Beards and Modernization

I asked ChatGPT the following question. I will post ChatGPT's response along with it.

Question:

Please provide ideas on the following theme.
When looking at portraits of historical figures (mainly Westerners), there is one point that catches my attention. In the case of male portraits, before the modern era, the overwhelming majority of men—kings and princes, politicians, scholars, monks, jurists, and so forth—wore beards. This situation continued until the end of the 19th century, but from the interwar period through WWII it changed drastically, and after WWII, among men active in the worlds of politics, economics, scholarship, and even sports, those with beards have become almost nonexistent.
Japan is no exception to this tendency. In portraits and photographs of famous people up through the Meiji and Taishō eras (for example, Mori Ōgai, Natsume Sōseki), one sees them bearing splendid beards. However, among famous cultural figures in the latter half of the Shōwa era, after the Second World War, there are virtually no men with beards.
Please provide a hypothesis that explains this change in relation to the modernization of human society. Furthermore, from this phenomenon concerning men’s beards, it is possible to infer that modernization itself has a branching point around the early 20th century (particularly around WWI). Please incorporate this perspective as well, and construct a hypothesis as to why, in the contemporary period, there are almost no men who wear beards.

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ChatGPT's Answer

That is an interesting perspective. The point you have raised regarding the “presence or absence of beards” can indeed be developed into a hypothesis suggesting that it actually reflects a turning point in the modernization of society. Below, I will present some ideas organized from several different angles.

1. Changes in Concepts of Hygiene and Cleanliness

Before the modern era: The beard was a symbol of maturity, dignity, and masculinity, and served as an “emblem” representing status and power. In particular, kings, nobles, and scholars would groom and display their beards proudly in order to demonstrate prestige.

From the early 20th century onward: With the spread of bacteriology (Pasteur, Koch), the notion that “body hair = unsanitary” became widespread. During the First World War, soldiers were encouraged to shave in order to wear gas masks, and in postwar society the clean-shaven face became established as the “modern masculine image.”

In Japan as well, the same trend spread through the experience of military service.

2. Transformation of Styles of Authority

The code of “beard = authority” remained valid until the 19th century. Kings, soldiers, and scholars embodied “traditional masculinity” by wearing beards.

However, through democratization and the emergence of mass society in the 20th century, authority came to be derived not from “distance” but from “approachability” and “equality.” A clean, youthful, beardless face made leaders and scholars appear more approachable and suited to mass society.

The beard came to be regarded as a symbol of the “old patriarchal order” or as a “relic of imperialism,” and conversely, it changed into an image that undermined authority.

3. Influence of Technology and Consumer Culture

The technological innovation of razors (Gillette’s safety razor, 1901) made daily shaving possible, and the clean-shaven face became the standard for urban dwellers.

Advertising, cinema, and the images of sports stars repeatedly presented the beardless man as “fresh and active.” By the mid-20th century, growing a beard had come to signify the “marginal” or “anti-establishment” (Beatnik, Hippie) stance.

4. War Experience and the Transformation of Social Norms

WWI: The culture of the gas mask was the direct trigger for the elimination of beards.

After WWII: Generations with military service experience came to dominate society, and the norm of “a beardless face = a disciplined man” was reinforced.

As a result, in postwar society, elites (politicians, scholars, business leaders) almost entirely ceased to wear beards.

5. The Beard as a Dividing Point of Modernization

This phenomenon is not merely a matter of fashion but reflects the duality of modernization:

• Modernization up to the 19th century: Emphasis on authority and masculinity (beards present)

• Modernization from the 20th century onward: Cleanliness, rationality, equality, and approachability (beardless)

In particular, the period around WWI was a critical point, and the “end of beard culture” can be read as a symbolic sign of the transition from the modern era to the contemporary era (from an imperial, patriarchal modernity to a mass-society modernity).

6. Reasons Why Beards Are Almost Nonexistent Among Contemporary Men

• Hygienism: Beards are regarded as “unclean” and “old-fashioned.”

• Reversal of the authority image: Beards are associated with the “imperial” and the “patriarchal,” and are incompatible with modern authority.

• Mass-society effect: Even elites need to present a “face approachable to the masses.”

• Traces of discipline: Through war and military service experience, the association “shaving = the image of a disciplined man” became ingrained.

• Media norms: Movies, advertising, and sports reinforced “beardlessness” as the standard.

👉 To summarize as a hypothesis:
“The disappearance of beards indicates a transition from an authoritarian masculine ideal of the modern era to a mass-society-oriented, hygiene-focused, and approachable masculine ideal. Around WWI, this transformation became decisive.”