Facial hair

From Free net encyclopedia

Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic in human males. Most men develop facial hair in puberty. Many women also have some facial hair, especially after menopause, though typically much less than men.

Male pogonotrophy (the growing of facial hair; beardedness) is often culturally associated with wisdom and virility. Many men style their facial hair into beards, moustaches, goatees or sideburns. However, many others completely shave their facial hair. A man's facial hair, especially short hairs that were missed in shaving, is often referred to as whiskers, although only nonhuman mammals have true whiskers.

Women typically have little hair on their faces, apart from the fine fuzz nearly all people have covering most of their bodies. However, a few women have noticeable facial hair growth. Excessive hairiness (especially facially) is known as hirsutism, and is an usually indication of hormonal variation. Many women shave or tweeze facial hair which does appear, as there is considerable social stigma associated with facial hair in women. Image:Abraham Lincoln head on shoulders photo portrait.jpg The amount of facial hair on a man's face varies from individual to individual, and also between ethnic groups. For example, men from many East Asian, West African or Native American backgrounds typically have less facial hair than those of Europeans and Middle Easterners. However, as with all generalizations, this isn't always the case for everyone. For instance, Northern East Asians and Eastern Africans can grow conspicuous amounts of facial hair.