Frankly, I’m getting a little sick of seeing beards everywhere. So I was thrilled to learn today that science is ready to back up my beard-fatigue, according to a story by BBC science reporter James Morgan:

The ebb and flow of men’s beard fashions may be guided by Darwinian selection, according to a new study.

The more beards there are, the less attractive they become – giving clean-shaven men a competitive advantage, say scientists in Sydney, Australia.

When “peak beard” frequency is reached, the pendulum swings back toward lesser-bristled chins – a trend we may be witnessing now, the scientists say.

I mean, obviously trends come and go, and facial hair is no different. But it seems like beards have been booming for a long time now, soooo… what do you think?

4 replies on “Have We Reached Peak Beard?”

  4. I grew up in the rural Northwest. Like 3/4ths of men there that could throughout history in the area, I grow a beard for at least six-months out of the year.

    Quite frankly, I didn’t care what stylish jerks from out of the area said about it when I started doing it. I still don’t give a shit what transplants to the region think about it twenty years later.

    Sure the metropolitan areas have always had fewer beards than the rural areas, but it’s not like it was ever not a thing. The only thing that’s changed is that people that give a shit about fashion started adopting a Northwest norm for a second. Fine. Do it or don’t, but is it really time to start fretting about style points based on a regional (and functional) tradition for the last two hundred years because you’re getting tired of the little ironic fad your friends started doing to make fun of us anyway?

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