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Beard Stories: Signification of Facial Hair In and Out of South Korea

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

To sport a beard signifies something. Stories are not generally written about being clean shaven. Although perfectly natural, a beard is an add-on, like an extra appendage. A beard is a style choice. This series of autoethnographic vignettes shows some of the added effects of a beard felt by a body aesthetic that already signifies "foreigner" in the national imaginary of South Korea. What begins with a simple assumption about a marker of foreignness and difference later serves as a signifier of normative tropes, an ethnic identifier, as a sexual and political marker, and eventually comes to unveil a deeper cultural dimension within the context of its interpretation. Finally, through the process of reflecting on its erasure, the depth of personal significance of the beard in question is revealed.

Key Words: Western culture • autoethnography • South Korea • Seoul • performance

Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 11, No. 3, 458-465 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1077800404269427


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