Bewhiskered

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 446, 9 January 1948, Page 12

Bewhiskered

HY should it be considered correct for a man to have a moustache, but not a beard, side-whiskers, or long hair? Why should the trimming of the whiskers be a thing of such rigorous fashion that the man who doesn’t conform to current taste is regarded with a great deal more curiosity, disdain, and uneasi,ness than the woman who doesn’t conform to fashion in dress? Such reflections would normally occur to any listener who heard "The Beard" from 4YA; the story of a young man who came home from the war, with a full navaltype beard, and decided that he was going to keep it in civil life. The Beard at once became a symbol. To his parents it was just another sign that war brings changes and children grow up and out of control; to the women in our

hero’s life it was a source of fascination; to his fellow-workers, an eccentricity; to his boss, a nuisance. But to the wearer of the Beard, it was one of those principles for which the war was fought-the freedom of the individual. This latter aspect of the matter was somewhat submerged in the method of treating the play, although the comic touch was obviously the right method. The hero ascended the ladder of notoriety and worldly success with unusual ease, thanks to the publicity of the Beard, but I wonder what would happen to the average man in similar circumstances?