With the exception of one month when I went clean-shaven (couldn't stand it for any longer), I've had my beard since I was 15 years old. When I was in college, I used to keep it rather full, several inches long. I also had very long hair then. Looking back on the pictures now, I look like Sasquatch! (Now I know my kids will laugh at these pictures in a few years, the way I used to laugh at old pictures of my dad from the 60s.)

I keep it neat and trimmed now, because my wife appreciates it. Neither she, nor my kids, have ever seen me without the beard. I might grow it out longer again at some point, but for now I have grown to also appreciate the discipline of keeping your beard neat and trim. There is an art to it!

But, basically I believe that it is ever man's right to grow a beard! How unnatural to have to scrape a razor across your face every morning to get rid of the growth! A beard is what separates the men form the boys, as it were. Men should feel comfortable displaying that. (I'm not saying every man should grow a beard, just that everyone who wants to should feel free).

I understood that the trend towards clean shavenness was spurred on by the Roman military's proscription against facial hari, and requirement to keep the hair on the head close cropped, so that the enemy wouldn't have anything to grab hold of in battle.... But I suppose vanity could also play a role -- wanting to look younger for those young ladies! (That's actually why I started keeping it short -- I couldn't get a date from a girl my age in college, because everyone thought I was about 10 years older than I was! I trimmed it up a bit, and shortly thereafter met my future wife! Who'da thunkit?)

M