I will be growing a beard for Movember... do I have to join ISIS for November? Honestly, if you are trying to make a serious point with your numerous postings, by becoming caricature-like I suspect most people simply shake their heads nowadays...
I absolutely feel uneasy and find it looks disgusting and unhygienic. Women agree with me. Terrorist beards also have a tangled, messy look. Whereas the homeless guy who hasn't shaven in 6 months actually has an appealing beard(like the non ISIS beards posted in this thread).
I read an article a year or two ago written by a very secular author in the US who was a child of non-religious Egyptians. He had a hipster beard, recounted meeting his parents friends, who all assumed his hipster beard meant he was ultra-religious, and so they were all extremely standoffish. He didn't figure it out until discussing it with his parents. People do make assumptions about you on the basis of your appearance. Probably more of an issue in this case if you have a darker complexion. If you are a white dude with a funky unkempt beard, I think people just assume you are a hipster d-bag instead.
Ottomaton, I believe the article you are referring to is the one I posted in the OP. I stumbled upon that article and thought I would share it with some of our D&D regulars . The reactions were exactly as predicted, and by the exact people they were expected from .
Interesting- I take it you have a tagging system in place? Mind sharing the list with me so we can corroborate info?
Haven't read anything but the OP. Obviously the beard does not carry the same meaning across 20 countries, dozens of religions, several races and hundreds of millions of people as the OP suggests. There is a word which aptly describes that kind of general suggestion. It means absolutely nothing anymore because it has re-emerged as a cultural symbol in some areas, as a fashion statement in others, and Islamic in others. Beards are historically significant in the region, even in the Mediterranean, and this tradition, like prayer beads and gahfiyas, has been exported to Muslimized countries around the world such as Indonesia and Iran. In other applications in the UAE and Bahrain for example, men are grooming their beards because it attracts non-Arab women. Further, terrorists are encouraged not to keep beards because (a) they know easily fooled people like ATW exist and (b) it's so 2013. Bikers and truck drivers on the other hand remain committed to the look, despite the xenophobic looks they endure.
