beard Archives | Restoring Liberty

U.S. Justice Dept. Sues Philly School District Over Beard-Length Rule (+video)

March 7, 2014/3 Comments/in Featured, Video /by Alex Wigglesworth

Photo Credit: James Alby / flickrThe U.S. Department of Justice has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the School District of Philadelphia, claiming a rule regulating the length of employees’ beards constitutes religious discrimination.

According to the suit filed Wednesday, the district in October 2010 instituted a new grooming policy preventing school police officers and security guards from having beards longer than a quarter of an inch.

School police officer Siddiq Abu-Bakr maintained an untrimmed beard for the 27 years he worked at the district, the suit states. Abu-Bakr is a member of the Islamic faith, which he says requires that he not cut his beard.

When Abu-Bakr notified his supervisor his religious beliefs precluded him from complying with the new policy, he was allegedly issued a written reprimand cautioning that continued violation of the rule would result in “further disciplinary action.”

Razor Sales Dropping Precipitously as World Embraces the “Scruffy Look”

August 26, 2013/0 Comments/in Featured, The Offbeat /by Natalie Gontcharova

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Blame George Clooney, Brad Pitt, David Beckham and the rest of the facial hair-loving celebs. Blame hipster girls fawning over bearded musicians. Blame the modern caveman movement with its paleo diet and DIY ethos.

Whatever you blame, there’s no doubt that scruffy faces — and full-on beards — have been making a comeback. So much so that North American razor sales are way down, and an increasing number of British men are getting — wait for it — facial hair transplants.

Procter & Gamble, which owns shaving giant Gillette, recently announced that its razor sales are falling in developed markets. Energizer’s Schick razor has also taken a recent hit, with sales dropping 10 percent in the last year. Market research firm Euromonitor International predicts that in 2013, shaving products are expected to lose their dominance in the larger male grooming market for the first time ever.

“The vogue for stubble, the relative non-hairiness of Chinese men, growing acceptance of the unshaven look in the workplace and, most importantly, the ever increasing cost of shaving have all been damaging to men’s shaving and Gillette alike,” Nicole Tyrimou, an analyst at Euromonitor International, wrote recently. “Over the medium to long term, the desire for an unshaven look is expected to continue, especially in Western Europe where increasing unemployment coupled with stubble being in vogue will continue to damage growth of razors and blades.”

Amish Leader Gets 15 Years For Beard Attacks (+video)

February 10, 2013/2 Comments/in Featured, The Offbeat /by CNN.com

A leader of a breakaway Amish community in rural eastern Ohio was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for forcibly cutting the beards and hair of community members.

Samuel Mullet Sr., 67, and 15 followers were found guilty last year in connection with what authorities said were the religiously motivated attacks on several fellow Amish people. Mullet and others were convicted of conspiracy to violate a federal hate-crime law.

Prosecutors said the followers, at Mullet’s instruction, shaved the beards and cut the hair of Amish people who had left his group over various religious disagreements.
Five attacks happened in four eastern Ohio counties between September and November 2011.

Four of the followers were sentenced to seven years in prison, three were handed five-year sentences, two were sentenced to two years and six were sentenced to a year and a day, according to the Justice Department.

Little Girl to Lincoln: “All the Ladies Like Whiskers”

November 30, 2012/0 Comments/in Featured, Kathleen's Korner /by Daily Mail Reporter

Even among the distinguished company of former U.S. presidents, Abraham Lincoln’s portrait stands out. Nearly every schoolchild can pick out the 16th president, thanks his to tall, this frame, his long coat and stovepipe hat – and the distinctive beard on his chin.

The source of the president’s facial hair has been revealed as an 11-year-old girl who wrote a letter to the then-Republican presidential candidate and urged him to grow a beard because ‘all the ladies like whiskers.’

Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, penned a letter to Lincoln in October 1860 suggesting that he would have a better chance of getting elected if he grew a beard, Mental Floss magazine reports. The story of Lincoln’s trademark beard has become a source of national interest after the release – and success – of Steven Spielberg’s newest film, ‘Lincoln.’ Daniel Day Lewis takes on the role of the battle-hardened president as he lead the nation through the brutal Civil War.

‘You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin,’ she said. ‘All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.’ Women weren’t allowed to vote at the time, and did not gain the right until 1920.

Remarkably, the Illinois Senator promptly wrote her back. ‘As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now’
He did not promise her a beard, but photographs from the era reveal he stopped shaving shortly after the letter was written.

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