Androgen sensitive hair follicles are typically present on the faces of individuals (depending upon genetics and development). When these androgen sensitive follicles come into contact with androgen (of course), they begin producing adult hairs (in this case: beards). Everyone produces androgen. However usually there is a threshold for abundant creation of such hairs. Thus this effect can be turned on in either sex. It can also be limited and reduced by hormone balances.
Beards are primarily considered a secondary sex characteristic of males, albeit not all males have facial hair in this sense and non males may also develop this form of facial hair. In females, due to rarity and social norms, facial hair (especially expansive facial hair) has been generally deemed unattractive or an oddity in Western+ influenced cultures, with bearded ladies having been a circus attraction. Having the ability to grow facial hair is something that men have to wait almost 2 decades to grow. Yes a lot of young men start growing facial hair around 12 or 13 but for most young men, facial hair is patchy until they reach full adulthood.
So having facial hair is a mark of being an adult male. It signifies that you’ve physically crossed that threshold. And for many men, that’s a large part of why we take so much pride in our beards. It’s a sort of coming of age badge of honor. Once you’ve got the ability to grow facial hair, it’s akin to a young lady starting to wear makeup and put on the other cultural signifiers that she’s graduated from being a girl to being a woman. The heels. The makeup. The purses. Etc. For men, the facial hair is a similar cultural signifier that we are no longer little boys and we want to be seen as grown men. So there’s the social aspect of it. Then you’ve also got the fashion/aesthetic aspect.
Men having facial hair that grows thick enough to stylize opens up a whole new customization option. For women, you’ve got hairstyles men typically don’t wear. You’ve the makeup. You’ve got heels. You’ve got dresses. All these style options that help differentiate and express who you are. Well men have facial hair as an option. It’s one of the few things men get that most women don’t. Usually it’s women who have the more varied style options and men’s style and fashion is a bit more reserved and limited. So a lot of us take pride in just that one style option that we do get for being men. We get to express our differences via how we do our facial hair. You can grow a beard. You can grow a goatee. You can do the pencil mustache. The handle bars. You’ve got the chin strap. Or you can go clean shaven entirely. Simply changing your facial hair can change your entire look:
But it’s something most of us had to wait almost 2 decades to be able to have the option of wearing. So it’s sort of special to us when we become old enough to unlock the option. It’s like a trophy. It’s like hitting level 20 in a video game and you finally unlock an entire new class of customization options. And the game congratulates you with a ceremonial level 20 facial hair upgrade. Then it asks you if you want to apply the upgrade and you’re like, “fuck yeah. I worked hard to get to level 20. I want to show off that I earned my stripes!” One other thing to consider is that men are judged physically by their jaw lines. Similar to how many men seek out women with soft, round faces; men are often seen as more attractive for having very jagged, strong facial features. A strong jaw is a big one. So many men can accentuate their jaw line with a beard, or they can make a weaker jaw line look more defined by using a beard to frame the lower face.
But perhaps the most important reason to grow a beard is that it provides superior thermal insulation. I’m just kidding, the best part of growing a beard is that you have a “flavor saver”: It makes you spiritually stronger.
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