During the Vietnam War era, young men who opposed the war and did not want to be drafted into the military, either fled to Canada, or joined the National Guard in the hope of avoiding the draft. Another way was to express opposition was "hair," long hair was a political statement. Men with beards and with long head hair were assumed to be in opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam. Today, it seems like facial hair is back, but the reason is unclear. With some frequency many men today seem to be attracted to facial hair, not beards, but a week or so of no shaving. This phenomenon seems to especially prominent on TV, where men who are advertising products have the unshaven look. Why do the TV advertisers believe that viewers will be more attracted to products if the person holding the product, or pointing to it, has not shaved for a week or so?
My colleague, Rich Hogan, recommended several articles that might help: Leslie A. Zebrowitz, Reading Faces: Window to the Soul?, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997; Rebekah Herrick, Jeanette Morehouse Mendez, Ben Pryor, "Razor's Edge: The Politics of Facial Hair," Social Science Quarterly, v. 96, #5, November 2015: 1301-1313.
I will look at this literature; in the meantime, tell me what you think.
