November is synonymous with many parts of American culture. Football season is in full swing and Black Friday has become the biggest capitalist event in the western hemisphere.

But recently, November has become known for something more: facial hair.

The phenomenon of growing facial hair during the month of November, known colloquially as No-Shave November, has grown in recent years. A quick look around campus and one sees men looking a bit more grizzled than usual.

Advertisement

Beards have been making a comeback culturally, but many cannot pinpoint the reason.

Some men have a hard time remembering why they grew one in the first place. Allen Demling, originally from Glen Ellyn and now living in Austin, Texas, appeared on the cable show “Whisker Wars.” The show documents the lives of professional beard growers.

“I grew it just to be different. You know, stand out in a crowd or something,” he said. “When I was working up in Chicago I was working for a consulting firm and it was very streamlined. Buttoned up shirts, clean-shaven. I thought it was a way to differentiate myself.”

Some have cited the show as the reason why they started growing a beard. Don Darnell of McCleansboro, university alumnus and Southern Illinois Beard and Mustache Enthusiasts president, said this was the case for him.

“I started growing a large beard after I watched “Whisker Wars,”” Darnell said. “I didn’t know people competitively bearded, and so I started growing my beard out after that.”

Darnell said that anyone who can grow a neat beard should do so. Facial hair is now commonplace, he said.

“I think beards have gone mainstream,” he said. “You aren’t looked at as much as you were. I don’t get as many stares as I used to. You always used to see people with shorter beards less than a quarter-inch. But now you’re seeing those people with beards longer than an inch.”

Advertisement*

The Southern Illinois Beard and Mustache Enthusiasts raise money with their competitions as well. This year they are supporting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Darnell said shows like “Duck Dynasty” have also fueled the flame. Beard contests are now commonplace all over the country. There is even a Beard Team USA, which holds competitions throughout the year.

Facial hair has even seeped into pop culture. Popular artists like Zach Galifianakis, Ben Affleck and even Brad Pitt have been sporting the beard as of late. Matt Garrison, an English professor at John A. Logan College, said there is a certain aura of manhood surrounding the beard in pop culture.

“If you go back, in the 19th century, beards were often viewed as this symbol of masculinity,” Garrison said. “I don’t know the history well enough to understand why, but somewhere in the 20s and 30s that changed.”

Benajamin Harrison was the most recent president with a full beard, and the U.S. Army has not allowed them since World War I.

Garrison said the beard was relatively gone from major Hollywood pictures until Robert Redford in 1972’s “Jeremiah Johnson.” This also led to the idea of the beard as something else: counterculture.

“The bearded man is a nonconformist,” Garrison said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

However, this ideal may be going by the wayside.

“They’ve definitely made a comeback,” Demling said. “I’m sometimes wondering if they’ve already jumped the shark with “Duck Dynasty” and everything. It’s no longer unique as it once was.”

Demling said he thought the emergence of facial hair had to do with men trying to find themselves in changing times.

“Part of it could be that everyone is going through tough economic times and it’s like bringing yourself by that primordial man,” he said. “You remember that you don’t need to sit in an office all day and stare at a computer.”

Masculinity may also play a role as well, he said.

“I think in some regards it has to do with masculinity,” Demling said. “I don’t think it’s an overtly testosterone-driven masculinity. It’s more like we as a society have forgotten how to do some things. We need to get back to that. It’s not like, ‘I’m trying to grow the bigger beard because I’m the alpha male’ thing.”

Demling and Darnell also shared some techniques for desirable facial hair.

“Your beard hair is a little different from the hair on your head,” Darnell said. “A lot of people’s needs oil. They need to be conditioned. I use a separate conditioner and shampoo. I shampoo my beard about once a week and use a conditioner on it every day. I also use a beard oil which makes it softer and not break as much.”

Demling only had one piece of advice in regards to growing a beard.

“The number one rule to growing a beard is don’t shave,” he said.

Community members might be wise to heed this advice, as the prizes for great facial hair can be considerable during No-Shave November. No one really knows where the idea of a month of not shaving came from, but philanthropic organizations are taking advantage of it.The No-Shave November Foundation raises money every year for the American Cancer Society and encourages people to grow a beard in full support.

The Movember Foundation is similar in vein only with mustaches. They donate yearly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Jan Wolterstorff, vice president of the Movember initiative, said the event was originally started by Adam Garone and a few friends in Australia in 2003.

“(Garone), his brother and a couple of friends were just sitting having a couple of beers in Melbourne, Australia,” she said. “They were talking about bringing something back in men’s fashion that went away. They decided to grow mustaches.”

The next year, they decided to do the same thing, only this time they wanted to promote men’s health. Garone decided to bring his initiative to the United States in 2007 and has since raised a hefty sum for the PCF. Wolterstorff said Movember is the largest fundraiser worldwide for prostate cancer and has raised more than $18 million in the U.S. alone.

“It’s the story surrounding the conversation about the mustache that is really changing the generation,” Wolterstorff said. “I firmly believe my son will lead a healthier life because of what Movember has done. This generation knows about Movember. They know why they’re growing a mustache and they all say it’s for men’s health. So their tagline of changing the face of men’s health is very appropriate.”

Even on campus, organizations are raising money based on facial hair in November. Joshua Roderick, a senior from Bridgeview studying marketing, is the president of Pi Sigma Epsilon, the co-ed business fraternity on campus. They are sponsoring a No-Shave November contest to raise money for both the organization and the Mason Children’s Home in Murphsyboro.

“People already do it. We thought we could make a fundraiser out of it,” he said. “We did a little marketing research and found out that guys would pay for it if they got the incentives we were offering.”

For $8, entrants get a T-shirt, free food during signups and discounted drinks at Hangar 9 on November 25. There are also prizes for the best mustache and the best beard.For more information about the Southern Illinois Beard Enthusiasts, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SIBME.