life-style

When Michael Fittler goes for a jog, passers-by stop in the street to spur him onward. At the shops he draws appreciative glances from strangers and at the pub other men want to shake his hand. They pull him aside and tell him, sincerely, that they wish they could be more like him. This is the special place society now reserves for a young man willing and able to grow a full beard. On catwalks and in films, on red carpets, stages and on the world’s most watched sportsgrounds, beards are increasingly en vogue. No longer the exclusive domain of Santa Claus and other grandfatherly types, wizards and the mentally troubled, the beard’s rise among young men has been attributed to nostalgic longing for the facial hair sported by their fathers in the 1970s and 1980s. Mr Fittler, a 23-year-old tradie from North Wollongong, began cultivating his beard eight months ago. It has proven an ice-breaker – a conversation-starter with magnetic appeal among appreciative, back-slapping, blokey-blokes. ‘‘I get a lot of high-fives. A lot of cheering,’’ said Mr Fittler, of North Wollongong. ‘‘If I go running there’s a lot of ‘run Forest, run’.’’ ‘‘I get in regular conversations about how guys want to grow a beard like this, but can’t.’’ Beards are not for shy men, Mr Fittler warns. You need a sense of humour and – like ‘‘manly’’ beer commercial character – confidence. ‘‘You’ve got to have a decent personality to pull it off. You can’t be a shy and timid person – you’ve got to be able to play up to people,’’ he said. Not that the beard is universally adored. It tends to divide women, and has put Mr Fittler’s own mother off side. ‘‘Dad doesn’t mind but mum hates it. She thinks I’m a ‘beautiful young man who needs to show his face’. ‘‘You do get a very mixed reaction from the ladies. I say if a girl gets you to shave your beard, you deserve neither. I think most people who have a decent beard on them are very attached to it.’’ Mr Fittler believes the example set by musicians and sportspeople is encouraging young men to grow beards, but says it’s more than a fad. He would like to have a beard for life, but he also intends to join the Army and accepts it will have to go. In Victoria, a group of 16 police officers are challenging the force’s ban on beards and ponytails, deemed ‘‘unprofessional’’ by Chief Commissioner Ken Lay. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is considering the group’s objection, and will make a decision soon. Mr Fittler is on the side of the officers. ‘‘Beards shouldn’t be banned. There shouldn’t be a rule that you can’t grow something that grows naturally on your face,’’ he said.

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