[Tiresias]

It occurred to me recently that I have never—not once—seen a Native American with facial hair, either in modern times or in historic photographs. I have also heard stories about incredulous Indians pulling out the facial hair of captured, full-bearded European pioneers as a form of torture.

Why do, and how did, Native Americans invariably keep themselves so clean-shaven? Even a man with access to modern shaving equipment would be hard pressed to keep his jowls silky smooth at all times. Is there a cultural reason for doing so? Or do they simply not have facial hair?

[subego]

I'm almost positive this is the case with some indigenous South American peoples.

Which makes the pre-Columbian bearded statues found there... odd.

[moonmonkey]

Chinese people have relatively little facial hair, most men shave about once a week.
Its because they are move evolved than Westerners apparently.

[Laminar]

At the onset of puberty, facial hair is plucked or singed from the face, which is why there are often what I guess you'd call "divot" on their faces.

[Mithras]

[zro]

Yes, but typically there isn't much so letting it grow just doesn't work.

Besides, it spoils the look.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

Chinese people have relatively little facial hair, most men shave about once a week.

Most Chinese men where? In the Gobi Desert?

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Most Chinese men where? In the Gobi Desert?

No, in most of China.

Of course, if there are moles involved, ‘once a week’ becomes ‘never’.

[Eug]

That's a big myth. Most Chinese I know shave every single day. They don't have to shave much, but shave every day nonetheless.

Now, some just don't care and therefore don't shave every day, but that's not acceptable in many workplaces. If you're a coal miner in the middle of nowhere, paid 1500 yuan a month to scour the depths of the earth then that's a different story, but if you're a guy working in a bank in Beijing, daily shaving is mandatory.

[Chongo]

Originally Posted by I, Tiresias 

It occurred to me recently that I have never—not once—seen a Native American with facial hair, either in modern times or in historic photographs. I have also heard stories about incredulous Indians pulling out the facial hair of captured, full-bearded European pioneers as a form of torture.

Why do, and how did, Native Americans invariably keep themselves so clean-shaven? Even a man with access to modern shaving equipment would be hard pressed to keep his jowls silky smooth at all times. Is there a cultural reason for doing so? Or do they simply not have facial hair?

Genetics.
Two of my uncles are part Apache. One has a mustache, the other has no facial hair. None of the male Apache, Navajo, Pima, etc I work with have any facial hair. I have a female Navajo friend and I have been tempted to ask her if the same applied to woman. Do they have to shave their legs or their.....?

[Laminar]

Underarms?

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Eug 

That's a big myth. Most Chinese I know shave every single day. They don't have to shave much, but shave every day nonetheless.

Now, some just don't care and therefore don't shave every day, but that's not acceptable in many workplaces. If you're a coal miner in the middle of nowhere, paid 1500 yuan a month to scour the depths of the earth then that's a different story, but if you're a guy working in a bank in Beijing, daily shaving is mandatory.

What mine worker gets 1,500 RMB per month? Have salaries really gone up that much in the past three years?

Of course, if you work in a bank, your workplace requires that you’re constantly one hundred per cent clean shaven, much more so than is the case in the West; however, most the men I know (or perhaps rather knew) in Beijing wouldn’t shave more than once or twice in a week, since it just wasn’t necessary and their work didn’t require complete fresh-shavenness. The amount of facial hair they’d accumulate in a week would be about the same as I would accumulate in two days.

But yes, nearly all Chinese men do have some facial hair, so the difference there is mostly one of speed of growth; conversely, body hair is (in my experience) almost universally completely absent in Han men, which certainly cannot be said of most Caucasian men.

[Cipher13]

I've only ever met one or two "native Americans", and neither shaved their armpits.

Both needed to.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Underarms?

Soles.

[HenryMelton]

I was in southern Africa just a few months ago and noticed the same variations there. In many areas, the men had little or no facial hair. I had children beside the road shriek with fright when they saw me (think Santa Claus). However at an airport, an immigration officer with a nice black beard complimented mine, stating that it was the badge of a warrior among his people.

So we have all continents represented with wide ranges of facial hair. I ascribe it to thousands of years of cultural selection. Some people think beards are sexy. Others don't.

Personally, I just don't like shaving.

[Oisín]

Personally, I just don't like shaving.

Does anyone?

[Doofy]

I love shaving. So much so that I save it all up for special occasions and really savour the activity. It's too special to be doing it every month day - it'd be like having Christmas every day.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I love shaving. So much so that I save it all up for special occasions and really savour the activity. It's too special to be doing it every month day - it'd be like having Christmas every day.

Haha, my thoughts exactly

-t

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by subego 

I'm almost positive this is the case with some indigenous South American peoples.

Which makes the pre-Columbian bearded statues found there... odd.

The Mormons can explain that.
Except for the whole, bothersome mitochondrial DNA issue.

House of Joseph

[Jawbone54]

I shave once on Wednesday nights before youth service and once Sunday morning before church. 20 years ago, my unshaven look 5 days a week would've been unacceptable for a student pastor in my denomination, but things have changed.

Good thing too. If I shave two days in a row, my skin (mostly on the neck) becomes irritated. If I shave three days in a row, I can't even wear a shirt with a collar.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

Chinese people have relatively little facial hair, most men shave about once a week.
Its because they are move evolved than Westerners apparently.

The observation may be true; the explanation is nonsense.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

I shave once on Wednesday nights before youth service and once Sunday morning before church. 20 years ago, my unshaven look 5 days a week would've been unacceptable for a student pastor in my denomination, but things have changed.

Good thing too. If I shave two days in a row, my skin (mostly on the neck) becomes irritated. If I shave three days in a row, I can't even wear a shirt with a collar.

Get an electric shaver.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Get an electric shaver.

I’m with Jawbone here—my skin freaks out completely if I even attempt to shave two days in a row. Though an electric shaver does make the shaving part itself more bearable, it makes the skin irritation worse and doesn’t give a close shave.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

I’m with Jawbone here—my skin freaks out completely if I even attempt to shave two days in a row. Though an electric shaver does make the shaving part itself more bearable, it makes the skin irritation worse and doesn’t give a close shave.

Same.

I shave two days in a row and gore spews out of my neck.

No blood with the electric, but 5 times as many ingrown hairs and 2 or 3 patches on my neck that the shaver just won't get.

[andi*pandi]

^this is why I convinced my husband to try a beard. His skin is much happier.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Most Chinese men where? In the Gobi Desert?

A Chinese person is a Chinese person irrelevant of where they are located.

Originally Posted by Oisín 

What mine worker gets 1,500 RMB per month? Have salaries really gone up that much in the past three years?

No, he doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

[Jawbone54]

I've tried an electric razor several times, and it destroyed my face. It will shave my cheeks just fine, but the chin and neck looked patchy, irritated, and I had to deal with ingrown hairs galore. Electric razors are crap...for me.

I grew a full beard for a production I was in about 3 years ago. I liked it a lot, but everyone else thought it added about 10 years.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

I've tried an electric razor several times, and it destroyed my face. It will shave my cheeks just fine, but the chin and neck looked patchy, irritated, and I had to deal with ingrown hairs galore. Electric razors are crap...for me.

I got much better results with self-cleaning electric razors, like the Brauns.

Because they are cleaned and sterilized after each use, it cut down on infections and irritated skin.

-t

[Jawbone54]

Sounds like more work. It doesn't help that the additional work involves one of my most hated activities.

[keekeeree]

It's taken me 35 years to be able to grow a decent goatee and mustache so that it doesn't look like some 15-year-old's attempt at looking older. I have patchy hair that comes in along my jawline, but not nearly enough to even get decent scruffy look.

When my dad joined the army as a young man, he had no facial hair. BUT the army made him shave every morning...'cause those are the rules.

[Jawbone54]

I wish I had your "problem," keekeeree. Unfortunately I've been able to grow a full (and I mean full) beard since about 15. Definitely not any Native American blood in this little Irishman.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

A Chinese person is a Chinese person irrelevant of where they are located.

People in the middle of nowhere may not need to shave as much, just like some tree planter in Alaska wouldn't necessarily shave every day.

Originally Posted by Oisín 

What mine worker gets 1,500 RMB per month? Have salaries really gone up that much in the past three years?

Well, that might be high. Some were making close to 1000 yuan though 7 years ago, and construction workers in the city often made over 1000 yuan. Note however, that they would not see all of that pay, because their room and board would be deducted from that.

Remember, in some cities too, the minimum wage is over 800 yuan.

[Weyland-Yutani]

I doubt they have to shave, but they may choose to. Unless someone makes them?

[chris v]

I have some Native American blood. I need to shave about every 4 days. Shaving every day would be stupid and painful. I have a bit more facial hair now that I'm in my 40's, but when I was younger, even trying to grow a beard made me look just lame.

Generally, Native American men have very little facial hair, and I think traditionally (in the pre-conquest days) they would pluck out wheat did grow. I'm sure this varied from tribe to tribe, as did the relative hirsuteness, but you don't see any pictures of old-timers with beards because there pretty much weren't any.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Sounds like more work. It doesn't help that the additional work involves one of my most hated activities.

Nah, you misunderstood. There is NO additional work for you, just put the shaver in the charging cradle and push the clean button. It's easy like nothing.

Check out the Braun at Amazon:

Amazon.com: Braun 8985 360 Complete Men's Shaver: Health & Personal Care

It's the best shave I have ever gotten out of an electronic shaver.
Not quite like a wet shaver, but very close.

-t

[Oisín]

Remember, in some cities too, the minimum wage is over 800 yuan.

But minimum wages are only applicable to workers who hold a hukou to the city they’re working in (with the exceptions of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, if I recall correctly), and most construction workers are nongmingong, so they’re paid well below minimum wages.

The guy who lived in my apartment for a few months back in 2004 worked on construction sites and got 450 RMB per month—and that was a raise, compared to his previous job as a waiter (though that one did include housing and boarding).

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

But minimum wages are only applicable to workers who hold a hukou to the city they’re working in (with the exceptions of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, if I recall correctly), and most construction workers are nongmingong, so they’re paid well below minimum wages.

The guy who lived in my apartment for a few months back in 2004 worked on construction sites and got 450 RMB per month—and that was a raise, compared to his previous job as a waiter (though that one did include housing and boarding).

I didn't say everyone got paid that. Yeah, there's a lot of exploitation, but there are other more respectable companies that pay their workers MUCH better wages (the latter of which being the most important IMO).

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by chris v 

I have a bit more facial hair now that I'm in my 40's, but when I was younger, even trying to grow a beard made me look just lame.

I was wondering about this. I'm 27, and cannot grow a full beard. I shave about every 3 days, but with each year there's more to be shaved and it needs shaving more often.

I'm guessing some men do not reach full, pogonotrophic* maturity until their 30s or even later, while others are werewolves at 14. Does that sound about right?

* MacNN Word of the Day: pogontrophy noun. of or relating to beards.

[subego]

Originally Posted by I, Tiresias 

* MacNN Word of the Day: pogontrophy noun. of or relating to beards.

That was yesterday's word. Today's is: formication noun. a sensation like insects crawling across the skin.

BTW, tomorrow's word is: merkin noun. an artificial covering of hair for the pubic area.

[Mithras]

Originally Posted by subego 

That was yesterday's word. Today's is: formication noun. a sensation like insects crawling across the skin.

Been leafing through the meth brochures that your family physician was urging you to read?

[Mithras]

Originally Posted by I, Tiresias 

* MacNN Word of the Day: pogontrophy noun. of or relating to beards.

It seems that the word is actually pogonotrophy. Was that a teacherly "just seeing if you guys are awake" move?

[subego]

Originally Posted by Mithras 

Been leafing through the meth brochures that your family physician was urging you to read?

No, but I did burn off all my pubies whipping up the last batch.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Mithras 

It seems that the word is actually pogonotrophy. Was that a teacherly "just seeing if you guys are awake" move?

Considering he spelt it correctly the first time, it’s probably more likely to be a simple typo, instead.


I thought nothing could surprise me anymore regarding the bizarre words to be found in the English language, but apparently I was wrong. Why on earth would anyone need a word to describe “an artificial covering of hair for the pubic area”? Especially one apparently derived from the name Mathilda.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Especially one apparently derived from the name Mathilda.

Next time you see Mathilda, look closely.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

Chinese people have relatively little facial hair, most men shave about once a week.
Its because they are move evolved than Westerners apparently.

Ouch!

[Eug]

So are women the most evolved then?

[OwlBoy]

hmm I never noticed this, but as the OP said. I too have not seen a Native American with a beard.

-Owl

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

Ouch!

If you are ever in Beijing visit the natural history museum, there is a display showing how black people evolved into white people and white people evolved into Asians.

Its so shocking it funny.
Welcome to us!

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Mithras 

It seems that the word is actually pogonotrophy. Was that a teacherly "just seeing if you guys are awake" move?

Hey, I spelt the adjective correctly.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

I thought nothing could surprise me anymore regarding the bizarre words to be found in the English language, but apparently I was wrong. Why on earth would anyone need a word to describe “an artificial covering of hair for the pubic area”? Especially one apparently derived from the name Mathilda.

From Wiki:

A merkin (first use, according to the OED, 1617) is a pubic wig, originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia to eliminate lice or disguise the marks of syphilis.

As well as,

It has also been suggested that, in the period when boy actors played female parts, they would cover their genitals with a merkin so they could expose themselves as women in bawdy scenes.