A Lot of Dirty Guys Here!

[Cave Dweller]

I never knew these things caused baldness.

http://www.carbonated.tv/lifestyle/beards-are-dirtier-than-toilets-and-other-disturbing-beard-facts

Hey, if it's on the internet, it HAS to be true...

[Quiet_Dan]

This sounds like a good reason to keep mine short trimmed

[Rusty Shackleford]

Hey, if it's on the internet, it HAS to be true...

Cosmopolitan France?  Really?

I know you are having fun with this, so this is directed towards anyone who is actually concerned with this "revelation":

WELCOME TO PLANET EARTH. You are obviously new here so I'd like to tell you a few things about our planet.  Virtually all surfaces are covered with bacteria, and the more surface area that exists the more bacteria will exist.  Bacteria is largely harmless because your body because it has been built to exist in the reality that it exists within.  Scientifically-ignorant journalists love to whip people into a frenzy from time to time by exploiting their low-information readers and viewers by giving us startling revelations about the quantity of bacteria on ordinary things and how it will kill them all!

It's so irritating how people immediately associate the presence of bacteria to disease and death and how notoriously stupid journalists feed that ignorance.  We are moist biological things that are constantly secreting oils, sweat, and shedding dead cells so of course we are going to be coated in bacteria, and if you increase that surface area with hair then you are going to have more bacteria.  Big friggin' deal.

This article sounds like it was written with the social politically-correct "men are just broken women" bias and beards, being a symbol of the male gender, are therefore inherently bad because men are bad. "OOh look beards have bacteria on them!  Men need to shave and be more feminine!  See?  This is another example of women being better than men!"


A quick review of the internet (I did not read these) found the following fear-mongering and other articles.  Many of these are the "There is more bacteria on {X} than a toilet seat!" 'cause toilets are where we poop and are therefore gross and scary!


As for me?  I'm not going to let journalists and ignorance scare me into feminizing my face down to stubble or skin.  The most politically-incorrect part about having a beard is that it often causes the men wearing them to adopt the politically-incorrect manly attitude of individualism: I'm going to think for myself and fashion my facial hair as I see fit not as our misandric pop-culture sees fit thank-you-very-much.


Phones "Why Your Cellphone Has More Bacteria Than a Toilet Seat"
http://www.livescience.com/22822-cell-phones-germs.html

Carpet: "In fact, it [carpet] probably has about 200,000 bacteria per square inch. That's about 4,000 times grosser than your toilet, in case you were keeping track."
http://www.sheknows.com/home-and-gardening/articles/1037757/7-nasty-germs-that-are-lurking-in-your-carpet-and-mattress

Money: "There are more germs on a £1 coin than a TOILET SEAT"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2621500/Dirty-cash-Bank-notes-contain-26-000-bacteria-half-Britons-wash-hands-handling-them.html

CBS: "Handbags may contain more germs than average toilet flush"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/handbags-may-contain-more-germs-than-average-toilet-flush/

Gas Pumps: "Gas pump handles are filthiest surfaces Americans touch"
http://www.naturalnews.com/034046_gas_pump_bacteria.html

Fingernails: "Why is there more bacteria under a fingernail than under a toilet seat?"
http://www.answers.com/Q/Why_is_there_more_bacteria_under_a_fingernail_than_under_a_toilet_seat

WebMD: "Human Skin Alive With Bacteria - Skin Crawls With Many More 'Vibrant Communities' of Bacteria Than Thought"
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20090528/human-skin-alive-with-bacteria

DailyMail: "Games consoles, bicycles and children's toys: The household items that harbour more bacteria than your TOILET SEAT"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2412606/The-household-items-harbour-bacteria-TOILET-SEAT.html



Uh-ho:
"Myth: Toilet Seats Are the Dirtiest Thing in the Bathroom"
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/Story?id=1213831&page=1


Today: "Germs lurking in old makeup: It isn't pretty"
http://www.today.com/style/germs-lurking-old-makeup-it-isnt-pretty-2D80556139


Toothbrush
http://www.1dental.com/blog/2011/08/08/flush-toilet-toothbrush/

[Cave Dweller]

Rusty:

My only thought after reading the article was whether its author ever had considered that men - even those of us with facial hair - might actually bathe. It seemed the author never had contemplated that possibility.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Rusty:

My only thought after reading the article was whether its author ever had considered that men - even those of us with facial hair - might actually bathe. It seemed the author never had contemplated that possibility.

Cosmopolitan France?  Doubtful that they'd consider that, but even if they did "clean" is such a vague term.  After a thorough shower you're still going to have loads of bacteria on your skin and those colonies are going to start grow immediately.  It's also based on a premise that is basically shaky at best being that there is nothing more disgusting than bacteria.  Think about it: what would you rather drink: water from a puddle or sterilized urine?

[Razor X]

Think about it: what would you rather drink: water from a puddle or sterilized urine?

Are those the only two choices?   

[matt548]

what a croc of BS!!!!

[Ruffnek]

There was a response to this over at Beardbrand.