Beard Liberation Front
28th May
Beards, Empathy & Solidarity: a complex dialectic
Following a question raised by joint Beard of the Year 2020 Michael Rosen, the Beard Liberation Front has taken a preliminary look at the complex issue of whether beards are felt or perceived to be empathetic.
The campaigners say that the first step is to go beyond the ‘man with a beard’ pogonophobic stereotype and understand that a range of beards may be received differently depending on the context.
Figures who are seen as traditionally hirsute such as Wizards, such as Dumbledore and some Professors are thought to combine wisdom with their beards. Hence they may be seen stroking their beards while dispensing wise words to inquirers.
Politicians are more problematic. Jeremy Corbyn, who has won the Parliamentary Beard of the Year Award more often than any other MP, is generally thought to have an empathetic beard even by those who don’t like his politics.
However the fuller facial hair worn by Corbyn in the 1980s was often seen as a militant beard offering the empathy of solidarity to some but perhaps not others. The axis between empathy and solidarity requires further investigation.
It is difficult to imagine even in the unlikely event that he grew a beard that Boris Johnson would be seen as empathetic.
The BLF also highlights the now quite widespread category of the sports beard. This is not generally about empathy at all, and certainly not to opponents, but rather performance.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, there is a complex dialectic at work. In some cases there may be a correlation between wearing a beard and empathy. In others there is not. To suggest an automatic link is we feel verging on the pogonophobic.
Leave a Reply