Pogonotrophy? Hell yeah!

Pogonotrophy is "the act of cultivating, or growing and grooming, a mustache, beard, sideburns or other facial hair" (a quote from wiktionary.org). They call it an act, we call it an art. That's right - an art. Why? Well, painting was cultivated since the begining of human history and humans perfected it until it became na art. The same was with music or literature. And pogonotrophy.

History

Men grew beards since the begining of time (although they didn't at first because they haven't invented razors or scissors yet). Removal of facial hair was a bit painful in the beginning because first razors were made of flint - archaeologists discovered razors that date back to 30,000 BC. So back in the days shaving was difficult and men grew beards. Soon it became a fashion and people started experimenting. In the acient Greece a beard was a sign of wisdom and knowledge. In many cultures beards have been ascribed with a lot of attributes like wisdom, knowledge or sexual virility. 

Facial hair came in many shapes, sizes and colours. But it wasn't always accepted in society. For example in some cultures in the past it could be read as a sign of rebellion. Peter I of Russia commanded his courtiers and officials to cut off their beards. To add insult to injury, he would sometimes personally shave the beards of his noblemen. Those wishing to keep their beards had to pay a tax – 100 rubles each year – as well as carry around a medal proclaiming that “beards are a ridiculous ornament.”

In the past growing and cutting of a beard has had much symbolic importance - in ancient Rome boys would not remove any facial hair until they had reached adulthood, in the East one of the forms of punishment for crimes was to have one’s beard removed in public, in some barbaric tribes a man was not allowed to shave until he had killed his first enemy.