Facial hair

[insideontheoutside]

Thoughts? How important is it to be able to grow a beard to you? If you can, do you rock it? Are you annoyed by having to shave? Do you go for the scruffy look?

Personally, I'm glad I don't have a lot of it (it only ever shows up right at the edge of my chin and under my chin and randomly at the sides of my upper lip) although I did go through a beard-envy phase. Mostly I don't think I would have actually rocked one, it was more I couldn't actually grow one. Seems silly in retrospect. I have noticed that beards do seem to be in fashion again. I know some other dudes (bio dudes) who lament the fact they can't grow a decent beard. I've known guys that barely have to shave at all too. Like everything else, there's a whole world of variation on it. I think I'm happy actually not having to shave a lot.

[Chris968]

My beard is one of the most important things to me.  I have one friend who is constantly telling me to shave but it's something that non-trans guys don't understand.  While a lot of cis-guys are annoyed by their beard to me it's a rite of passage into manhood.  When I started T I would sit in my car and look at my face for hours (the mirror is perfect for that lol) waiting for hairs to grow in.

I have thick side burns and it's thick under my chin and down my neck, and it's starting to thicken out along my jaw line.  But I have nothing on my lip and I wish I did.  Also waiting for it to come in more on my cheeks, but I know that it's genetic and my dad doesn't even have to shave everyday so what I have is what I have.

I also had an issue once in March when I did shave (for a formal picture) and I went to the grocery store and someone actually referred to me as female until I spoke.  I was shocked and angry because I was just about to reach my 2 year mark on T.  Personally having facial hair absolutely defines me as a man.

[alexx]

Personally, I think body and facial hair in general is disgusting. However, I think I want grow one of those curly mustaches jokingly, if I ever get to the day that I start T. Otherwise, I couldn't/don't want to imagine myself with facial hair. It's gross. Plus, I have a feeling that the hairstyle I want wouldn't look all too great with a beard or mustache.

[ilanthefirst]

I'm not on T and can't grow any facial hair whatsoever, but I must be in one of those "beard-envy phases" you mentioned, insideontheoutside, because the best word that describes how much I want facial hair is "desperately".  I've been in this phase for a couple of years and have told pretty much all my friends, even those to whom I'm not particularly close to being out as FTM.  My biggest hesitation in pursuing T is fear of the neckbeard, which I think would drive me crazy in the worst way.  But a mustache, sideburns, or chin hair?  Sign me up, please!

[insideontheoutside]

I'm not on T and can't grow any facial hair whatsoever, but I must be in one of those "beard-envy phases" you mentioned, insideontheoutside, because the best word that describes how much I want facial hair is "desperately".  I've been in this phase for a couple of years and have told pretty much all my friends, even those to whom I'm not particularly close to being out as FTM.  My biggest hesitation in pursuing T is fear of the neckbeard, which I think would drive me crazy in the worst way.  But a mustache, sideburns, or chin hair?  Sign me up, please!

Yeah everyone I know with the dreaded neck beard says it sucks lol. If you have a lot of fuzz you might be able to pull of that "mascara trick". I forget exactly how some guys do it but it could look convincing in some situations.

[notyouraverageguy]

I agree with Alexx.

[ilanthefirst]

Yeah everyone I know with the dreaded neck beard says it sucks lol. If you have a lot of fuzz you might be able to pull of that "mascara trick". I forget exactly how some guys do it but it could look convincing in some situations.

Yeah, I did that once at a drag show (that was awkward, because to me "drag" has always been high heels and gaudy dresses and a brightly colored wig, but the organizers wanted a drag king to help MC it, and I knew how to look the part), and it worked okay, but only from the distance of the stage; up close it looked pretty silly.  XD

[Chris968]

My biggest hesitation in pursuing T is fear of the neckbeard

The neckbeard is quite awful LOL.  They actually paid this guy on a radio show I listen to to grow just a neckbeard for like 2 months, the result was nasty.  Thank god for razors!!

[ilanthefirst]

The neckbeard is quite awful LOL.  They actually paid this guy on a radio show I listen to to grow just a neckbeard for like 2 months, the result was nasty.  Thank god for razors!!

I don't think I could manage to bring a razor to my neck.  My hands shake just thinking about it!

But your story reminds me of a cis-male friend of mine who couldn't grow a mustache any faster than I can, but he could grow a mean neckbeard, which he of course hated.  At a party once, he wore an obviously fake mustache just to see what it was like.  q-:  I actually borrowed it for most of the party, and several people said it looked better on me!

[Shang]

Even if I could grow facial hair, I would shave it off instantly.  Body hair (minus pubic hair) disgusts me so I don't want my own.

[Silver]

If I can grow one (and I think I will be able to, with going on T and my father's facial hair as proof and all) it will be an ego boost. But it seems like more of a hassle than it will be worth, just another chore, self-maintenance. So perhaps I'd prefer a thinner one or one that grows slowly.

I'll probably just go for the clean-shaven look. Although I may try a beard once, just to see how it looks.

[jmaxley]

I really don't want facial hair.  But considering how hairy I am pre-T (I have to pretty much shave once a week right now), I'll probably get the whole Grizzly Adams ensemble.  Though I will say the idea of facial hair doesn't bother me quite as much now as it did a few months ago.  A little on the jawline wouldn't be so bad, but I'd probably still shave.  Oi, and I don't want a neck beard.  But I desperately want some sideburns.

[insideontheoutside]

I would rock the sideburns

[Fencesitter]

Facial hair has been the physical change I most enjoyed, apart from my voice dropping. Though "enjoy" is not quite the right word. It was more like: "Wow, finally things are getting right."

http://www.transe-generation.com/galleryImage.php?imageID=989

I shave it and then let it grow for half a week or one week.

http://www.transe-generation.com/galleryImage.php?imageID=1133

THis hasn't changed yet.

http://www.transe-generation.com/galleryImage.php?imageID=1012

[jmaxley]

Oh, man, I'm loving those comics! 

[Wolf]

I've had a few dreams where i had a beard/ facial hair. Somehow in the dreams i knew exactly how it felt, my family is quite hairy. Perhaps my ancestral beard is calling to me, but if and when i start T i will be putting willpower into facial hair growth. I wan me a beard, fo sho!

I kind of think, if you have any kind of even or more than a few sprouts of facial hair, people are going to read you as male. Actually, saying that, there was once a cashier working somewhere i saw who was not ugly, really, just normal looking and she had a pretty noticeable, pretty epic woman beard/ moustache. And I'm not talking the light stuff, you could see this for miles. But generally, beard= guy, imo.

How is hair growth inherited btw? A quick search on google just told me how hair loss is inherited; what i mean is from the father/ mother side?

[PixieBoy]

I developed a stroking-invisible-beard motion when thinking when I was 13 or 14, and I've had a cis-male friend tell me that he wished he could grow a moustache like mine. I have no other facial hair, but light-coloured longer fuzz in the sideburns area, which also feels somewhat courser and different than my other peach fuzz. I've had blonde body hair (well, this tiny soft peach fuzz type of things), but some of it became dark during puberty. So now I'm rockin' dark moustache, arm and leg hair, and a couple chest hairs. I wish I could get a goatee, like my father, it seems like it'd suit me somehow. If it wouldn't, well, that way I'd get something real to stroke when thinking.

[Teknoir]

I rock my chin scruff proudly  .

It's still growing and expanding but I have enough to look unkempt if it's left to it's own devices  .

No neckbeard yet... thankfully. It started under the chin, and is moving up towards the bottom lip and along the jaw rather than down the neck.

It's important to me to be able to grow facial hair. Always wanted it. Want more of it. I'm always stroking the damn stuff, and feeling around for stubble. It's fantastic to feel something on this goddamn body that fits for once!

I only shave some of it, and only sometimes - though I don't find shaving that big an annoyance. That said, it's pretty well behaved as is - I just tidy it up a little.

I expect this to change in the future, of course. My family are Yeti

[Quicksand]

whoa, so much beard hate!  I think facial hair is fun, I look like a lumberjack if I don't shave (although that has a lot to do with my genetics).  Generally I rock a close-cropped stubble...they did a study that showed that women are most attracted to that, since it tends to define your facial bone structure and show your ability to grow a beard without being so long it actually obscures your jawline.  I trust science!

[Fencesitter]

I developed a stroking-invisible-beard motion when thinking when I was 13 or 14

Me too, and it never went away.