GEORGE CLOONEY, Ben Affleck, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper et al weren't sporting beards for the first time when they appeared at the Academy Awards last month. But the proliferation of facial hair among many of the globe's leading men was enough to spark a media trend alert. Jumping on the bandwagon this late in the day could be regarded as sloppy. But I'm less interested in the star wattage attached to this outbreak of hirsuteness than in the deeper psychological implications of what being bearded has meant since the look re-entered the male mainstream four or five years ago.

I...