Why do East Asian men barely get thick facial hair?
I know that guys from Japan, China or Korea don’t easily get thick facial hair (as in: having a literal beard) or it’ll take longer to grow in comparison to Euro-Western men for some reason even if both groups didn’t shave, what I mean is in a week: the American guy is starting to grow a beard while the Japanese guy hasn’t gotten it yet despite both waiting 7 days unshaven.
Like this: both guys work for the same corporation where suits are required & must be presented with decorum, the Japanese guy hasn’t shaven for that long but still looks clean while the American guy shaved yesterday before work as the beard has grown, so basically the American guy has to shave frequently while the Japanese guy doesn’t use the razor that much.
It’s the same thing with SE Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesians) guys since it’s not common for them to heave beards within a week on the same extent as European & Western men. Rather it only displays a small patch of facial hair instead of a full beard if left unshaven, it grows at a slower pace for them while its rapid for both Western & European guys.
12 replies
They also have funky other differences like dry ear wax, non-stinky sweat, they turn bright red when drinking alcohol and a lot of them have blue-ish birthmarks.
It's fascinating what genes can do! Just like sneezing when looking at a bright light or having the coriander=soap gene.
I got ‘lucky’ and the tiny bit of my DNA attributed to my Neanderthal ancestors is responsible for my awful skin. I have, apparently, incurable dandruff that’s spread to my ears and face. It’s a real pain. Unless I am constantly (and I mean that) washing my face and scalp, it never goes away. Dealt with it all my life.
Genes.
Far Eastern Asians generally have less body hair. Not just men, not just facial.
Other people do too - the reason I gave up growing a beard. Can't get beyond the scraggly phase.
More reading:
https://safereddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1l9525/eli5why_do_asians_usually_have_no_body_hair_and/
edit: Far Eastern, not all Asians.
Hell, I can grow a decently thick beard, but it never grows past maybe three inches, which means it’s very unevenly long looking. Also my goatee area never grows past an inch and a half long.
I read this and immediately thought "well, that's completely wrong".
I'm British, so to me "Asian" usually means from the Indian Subcontinent. Some of those guys can be very beardy!
Anyway, the answer to your question is a phenomenon called Neoteny.
Basically, it's the retention of juvenile characteristics into adulthood. It occurs almost exclusively through sexual selection.
In East Asia populations, there is a mutation in the EDAR gene which is associated with the specific differences you've mentioned (along with thicker head hair, less prominent chins, smaller boobs, etc).
Also british here. I don't get why people don't just say Southern Asian, West Asian, Central Asian, East Asian.
We do that for europe and Africa, so it isn't offensive or anything, right?
It really neatly divides people into generally similar groups (admittedly Afghanis can be profoundly distinct from Indian-subcontinent-als, and i consider both to be south asians)
Any idea how that functions in Scandinavia , with less hair, but big sturdy women (big breasts, strong ect) and men too?
You're heavily dealing in stereotypes. I would like to throw in there are plenty of Caucasian guys who can't grow a full beard. And there are those in Asia who can grow a thick one as well. The distribution is subject to the generic lottery and the individual's production of testosterone.
Eh, probably more phenotype than stereotype?
I think the premise is wrong and the perception is cultural.
No to both. It's tricky, talking about these things, because the spectre of racism looms, but it's a real thing nonetheless. See my answer.
It's not restricted to males though.
Premise is pretty accurate, though ofc not universally true. Source: Am hairy Asian.