The secret conservative message of the “Duck Dynasty” beards
The bushy beards on "Duck Dynasty" are part of a long history of using facial hair to signify "traditional" valuesThere’s lots to write about regarding “Duck Dynasty” as a cultural phenomenon, but I’m going to focus on the history behind American beards and why that history is essential to the show’s success. Over at History Scene, Sarah Gold McBride provides a fantastic historical recap of the power of the beard in terms of shaping masculinity in the 19th century. The 19th century was a period of vast changes during which the modern world as we know it was formed. Indeed, many of the cultural, political, and economic tropes that we acknowledge today were first articulated and solidified in the 19th century, and this includes beards and their relationship to manhood.
As Gold McBride writes, with vast social, political and economic change, women began to take a more active role in public life. This led to widespread male anxiety about gender roles, which in turn fueled the development of the idea of “separate spheres” of influence. “Under this schema,” she notes, “men laid claim to public places like taverns and city streets, while women were confined to private spaces — namely, the home.” Rather than being a realistic description of gender roles, however, the notion of “separate spheres” instead provided a largely symbolic reaffirmation of idealized male and female divisions. Such theoretical gender distinctions appealed to men seeking to uphold their masculinity in distinctively visual ways. These distinctions included the realm of truly epic beard growth. Thus, in the 19th century, beards came to define a concept of manhood in a way that was unmistakably visual to better distinguish men from increasingly public women in an era when, Gold McBride observes, “traditional markers of masculinity were no longer stable or certain.”
So what does the rise of beards in the 19th century have to do with “Duck Dynasty’s” popularity in 2013? Much of the show’s popularity stems from its carefully controlled depiction of very generic, supposedly “down home” southern American values like family, Christian religious observance, traditional gender roles, patriotism, humility, good manners, reverence for the outdoors and general redneck-ness. Thrown together in a pot, these values create a simmering, clichéd stew of good ol’ folk Southern identity that harks all the way back to the antebellum South. At that time, divisions over slavery led Southerners to double down on cultural distinctions between themselves and the North in an effort to mark out Southern values as superior.
Minus the slavery issue, of course, the above-listed generic stew of Southern cultural values survived well into the 20th century because these values seemingly offered an authentic alternative to the fast-paced, modern, industrializing nation that emerged after the Civil War. As historian James C. Cobb observes in “Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South,” culture is a process, and in the post-Civil War South, Southern culture was “an ongoing cycle of interaction” during which some Southerners constantly shaped, reshaped, and reformed Southern cultural identity to adapt older traditions to the demands of modern life. This redesigned Southern identity sought to simultaneously combat and accommodate the social change that threatened to leave Dixie and its culture in the dust. The South’s general cultural, political, and religious conservatism aided this continuing process.
Now, in the 21st century, the vague idea of “Southern culture,” defined by traditional religion, gender roles, guns, family values and patriotism, has been mass-produced and sold via shows like “Duck Dynasty.” The show is consumed by a large segment of the American public that is fed up with what they perceive as the modern world’s assault on traditional values and religion. These viewers are willing to commit their time to a little slice of supposedly authentic Southern American-ness to combat the secular hordes of social reformers roaring at tradition’s gates.
The beards in “Duck Dynasty” symbolize this general, supposedly authentic, but actually mass-produced, Southern cultural conservatism. As Gold McBride noted, 19th century beards symbolized masculinity and an affirmation of gender distinctions in an age when gender roles were shifting. Contemporary America is witnessing many of the trends that shaped the 19th century, including growing income inequality and movements by various minority groups to claim their human rights.
“Duck Dynasty’s” bearded male stars offer a symbolic reaffirmation of traditional values onto which many Americans threatened by social change can latch. The Robertson men’s bushy beards, like beards in the 19th century, distinguish them from the Robertson women and symbolize Southern masculinity. Just look at the hirsute Robertsons’ favorite things: they do manly activities like hunting, fishing, shooting guns and praising God. Hell, their entire business is built around the idea that men hunt to bring home food and take care of the family.
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/20/the_secret_conservative_message_of_the_duck_dynasty_beards/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Not to detract from the article, which makes valid arguments, IMO.
It's just that the beards ought not be associated with the wearers of them so much as with the network that pimps them.
make major bucks by growing a beard, and putting on a fake 'reality' TV show.
guessing that is a yes.
Tush - "Lord take me downtown I'm just looking for some tush"
Legs - She's got legs....
La Grange - Rumour spreadin' a-'round in that Texas town
'bout that shack outside La Grange
and you know what I'm talkin' about.
Just let me know if you wanna go
to that home out on the range.
They gotta lotta nice girls ah.
Sharp Dressed Man - They come runnin' just as fast as they can
Coz' every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.
One might infer that they are not the most progressive men around.
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Common to the extreme sunni and shia muslims and those of the Jewish faith who identify as orthodox.
All cultures that practice separation of the sexes and subjugation of women.
Good Catch.
The beards are part of the costume. It's not "symbolism," it's got no deeper meaning, than some exec deciding that these characters need to look like they just rolled out of Possum Holler in order to convey the stereotype of "redneck" effectively.
Also, if we're going to equate beards with conservativism, well.. gotta explain this magnificent throat-pelt:
No bigotry there!
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I'm from the South, lived in the South all my life, except for about 9 months in Michigan. I'm almost 51 years old, have hair over half way down my back and haven't seen my chin or upper lip since 1984, when I was 21 years old. Over the last 30 years I've had a beard that has ranged from a full beard half way down my chest, to a pretty short cropped goatee.
Let's just say I'm a Southern Liberal Atheist Hippie 
The ONLY "statement" I'm making with my beard is the fact that I HATE shaving!!! I can think of a thousand things I'd rather be doing than standing in front of a mirror, dragging a sharp piece of steel across my face. Shoving bamboo sticks under my fingernails rates higher on the list of things I'd rather do than shave, lol.
I *do* have a set of clippers to keep it groomed, or for when I decide to go from full beard to goatee, and even then, I don't use a razor after cutting down to the goatee. The clippers do a good job of cutting close, and I just keep the shadow.
Peace within, Peace between, Peace among...
Ghost
Almost ALL of the Bolsheviks had some sort of facial hair also. Engels had a beard.
I personally think it's probably some sort of attempt to co-opt a certain set of redneck culture and mainstream it. For profit too of course. To a slightly conservative, average white guy working in an office strangled by a tie every day, this look (and the entire culture represented by the show from what I've read because I've never seen it 
probably represents some sort of freedom. Not only the freedom from that aforesaid tie and office, but a freedom to let long held biases hang out.
And since these biases are a large part of the attraction of fascism, the mainstreaming of this culture would prepare a sub-group of society with the possibility of being the Brown Shirts, IF capitalism needs that to survive.
Always treat facial hair with suspicion.
Thanks for the reminder.. 
except for Uncle Jesse.
"redneck cartoon caracter" - notice most characters are clean shaven.
Google "hillbilly cartoon caracter" - still sort of look like the "redneck cartoons"
Google "Old hillbilly cartoon caracter" - bingo!
I assume the show replaced jeebus with moonshine for marketing purposes.
These guys are pretending to be Appalachia hillbillies. They don't even have their regional costumes correct.
grows. But my daddy, rest his spirit, once told me,
"Why cultivate something on your face that grows wild on your ass?"
