Beards on the Decline, Clean Shaven on the Upswing
According to a new study men’s beards seem to come and go in popularity, depending on how popular beards are. Sounds confusing, but not really. As beards become popular it means more men have beards, as more and more men have beards, it’s not considered rare anymore, so beards start to go out of style.
Evolutionary biologist, Professor Rob Brooks suggests its evolutionary forces that play a role in the rise and fall of beards. The more men that have them, the less attractive they become. The fewer men that have them, the more attractive they become.
During a study, the fewer pictures of men with facial hair the more attractive they seemed, when more pictures of men with facial hair where shown, the less attractive they were while the clean shaven men were more attractive. Brooks says evolution does play a factor in the popularity of beards as does fashion because evolutionary changes happen through culture mechanisms.
Because beards are so popular now, according to history, they are starting to decline in popularity while the trend in the clean-shaven men is coming back into favor.
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