‘Stache secrets revealed
‘It’s about the performance of masculinity,’ says psychiatrist
The man who is for the post-modern moustache sees it as an emblem of confidence, says author Allan Peterkin. There’s humour and whimsy in it
For a guy known internationally as the go-to commentator on facial hair, Allan Peterkin is a bit low in the face fur category.
No beard. No moustache. Not even a jazz tab. Although Peterkin will admit to occasionally flirting with stubble and cultivating a ’stache this summer when he took his new book One Thousand Mustaches to a book expo. The psychiatrist, who is also a lecturer at the University of Toronto, is frequently called on to parse the meaning of face fuzz for the media — Al Gore’s election-loss beard, for instance — for outlets ranging from GQ to the Wall Street Journal.
Mustachioed documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (“I’m going to embrace my inner porn star,” Spurlock said of his signature biker-style mo) interviewed Peterkin on men’s grooming for his 2012 film, Mansome.
Peterkin says he was walking to work in downtown Toronto in the late ’90s and thinking about writing a new book on cultural history when he was struck by all the furry faces around him.
“I noticed how hairy everyone was,” says Peterkin. “So I asked myself ‘Why now?’ ”
Good question. So he started research on the book that became One Thousand Beards, which chronicled the history of facial hair from Neanderthals to its postmodern iteration as social commentary.
“It seems like a frivolous topic, but it’s about the performance of masculinity,” he says.
All kinds of statements can be read into facial hair.
Brad Pitt pleating his beard with rubber bands can spark a trend in an age where men take their cues from pop culture, says Peterkin. Workplaces are more tolerant of facial hair and men have become less hesitant to make statements with their grooming.
“The man who is pro-postmodern moustache is confident. There is humour and whimsy in it,” says Peterkin.
Still, there are two spheres where facial hair remains unacceptable — banking and politics. Robert Borden was Canada’s last prime minister to be associated with a mo.
NDP leaders Jack Layton and Thomas Mulcair are exceptions, but that’s possibly because the party is known for pushing the envelope and Layton had his moustache for so long that it became a signature and not an eccentricity.
“With lifetimers, it’s not a fad. They would no more take it off than lose a limb. Consistency is what we want with politicians and bankers,” says Peterkin.
Liberal leadership hopeful Justin Trudeau has occasional forays into various beard and moustache combinations. Flirting with facial hair can backfire for a politician, he says. Trudeau’s assorted whisker configurations give him a youthful appeal, but they might also suggest flightiness, attentionseeking and lack of gravitas.
“It really is about reading the face,” says Peterkin. “I think those biases will persist.”
Meanwhile, the popularity of Movember, the international month-long event that urges men to grow facial hair to raise money for men’s health initiatives, has been homing in on this generation’s appreciation for the fun of facial hair.
“It has a lot of do with male bonding. It’s playful,” says Peterkin.