WE’RE still very much in the midst of a pandemic with seemingly no end in sight.
If we were to believe Department of Health (DOH) secretary Francisco Duque III, the curve has already flattened last April, only to retract that moments later.
Perhaps, according to Sen. Tito Sotto, what Duque meant was the curve has fattened.
Please understand Secretary Duque; he’s not himself these past days. He is still in the denial stage re: failure of ABS-CBN to renew their franchise. He really does not know what he’s saying.
And we revisit something almost unrelated just to keep our sanity… Sometime way back, my eldest son emailed me a very interesting article about the scientific effects on men with facial hair or more popularly known as beards, and that became the impetus for writing this article.
Before you get lost in translation: a beard or facial hair is one and the same although facial hair is just a natural occurrence. In most adult males of the human species growing a beard is at times a fashion statement or a form of protest. Probably both.
As the males in my side of the family have always been hirsute – or in simpler terms, hairy – and we can grow beards at will without much ado, writing this “hairy” article (of course, pun intended) is a pleasure with a tinge of “macho” pride.
This power to grow beards at will we owe our ancestors from the Iberian Peninsula via the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.
From that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, upper lip, cheeks and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards.
The beard develops during puberty. Beard growth is linked to stimulation of hair follicles in the area by dihydrotestosterone, which continues to affect beard growth after puberty. Dihydrotestosterone also promotes balding.
Dihydrotestosterone is produced from testosterone, the levels of which vary with season. Beard growth rate is also genetic.
Biologists characterize beards as a secondary sexual characteristic because they are unique to one sex, yet do not play a direct role in reproduction. Charles Darwin first suggested a possible evolutionary explanation of beards in his work “The Descent of Man”, which hypothesized that the process of sexual selection may have led to beards.
Modern biologists have reaffirmed the role of sexual selection in the evolution of beards, concluding that there is evidence that a majority of women find men with beards more attractive than men without beards.
Yes, indeed a beard is a “macho thing” and it is not only a fashion statement or form of protest but a sexual symbol of oozing male virility.
Incidentally, if any “woke millennial” is offended by these statements, then I say “up yours”. You’re nothing but a hairless snowflake with “white balls”.
On a serious note, these are not just manifestations of oozing male virility but facts backed by scientific studies. From www.beardczarreviews101.com :
Benefits of having beard for men
When certain things turn out to be famous, they even become an aim for criticism from those who either do not know the trend or just do not interest in it. Beards have got big fame with men around the world. They are used like a method to do a personal statement and assist shape the person’s style.
But not all is satisfied that this is a best thing. There is a huge contingency of those who think that beards are simply plain cool, but there are several detractors who would instead view beards simply go away.
Fortunately for those who love beards and those who like men who love the beards, there are several reasons than simply style for keeping a beard. The critics possibly do not know that there are health benefits to containing a beard. That shows it is time to understand them on why men with beards like to be healthier than the men who cut the facial hair:
* block UV rays
* shaving provides you acne
* create confidence
* a natural filter
* fountain of youth
* fewer wrinkles
* assists decrease the probability of gum disease
* keeps the skin moist
* avoids other bacterial infections
I don’t need to explain any of the above enumerated benefits of having beards for men as they are quite self-explanatory.
However of all the available data on the benefits of men having beards, this by far I agree the most (fromwww.wisebeards.com):
Women love them
Women like beards because they highlight your eyes, and cover up a weak chin or jawline. Women found men with beards to be healthier and better parents than their clean-shaven counterparts.
Having a beard accentuates your jaw size, making you look more masculine, and therefore, more attractive to women, according to a Glasgow University study.
In another study, women perceived men with full beards as being more masculine and a better long-term partner, but they found heavy stubble to be the most attractive look.
So there./PN
