How much does facial hair matter?

[Luc]

I realize this is probably irrelevant, and I realize that the majority of guys don't have facial hair, but I'm just wondering if anyone thinks this helps one pass more easily in public. Mine grows naturally, without the aid of T therapy, but I have dark blonde hair, so it's so light it doesn't show too much. I don't know if I should be worrying about how to darken my facial hair, since I do with the hair on my head, or if it just doesn't matter... oh, and I should probably mention I like the facial hair, and would like it better if it were darker. Yeah. There's my slightly arbitrary question of the day.

Rafe

[Dennis]

Dunno, I don't have enough to grow out anyway. The one thing that does tend to give you away is the '->-bleeped-<--boy beard'. That insufficient bit of fluff that some guys feel they should grow on their chins. Problem is that if a bio guy had facial hair like that (and he was over 18), he would shave it off. It kind of gives away that this is new to you.

That and peach fuzz also give it away.

I'll wait until (if ever) I have a sufficient amount of a sufficient thickness that any bio guy would grow it out if he chose.

Dennis

[Nero]

Rafe,
In general I'd say it would help one pass better. But I think it depends on the rest of the package too.
If you have a goatee, but the rest of you is pretty femme, you could just be read as a hairy woman.
You say you like your facial hair, so I'd say go for it - to hell with what others might think so long as you like it. God knows I wish I had some.

Nero

[Melissa]

For the FTM, I don't think facial hair helps all that much.  I've seen women with mustaches and it was still easy to tell that they were women.  I also think it depends on how much hair you have.  With men, the coarse hairs tend to change the texture of the skin and that's the thing you really want.  Smooth skin doesn't help much.  I've always had smoother skin (even with a beard growing out) and I've been told that this is one of the prime reasons I pass well.

Melissa

[Mario]

Rafe,
     I will tell you that it does matter, although like Melissa said it depends on how much, and where it is. I have been able to grow hair underneath my chin for a good while now even before T. But now after being on T it is thicker, not so sparse like what Dennis refers to. The rest of my face is stubbly now, but not dark enough to matter of show. So I decided to darken the hair with a eye liner pencil on the sides and above my lip, and it makes all the diference. It looks like a 5 o'clock shawdow. Before I did this I still would run into being called "she". Not now. Men don't have smooth faces, so that is what keeps people percieving we female, then ofcourse it ruins my day. I swear though, after top surgery, I will go out everywhere with my shirt open!

                                                Marco

[Luc]

Thanks Marco... mine grows under my chin and on my upper lip, and some on the sides of my face. What's on my chin grows to about 1/2 an inch then stops, but it's enough to tell I have it. Thanks for the tip on the eyeliner pencil, though; I had tried mascara, which colors in too much on my skin and makes it look fake.

So much appreciate everyone's help... I am just having trouble trying to find any possible ways I can look more like a guy, and thus more like how I feel. Any other tips would be great.

Rafe

[Hazumu]

With men, the coarse hairs tend to change the texture of the skin and that's the thing you really want.  Smooth skin doesn't help much. 

I think the 'hint of blue' also helps project masculine cues.  I'm having my electro concentrate on the upper and lower lip, as that's where attention on the face seems to center.  If my upper lip has that blue look, I'm a guy in a skirt.  I had laser on my neck, which nocked back the blue a whole lot, though didn't kill it.  I had to photoshop my neck for my avatar to neutralise what the camera saw.

So, take what I say and reverse it.  You guys WANT that blue look of a fresh shave.  Maybe someone will make a makeup tone that simulates well-shaved full facial hair growth.  (I took theatrical makeup in college.  There's a technique where you use a stipple sponge and black makeup to fake a five-o'clock-shadow, but it only works at 10 feet away or greater...)

Enough babbling--

Karen