Last month I wrote about how the revival in the popularity of beards was hurting razor sales, causing companies like Proctor & Gamble to ramp up advertising encouraging “manscaping” below the neck. Here’s another response to the trend: hair plugs for your face.
According to a facial plastic surgeon interviewed for an article at DNAinfo New York, the rate at which he is asked to do facial hair transplants has skyrocketed from ” just a handful of beard transplants each year a decade ago” to about three a week. The surgeons mention the hipster beard trend as one cause of the rise in interest, but also cite a wide array of people who might be interested in fuller facial hair:
…clients include men who have struggled since adolescence to grow a beard, those undergoing a gender transition from female to male, men with with facial scarring and Hasidic Jews who hope to achieve denser payot, or sidelocks.
Expense for the procedure ranges from $3,o00 for partial transplants to $7,000 for a full beard.
What a fascinating example of the intersection of race, gender, religion, technology, and capitalism. Which men’s faces have more power to determine appearance norms for men? Or, what does masculinity look like? Men with Asian, American Indian, and African backgrounds are less likely to be able to grow full beards, but a society centered on whiteness can make their faces seem inadequate. If the situation were reversed, would we see white men, disproportionately, going in for laser hair removal? Would transmen feel less pressure to be able to grow a beard to feel fully masculine? Would they feel more if they were part of a Hasidic Jewish community?
Also, is this really about hipsters? How much power does a young, monied demographic have to set fashion trends? To send a wide range of people to surgeons — for goodness sake — in the hopes of living up to a more or less fleeting trend? How do such trends gain purchase across such a wide range of people? What other forces are at work here?
What can we learn from this about other plastic surgeries that we are more likely to take for granted as the result of natural or universal beauty? Breast implants for women, breast reductions for men, liposuction, facelifts, labiaplasty, or eyelid surgery?
Lots of interesting conversations to be had.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 7
Bill R — March 7, 2014
I don't think this is a trend as much as it is a very small group of guys going AWOL.
It is always interesting to observe what lengths some people will go to to attend to peer pressure re: their appearance, but I never thought the men's hair transplant business actually went "mainstream" and I doubt moving hair from one's bangs to his dimple will either.
Ricky — March 7, 2014
Beards are the one non-douchebag aspect of Hipsters. Mutton chops are the best choice, but any facial hair is better than none.
KL — March 8, 2014
"How much power does a young, monied demographic have to set fashion trends?"
A lot.
Andrew — March 8, 2014
What exactly is a Hipster? Is a Hipster still a Hipster without his clothes on? Is he still a Hipster when he's visiting his parents in Delaware, or only when he's in Brooklyn? Is he suddenly no longer a member of this imaginary subculture when he decides to shave?
The one thing everyone throwing this term around seems to have in common is that they're always using it to describe someone else. So as soon as a trend is identified, anyone you spot appearing to exemplify it is becomes a "hipster." Unless, of course, it's someone you already know. In which case, at some point you've probably already heard them complaining about those damn hipsters.
Ely — March 9, 2014
Am i he only guy thinking the guy in the before and after picture looked way more attractive before the hair transplant.
It was something abut his jaw (and know he has a stupid neckbeard).
Männer rasieren sich – aber wo? | sunflower22a — March 11, 2014
[…] schwachem Bartwuchs schon an, sich transplantationsmedizinische Hilfe zu holen – Lisa fragt „Are Hipsters to blame for a rise in facial hair transplants?“. Offenbar. Hipster setzen die Trends, und deswegen sind sie an den Trends auch […]
Hannah Rossiter — March 18, 2014
most of the transmen, having facial hair is taken as a sign the testosterone is working.