To #Shave or not to Shave...

Whoever came up with the idea that unshaven men look handsome and sexy? Was it a woman or just some gay guy? Why are so many men in commercials not shaved? Are there people out there who want to shape the appearance of men? It is easy enough. Most people don’t have a mind of their own. Young people believe that they are unique, master of their own destiny. Nobody tells them what to do. Right! That’s why there are so many people walking around with tattoos all over their bodies, or guys with rings in their ears, noses, lips, and other places, but that is another topic.

I believe some people call it the four-o-clock shadow on a man’s face, but I’m actually talking about some guy who hasn’t shaved for a couple of days, his face full of stubble; the way we look when my friends and I go hunting and spend a few days in the bush, away from civilization.

I can agree that a man can look rugged wearing a red plaid shirt, his brawny arms bare, carrying an axe in one hand, his hair kind of wild but not long and with a bit of a stubble beard. With the other hand he drags a tree out of the bush. Instead of an axe he might even be carrying a chainsaw.

Same goes for a hunter carrying a rifle in one hand and dragging a deer behind him—in the forest. The animals don’t care what you look like.

Imagine the same guy wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase in one hand and not shaved. He does not look rugged or handsome; he is and looks unshaven, in other words he looks like a bum who may not even have washed his hands and face and not brushed his teeth in the morning.

Perhaps my thinking is completely wrong. I don’t care much for guys with a scraggly, unruly beard, either. They look even more like homeless bums. They might even have lice living in those beards. (I wrote an article about that on my blog some time ago). Why would any civilized man want to look like those barbarians living in tents in the desert?

I’m a guy and as straight as they come. I like women (I mean just to look at. I’m not a ‘skirt-chaser’. After all, I’m a married guy. Let’s not forget that).

Being a civilized man, I like to dress neat and wear clean clothes. I’m not saying I wear a suit and a tie all the time, but a nice pair of pants (jeans are okay), and a clean shirt or a sweater, especially when I go shopping or to some casual function,like a movie or a trade show. No holes in the jeans. And I shave every morning. And comb my hair. (Yes, I’m lucky, I still have hair. Not as thick as it used to be but it is there). When I go visiting I like to dress even better.

I’m not a snob; perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but I just can’t accept holes in jeans or other parts of clothing, especially when I see celebrities on TV wearing clothing like that. They wear nice jackets but they have holes in their jeans. I think it is an insult to people who actually cannot afford a pair of new jeans.

Even when I was working on construction I didn’t wear ripped jeans. They might have had small holes in them but as soon as the holes got too large I either threw them away or my wife fixed the holes, or she cut off the bottom part and made shorts out of them. Of course, one can only wear so many shorts.  I have quite a few of them.

I have a pair of ‘garden-jeans’ with some tiny holes and even the odd little rip, but they don’t have large holes in the knee area. There is nothing more uncomfortable than having your knees pop out of holes. I saw just that in one of the last episodes of ‘Last man standing’, where one of the girls sits with her legs up on the couch and her knees are strangled by the hole in her jeans.

I’ve said it before: People are Monkeys. Monkey see monkey do. Young people (and some older ones, too) are impressionable. Young people see stuff like that on TV or in a magazine and they immediately think it is cool.

NO, IT ISN’T COOL! It is stupid. Don’t be a sheep and follow somebody who leads you astray!

My wife tells me to let it rest already when I comment on a girl’s or woman’s ripped jeans. “I’ve heard it often enough. It is time you get used to it.” At least she doesn’t wear her jeans like that. That is one good thing. She always dresses nice. Sometimes she even criticizes me when we go shopping: “You’re not wearing that!”

And I won’t.

How did I get from unshaven men to ripped jeans? My mind must be wandering.

Another question is popping into my head: Do men think a woman with long, straggly hair, uncombed, her eyes droopy and looking like she just crawled out of bed is sexy. Not in my book. Unless she is your wife, of course. That’s a different story.

My conclusion: If a man doesn't find a sloppy looking woman sexy or attractive, why would a woman find a guy who looks like a bum sexy?

Just in case my wife reads this blog: Honey, you look sexy all the time ☺.