Beards have a long history of how different cultures identify warriors, thinkers, sovereigns, and leaders. Or sometimes the removal of beards is what communicates power. But how and why would facial hair follicles or false beards change attitudes or command authority?
From 2-minute Time Machine: Beards, Getty Museum‘s animated explainer about facial hair fashion in ancient civilizations:
Beards have always been part of identity. Usually people in power make the rules and set the trends. And in a patriarchy, those people are generally men. So beards go in and out of fashion over time.
Get a brief peek at the grooming habits and cultural practices of Pharaoh-Queen Hatshepsut and the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Assyrians, and the ancient Greeks—specifically how Alexander the Great and Emperor Hadrian communicated with their power beards (or lack of them)—in the above animation.
Watch these hair-raising related videos next:
• Magic Beard: Ben Garvin’s surprise-filled stop motion film
• Animated Hair Cartoon, No. 18 (1925)
• The Raised Fist Afro Comb: Untold’s Museum of Artifacts That Made America
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