the cards. I'd rock some serious mutton chops if I could :mellow:
Now that I'm letting my goatee grow out long I'm getting a a noticeable pattern of white whiskers on my chin. Didn't like it at first but getting used to it.
I have a goatee and lip strip with a disconnected mustache, which is what I've done for about 8 years now (when I get fed up and shave it off for various reasons, it only stays gone for about three weeks). There's just no hair growing in between my temple and jaw bone, so mutton chops never happened, no matter how long I let them go, and a beard would never connect.
Quote from: The Larch on December 02, 2014, 10:23:29 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fd%2Fd7%2FBust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg%2F480px-Bust_Hadrian_Musei_Capitolini_MC817.jpg&hash=551fce963066b8b73f093a351dc685dd33570217)
:contract:
Beards are ghey.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F365daysoflearning.weebly.com%2Fuploads%2F1%2F9%2F8%2F9%2F19897165%2F527116_orig.jpg&hash=4ce5df75371491f7248b63f91197150cada24bb2)
Quote from: The Larch on December 02, 2014, 11:47:15 AM
There was also Nero, a neckbeard pioneer. :lol:
That was just really extreme sideburns
It is winter in Alaska, you bet I have a beard.
Quote from: katmai on December 02, 2014, 02:42:06 PM
It is winter in Alaska, you bet I have a beard.
What's she like? :)
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on December 02, 2014, 02:35:41 PM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F365daysoflearning.weebly.com%2Fuploads%2F1%2F9%2F8%2F9%2F19897165%2F527116_orig.jpg&hash=4ce5df75371491f7248b63f91197150cada24bb2)
Looks like we've seen the last of Keisel. He had a good run.
Well, he's only half a man without his beard.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.nfl.com%2Fstatic%2Fcontent%2Fpublic%2Fphoto%2F2013%2F02%2F07%2F0ap1000000137212.jpg&hash=aee55c4035ee8537249ce1b159a512afedc7b8bb)
Real connoisseurs have handlebar moustaches. :contract:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ets.ru%2Fimages%2Fpk000088.jpg&hash=2281bf4aa6b707f5473caf36680bed36725ba6c2)
Sure they do.
Quote from: Norgy on December 02, 2014, 05:18:47 PM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ets.ru%2Fimages%2Fpk000088.jpg&hash=2281bf4aa6b707f5473caf36680bed36725ba6c2)
Sure they do.
:thumbsup:
Notice how Budenny is a bit "Oh, really?" in that painting? His right eyebrow raised (and man, those are some eyebrows).
Quote from: katmai on December 02, 2014, 02:42:06 PM
It is winter in Alaska, you bet I have a beard.
I don't. :mad:
Time to man up, Toni. :P
Quote from: Valmy on December 02, 2014, 02:41:08 PM
Quote from: The Larch on December 02, 2014, 11:47:15 AM
There was also Nero, a neckbeard pioneer. :lol:
That was just really extreme sideburns
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FWbj3ebY.jpg&hash=76a15d6d91de346ff60cdd40713e280c258c69a9)
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on December 02, 2014, 09:30:15 PM
Time to man up, Toni. :P
In this case, it is The Man keeping me down.
Quote from: Solmyr on December 02, 2014, 05:16:50 PM
Real connoisseurs have handlebar moustaches. :contract:
You mean gross men.
If I let my beard grow out I notice there are some white hairs in it. :(
Nothing wrong with that.
I got my first greys at 13. Don't worry about it.
Do you still get erections? Yes? Then there's nothing to worry about.
YES
Quote from: Ed Anger on December 02, 2014, 10:03:44 PM
YES
I like how the Extenze ads are now promoting the fact that their product was banned by major sports organizations. :P
SOMETIMES
I mean YES
When it's springtime in Alaska it's 40 below.
Reminds me of an article I read last spring
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27023992
QuoteBeard trend is 'guided by evolution'
Comments (587)
By James Morgan Science reporter, BBC News
The more beards there are, the less attractive they become - giving clean-shaven men a competitive advantage, say scientists in Sydney, Australia.
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote
This might be why we've hit 'peak beard'"
Prof Rob Brooks University of New South Wales
When "peak beard" frequency is reached, the pendulum swings back toward lesser-bristled chins - a trend we may be witnessing now, the scientists say.
Their study has been published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
In the experiment, women and men were asked to rate different faces with "four standard levels of beardedness".
Both beards and clean-shaven faces became more appealing when they were rare.
The pattern mirrors an evolutionary phenomenon - "negative frequency-dependent sexual selection", or to put it more simply "an advantage to rare traits".
The bright colours of male guppies vary by this force - which is driven by females' changing preferences.
Scientists at the University of New South Wales decided to test this hypothesis for men's facial hair - recruiting volunteers on their Facebook site, The Sex Lab.
"Big thick beards are back with an absolute vengeance and so we thought underlying this fashion, one of the dynamics that might be important is this idea of negative frequency dependence," said Prof Rob Brooks, one of the study's authors.
"The idea is that perhaps people start copying the George Clooneys and the Joaquin Phoenixs and start wearing those beards, but then when more and more people get onto the bandwagon the value of being on the bandwagon diminishes, so that might be why we've hit 'peak beard'."
"Peak beard" was the climax of the trend for beards in professions not naturally associated with a bristly chin - bankers, film stars, and even footballers began sporting facial hair.
Some say the Rubicon was crossed in January when Jeremy Paxman, the BBC Newsnight presenter, shaved his beard off, saying "beards are SO 2013".
Paxman's beard - which briefly trended on Twitter - sparked a debate about pogonophobia - the fear of beards.
In this latest experiment, 1,453 women and 213 men were asked to rate the attractiveness of different samples of men's faces.
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote
When Greece's economy tanked - did beards take off? That's something we're going to look at"
Prof Rob Brooks University of New South Wales
Some were shown mostly "full" beards. Others were shown mostly clean-shaven faces. A third group were shown an even mixture of all four varieties - clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beard.
Both women and men judged heavy stubble and full beards more attractive when they were rare than when they were common. And likewise for clean-shaven faces.
Negative frequency-dependent preferences may therefore contribute to changing beard fashions, Prof Brooks concluded.
"We know beards go through cyclical fashions. People used to speak about a 30-year timescale," he said.
"There is a wonderful paper studying photographs of men from 1871 to 1972 in the Illustrated London News. Sideburns moved on to moustaches, then full beards.
"In the 1970s it was handlebar moustaches. In the 80s it was Magnum PI moustaches. In the 90s we saw a lot of clean shaven men, and now big bushy beards are back."
The recent boom may have its roots in the financial crisis of 2008, Prof Brooks suggests.
"I think one of the reasons beards have made a comeback now is that it's a difficult time.
"Young men are competing to attract someone when work is not easy to come by. So we might expect some aspects [of masculinity] to get turned up to eleven.
"After the Wall Street Crash in the 1920s there is some circumstantial evidence that beards got big again. So maybe economic conditions have set the stage for the recent comeback in beardedness.
"When Greece's economy tanked - did beards take off? That's something we're going to look at."
One of the paradoxes of evolution is that genetically strong traits favoured by one sex do not simply become fixed in the other - a level of diversity is often maintained.
Though beard styles are of course not spread via genes, there may be other visible human traits which are.
"With female hair colour, there has been speculation that red, brown and blonde spread via their novelty - but the evidence is very ambiguous," Dr Brooks told BBC News.
His team plan to continue their pogonophilic investigations and are looking for volunteers for their latest experiment testing how people like faces with varying levels of beardedness.
"Heavy stubble seemed to be the best in our last study. Maybe a 5-10 day growth. But those describe average tendencies," he said.
"Luckily in real life, we never mate with an average. We mate with an individual."
I prefer to keep the sides shaved. But my wife goes nuts for it when I let them grow. There has to be something about some women that makes them love the beard.
Edit: Also, I have noticed I am hit on in public the most when I have heavy stubble.
I have had a bushy goatee since I was 19 (I'm 36 now). My face only looks good when hidden behind copious hair.