From models to actors to sports players, the image of the “ideal body” the media projects seems to lack something. Hair. Despite from the obvious profit of selling products or advertising, why do we hate hair so much? What did it ever do to deserve such cruel punishments?

How and why did we start killing our thin skin residents, and when did all this hair-genocide start? Ironically enough, it was started by a Greek king by the name of Alexander the Great. He encouraged his army to shave their beards so that the enemy forces wouldn’t grab on to them, eventually leading to the introduction of shaving as a mainstream task for the average guy.

Beard styles remained the norm, but fast forward a couple centuries later to the 70’s, when the world decided it had had enough with hair chest bushes and Freddie Mercury mustaches. This led to the total hair extermination fest of the 80’s, brought to us by guys like the Terminator and Rambo. We had every male action actor flash us with their shiny, oiled up pecks and abs and made every guy go, “Huh, If I shaved I’d probably look like them.”

Hair has been criticized and condemned, loved and hated, eradicated but always regrown. The point is, beards and mustaches are natural and should be left untouched. Great men throughout the history have had beards and mustaches, and took great pride in them. Abe Lincoln, Salvador Dali, Charlie Chaplin, Wolverine, Ron Swanson, Ron Burgundy and Leonidas all had and have their facial hair as personal trademarks to this day.

In retrospect to shaving it off, you should be thanking your hair! It keeps your body warm during cold nights by forming an insulating coat on the body. It traps a layer of still air just outside the skin, and thereby reduces loss of heat. It also captures all dust and dirt particles before they can land on your skin and it absorbs the sun’s lethal UV radiation. More blatantly, it can prevent skin cancer! And you know that awesome feeling when the music is so good or when the movie frightens you so much that you get goosebumps? Well, thank your hair for that.

But besides its practical uses, hair is a status of masculinity. When it comes to beards, a man can impress, intimidate, attract or repulse. He can also look more sophisticated while stroking his beard and looking up in the sky while he is around people. He is a man who embodies all the meaning of the word.

On the bottom line, hair is a man’s wingman in both his personal and business endeavors. We all have it for a reason and it has a purpose to serve. No negative comment, feminine temptations or Abercrombie model should make a man shave off his luscious chest hair or his leg or arm hair. Hair is a warm partner for cold nights, a health defender, status elevator and in essence, a life companion.