Beards rule. I’m not sure I’ll ever have a clean face again after years of beard-ing. But why do men grow them? There has to be some higher explanation for why men still grow them beyond just “keeps my face warm” or liking how uber neanderthal you look.
According to a new study analyzing primate behavior, the reason why dudes a growing out facial hair is because it’s a “badge” to make you more distinguishable to the ladies. In other words, you grow a beard because you hope it makes you more noticeable to a potential fuck buddy.
Via The Daily Mail:
But instead, beards have become thicker and bigger, and now scientists believe they have a new explanation; men are using it as a badge of dominance to attract women.
This ‘badge’ means that, whether or not women like the look of a beard, they will still be attracted to a man because it suggest that he is more powerful in society.
The researchers believe men with beards could be seen as more aggressive and dominant – and might also be attractive to women drawn to seemingly powerful men.
As a man, a beard down’t make you more powerful or aggressive or dominant — that’s a stupid hipster-logic fallacy. It may give you more confidence, but a clean-shaven face may give a dude just as much confidence.
It’s cosmetic really. The beard is a projection of one’s Alpa-ness to the ladies:
In their study of 154 species of primates representing 45 genera, the authors flamboyant badges were of benefit to males in large and complex social organisations to signal their identity, rank, dominance and attractiveness.
Species that live in smaller groups, on the other hand, had less need of badges as individual recognition and more frequent interactions allowed animals to better assess the social status, strength and quality of their contemporaries.
We are all just a bunch of evolved monkeys who want to get our fuck on at the end of the day.
[H/T: Elite Daily]