A Man's Appearance Part One: Facial Hair

Facial hair and manliness go hand and hand; it is something that only men (and a few unfortunate women) can grow. In preparation for this post, I asked most of the women that I know whether or not they preferred a man with facial hair or a man to be clean shaven. While the results did vary quite a bit and a few were on the fence, overall, it appears that women prefer men with facial hair.

Some preferred a five o'clock shadow, while others stated that it scratched their faces and they preferred a longer-length beard. Some liked a goatee while others liked a bit of scruff. But the one main factor linking all of the facial hair styles is that the women always preferred the facial hair maintained. Letting your facial hair grow and not keeping it neat makes you look, in one word, ridiculous. The women that I talked to did not even consider taking a man who had messy facial hair seriously, because if he couldn't even maintain his facial hair, how could he maintain a relationship?

I'm not writing this post to tell men that they should grow facial hair or should comply with what their significant other wants. The point of this post is that, in the end, it is your face and therefore your hair. You have absolute control over it. Do whatever you think will look best on you. Do not be afraid to seek out the opinions of women you know, but do not just blindly follow their advice. If they prefer you clean shaven, but you like the way you look with a beard, go with the beard. It is your happiness and satisfaction that you should be worried about. A word of warning: a man will always look manlier with well-maintained facial hair (barring mustaches of the pedophile or Hitler variety). It is evolutionary and indisputable.

Appearance is one of the first things that can give or take away confidence in men. Without confidence, a man isn't really a true man. In order to be a man, you need to be confident in your decisions and your actions. Will you approach it with a confident surety, or will you hesitate from uncertainty? So grow that facial hair and keep it well-maintained gentlemen. I guarantee you will feel more manly and more sure of yourself. It may feel strange at first, and some people may not like it, but who cares about those people. You are a man, dammit, and men grow facial hair. Life is coming for us all; how will you greet it?