Down with shaving

[christopher575]

My current employer made me shave my beard off about 13 months ago. Their dress code allows men in the office to only have a mustache reaching only the corners of the mouth, and sideburns no lower than the bottoms of the earlobes. Ridiculous, I say, since the customers always see the drivers, who are allowed to have full, bushy beards. In fact, I've only met one of my clients in person, and we've been to Changes, the Madison Pub, and Martin's together for delicious alcohol. I know for a fact he wouldn't have cared if I had a beard.

Having to shave my beard off after wearing it for a decade was humiliating and devastating. It's like being told what hairstyle you have to wear, especially if you shave your head.

Monday was my last shave for a while. I'm growing my beard back in and hope to never see my chin again as long as I live.

Comments

congratulations!

[patosa.livejournal.com]

but i will miss you sexy lips.

Re: congratulations!

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

My lips will still be there. They'll just have a flavor-saver surrounding them.

[elvendude.livejournal.com]

I have always found work dress codes of that nature ridiculous. Have you ever known anyone who would care if someone had a neat, trimmed beard? Or, my personal peeve, anyone who would care if males had earrings?

[unpetitours.livejournal.com]

We need picture updates once beard is full and bushy. Maybe with your shirt off so that we can fully appreciate, umm, the beard?

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

I've never understood why a mustache was ok but a goatee was not. Dress codes are ridiculous that way. Who makes up the rules? Anyway I am happy that you get to be furry again.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I will of course need help with the pictures because a good self portrait is extremely difficult.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

You should see the higher-ups. I'm surprised the dress code doesn't include "men must wear greasy looking hair, slicked back."

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Especially in a place like Seattle. Dress codes get really silly when they are nationwide but come from places like Georgia and Kentucky. (no offense, ursaloco2)

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

And comb-overs. If anything should be outlawed, it is the attempt to hide baldness under a Donald Trumplike rat's nest.

[cattycritic.livejournal.com]

Dress codes are an example of how stupid rules can be. Most dress codes as far as I can tell aren't based on anything reasonable like logic, customer surveys or psychological studies, but someone who just Makes Shit Up. This is what most marketing execs I've had experience with do - which excludes the good ones.

At a startup where I worked, the marketing people decided that having a double-sided business card wasn't as "professional" looking as a single-sided one. So our cool looking business cards that had the nicely designed logo with swoop on the back with our business contact info (and a small version of the logo on the front) were canned in favor of ugly white boring ones printed no longer on soft muted recycled paper but on brand new stark-white cotton rag.

Also I'll go out on a limb and say requiring men to shave off beards is a kind of emasculation, and in my cynical opinion is probably the intent (maybe subconsciously). Not that I think clean-shaven guys are less masculine, but the requirement is. This dress code you had to deal with sounds like it came from someone who was either in the military or worked at Disneyland. :(

BTW where I grew up, depending on where you worked, men with earrings would raise eyebrows. Visible tattoos would be a problem.

[pixink.livejournal.com]

Damn the man! Save the facial hair!

[emramesha.livejournal.com]

Hurray for the return of beardedness. Beards are hot.

[jameth.livejournal.com]

I would allow a full beard

[nancypants107.livejournal.com]

yay for beard!!

down with the man!