.
I remembered to shave this morning, something I often forget to do for days on end until either reminded of it by my wife or spotting it myself in a mirror.
For around forty years I sported a naval ‘full-set’. I was working for an old-established shipping company and, in line with their tradition, was required to get permission to grow it. Since the reason for the request stemmed from my having developed psoriasis on my face and neck, permission was speedily granted.
The result was that, apart from giving the beard a neat trim now and again, I never had to shave again until the middle of 2008 when I had radiotherapy for a tumour in my head, with the result that all the hair on the left-hand side of my face was killed in the process. A habit of forty years is hard to kick but, when it looks as if one half of my face seems as if it is going to sport a beard of its own, then I am forced to shave.
Anyhoo, I had a shave this morning and so look decent enough to be seen in public.
To be honest, shaving is a pain in the proverbial and one wonders why men bother to do it. It’s so much easier to climb out of bed, get showered and dressed and you are ready for the day without the tiresome need to shave. So why do men bother?
The wearing of beards goes back to ancient times, possibly due to the lack of sharp razors. The ancient Egyptians wore beards, as did the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Indians, Peruvians .. and so on. In different countries or epochs, beards were worn either long and shaggy, or trimmed in various ways.
It appears that it was Alexander the Great who introduced shaving among his soldiers so as to eliminate the enemy’s opportunity to grab his men’s beards like handles - though beards later grew (no pun intended!) into fashion again. The Romans used to sport beards until one emperor brought a barber to Rome; after that anyone sporting a beard was regarded to be a Greek.
The beard was variously regarded as a symbol of wisdom, purity, virility, masculinity, age and style of living. They could also be worn as a sign of mourning or in protest against something. They could be seen as unclean or slovenly.
Beards came in and out of fashion over the ages. In the 17th-century, for example, Peter the Great ordered all Russian men to shave off their beards. Beards generally returned to fashion not long afterwards and possibly came to the fore in the 19th century when beards, moustaches and sideburns were widely worn.
Beards went out of fashion for different reasons during WWI when they were shaved off so that gas masks fitted closely to the face (this is also the reason why pilots remain clean shaven, so that oxygen masks will tightly fit their faces when needed). Removing facial hair at that time was also regarded as a sanitary measure since it would reduce the risk of disease and lice among recruits being gathered together.
After that, the world mainly seems to have been clean shaven except for those in religious sects or who were hippies, etc.
And since 2008, except for a silly little goatee, so have I!
.
I remembered to shave this morning, something I often forget to do for days on end until either reminded of it by my wife or spotting it myself in a mirror.
For around forty years I sported a naval ‘full-set’. I was working for an old-established shipping company and, in line with their tradition, was required to get permission to grow it. Since the reason for the request stemmed from my having developed psoriasis on my face and neck, permission was speedily granted.
The result was that, apart from giving the beard a neat trim now and again, I never had to shave again until the middle of 2008 when I had radiotherapy for a tumour in my head, with the result that all the hair on the left-hand side of my face was killed in the process. A habit of forty years is hard to kick but, when it looks as if one half of my face seems as if it is going to sport a beard of its own, then I am forced to shave.
Anyhoo, I had a shave this morning and so look decent enough to be seen in public.
To be honest, shaving is a pain in the proverbial and one wonders why men bother to do it. It’s so much easier to climb out of bed, get showered and dressed and you are ready for the day without the tiresome need to shave. So why do men bother?
The wearing of beards goes back to ancient times, possibly due to the lack of sharp razors. The ancient Egyptians wore beards, as did the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Indians, Peruvians .. and so on. In different countries or epochs, beards were worn either long and shaggy, or trimmed in various ways.
It appears that it was Alexander the Great who introduced shaving among his soldiers so as to eliminate the enemy’s opportunity to grab his men’s beards like handles - though beards later grew (no pun intended!) into fashion again. The Romans used to sport beards until one emperor brought a barber to Rome; after that anyone sporting a beard was regarded to be a Greek.
The beard was variously regarded as a symbol of wisdom, purity, virility, masculinity, age and style of living. They could also be worn as a sign of mourning or in protest against something. They could be seen as unclean or slovenly.
Beards came in and out of fashion over the ages. In the 17th-century, for example, Peter the Great ordered all Russian men to shave off their beards. Beards generally returned to fashion not long afterwards and possibly came to the fore in the 19th century when beards, moustaches and sideburns were widely worn.
Beards went out of fashion for different reasons during WWI when they were shaved off so that gas masks fitted closely to the face (this is also the reason why pilots remain clean shaven, so that oxygen masks will tightly fit their faces when needed). Removing facial hair at that time was also regarded as a sanitary measure since it would reduce the risk of disease and lice among recruits being gathered together.
After that, the world mainly seems to have been clean shaven except for those in religious sects or who were hippies, etc.
And since 2008, except for a silly little goatee, so have I!
.
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