A New Hypothesis on the Functions of Mustache and Beard

https://www.wired.com/story/facial-hair-is-biologically-useless-so-why-do-humans-have-it/

I think the above article is a convincing hypothesis for the argument that mustaches and beards have a function in 'intersex attraction and intrasexual competition'.

But I hypothesize that something else might be the main function. Think about going for a run in cold weather. Moisture will settle as it freezes around the mouth and chin as you exhale rough breath without a beard. This can cause intense pain and in severe cases can lead to frostbite. Cold weather and long runs at high speeds can be conditions that require a beard.

Aren’t Europeans’ beards characteristically wider, denser, and longer than those of Asians or Africans? Europeans have been lived in relatively colder areas.

This hypothesis is accompanied by the hypothesis that the period when hair began to disappear from the entire face and the division of labor between men and women in gender roles at that time were in progress.

If the wind, sand and etc. are important for the evolution of facial hairs, it seems that modern men have long hairs around the eyes and ears also.

Summing up, I acknowledge that the cited paper's claim that men's emphasis on masculinity and women's emphasis on aesthetics influenced the evolution of facial hair is somewhat convincing. Meanwhile, I put forward another hypothesis. Modern women have virtually lost facial hair, and modern men have long mustaches and beards, but hair around the eyes and ears has almost disappeared. In particular, European men's mustaches and beards are growing longer with higher density in a wider range than Asians and Africans. The reason for this trend is as follows. It may be because after the division of labor between men and women, there was a strong need to prevent pain or frostbite in the lower nose and around the mouth from freezing hot breath when men mainly ran for a long time in very cold weather for hunting or others.

#hair #armpit hair #pubic hair #mustache #beard #evolution #function