Hey...You've Got Something On Your Upper Lip...

      Those whiskers that grow out of a man's upper lip. You can curl it maniacally or comb it into fancy styles. It can be a sign of being dignified, manhood, or just being too lazy to shave. There's the "Handlebar Mustache", the "Hitler", "Chops", "The Chester Allen Arthur", a simple goatee. Regardless of the style, it's all the same when it comes right down to it. Facial hair. What is it about this hair that most men work at shaving during their morning routines? It's seen as a mark of being a man. A man who can grow a beard is a big strong man. I, for one, don't believe in this whatsoever. I'm in high school, so this is very much subject to change, but the guys I see with beards or mustaches are just plain gross. No shave November makes the personal hygiene of the male (and sometimes even female) population go way downhill. Maybe it's just because the guys I see with beards and mustaches are the ones who are just too lazy to shave it. This also means they're too lazy to keep their facial hair well kept...and unfortunately too lazy to brush the crumbs of their lunch out of it. However, anyone I see with a mustache or beard just automatically makes me cringe.

      My biggest example: Ryan Gosling. To my readers of this blog, you cannot deny that you didn't want to cry a little prematurely in The Notebook when Noah (played by Ryan Gosling) is shown to age with the addition of a giant unkempt mane of bushy facial hair. At that point, I didn't blame Ally for wanting to be with her clean shaven fiance. Guys must learn, facial hair is not a sign of manhood. It's not attractive, in style, cool, or "hipster". Pick up a razor and get rid of that thing growing between your nose and your lip. Going further with my Ryan Gosling example: today I saw the movie Crazy Stupid Love in which Gosling plays a kind of "slime-ball player". What do they give his character in order to insure he looked the part? A nasty slimy-looking goatee. It's not attractive. 

      Maybe it's just me and I'm crazy. Afterall, Ally ended up with the bearded Noah in The Notebook, and Jacob in Crazy Stupid Love certainly had no problem attracting women. But in my opinion, in this time period, guys my age should not try their absolute hardest to grow a mustache like they do. It should not be seen as a sign of manhood, but a sign of overcompensation. DISCLAIMER: this rule has few exceptions, but exceptions do exist. For example: Tom Selleck. He is one of the few men I've seen in my life that can pull off a mustache.