Thread: So, what IS shaving anyway?

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

To ask the question "what is shaving?" is like asking "Why is there air?" I can't believe that I'm responding to this nonsense!

Depending on your trade.

From what I have seen your trade has been the military. I can see where a clean shaven face would be important to you.

To lots of others around the world it isn't such a big deal or not wanted.

Shaving is sooo passé! Hardly anyone I know is clean shaven.

I asked ChatGPT to generate an image in the spirit of Magritte's "ceci n'est pas une pipe".

The damn thing told me that shaving goes against content policies. I wanted to be snarky once again, but that is the most fsckd up thing.

I'm shocked, gentlemen, shocked beyond words.
First a nobody tells me I was wrong all along.
Then a computer tells me shaving is a political issue.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Shaving is sooo passé! Hardly anyone I know is clean shaven.

intersting. things cycle

We are an ntersting group.

When I say intersting I settle down and ihope you underdstsand I love you all

Originally Posted by 32t

intersting. things cycle

We are an ntersting group.

When I say intersting I settle down and ihope you underdstsand I love you all

When I was younger the saying was "never trust a man with a beard, he's hiding something" or "beardy weirdy"
Now practically everyone has a beard or at least stubble.

Fashion comes and goes, heck the mullet is back with a vengeance!

You know, in 1698 King Peter in Russia ordered all court officials to shave their beards and Alexander The Great ordered his soldiers to shave off their beards and in 1531 King Francis of France proscribed beards period.

Throughout history being clean shaven was the way it was like it or not. What does this all mean? Search me, In 800 in England if you shaved you were fined 20 Shillings.

Just be thankful for modern times and free choice.

......Beardy weirdy. Always expanding the old vocabulary!

It's anarchy, I tell you, everybody and their neighbour doing insane things.
We're in the era where some people have draw on beard like the eyebrows some ladies have been sporting for years.

Is using de-make-up lotion shaving anyway?

As for beard/no-beard through history, it can somehow be linked to some sort of reason most of the time, outside of "acquired taste" or "fashion".

Alexander the great asked for his men to be clean shaven for practical and tactical war-time reasons.
First, in a scuffle a beard can be pulled. Hence it stands to reason to cut or trim it.
Then having an army of clean shaven men is a psychological advantage at that time, because of the sheer uncannyness of having seemingly pre-puberty fighters in ranks in front of you.

The catholic church has been trying to defend a "uniform" since the VIth century, but as religious people will do, there was debate between the letter of the law ("people from the Church should not be like pagans and let their hair grow") and it's interpretation ("it's ok if it's cleanly trimmed then ?")

Due to that, sporting a beard fell from grace until François 1er actually brought it back in fashion (and not the contrary).
Here the reason was a flaming log to the jaw (people knew how to party hard back then) which left a scar, and having a beard hid said scar.

And since kings and queens make fashion... (I mean there's a colour named "caca Dauphin" which actually is the color of a baby's poop and was all the rage around the French revolution)

On the other hand, at the same time, in the holy roman empire, why would people hide such strong and manly features ?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You know, in 1698 King Peter in Russia ordered all court officials to shave their beards and Alexander The Great ordered his soldiers to shave off their beards and in 1531 King Francis of France proscribed beards period.

Throughout history being clean shaven was the way it was like it or not. What does this all mean? Search me, In 800 in England if you shaved you were fined 20 Shillings.

Just be thankful for modern times and free choice.

Well don't forget what Mosaic Law says: "You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard." LV 19:27

Also the Romans were clean shaven because to them growing a beard was for savages. In fact the word "barbarian" comes from the latin word "barbarus" meaning hairy. Barber comes from the same root.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Shaving is sooo passé! Hardly anyone I know is clean shaven.

Well, I guess that you don't know many people. Hardly anyone that I know is not clean-shaven.