A recent study showed that voters were more likely to think that politicians with beards were sexist.
Sexist pig. (Photo via Wikimedia)
A while back, a team of researchers at Oklahoma State University wanted to find an answer to the burning question: Why do so few politicians have facial hair? Only five percent of Congress has facial hair, and America’s last mustachioed president finished his term in 1913. So the researchers decided to do what they do best—research—and came up with a surprising result: the more facial hair a politician had, the more likely people thought he was sexist.
Researchers organized a group of students in a room, then asked them to evaluate photos of members of Congress, some of whom had facial hair, some of whom did not. Subjects were more likely to perceive hairy members as more masculine, and consequently, less likely to be feminist. Women and self-identified feminists in the group expressed hesitation about voting for men they perceived to be more masculine/more hairy/more sexist.
The researchers stressed that there is no known relationship between a candidate’s voting record on women’s issues and the amount of facial hair they have. Some candidates, they hypothesized, might be shaving because of unconscious anxieties about electability.
No research has been done exploring the glaring lack of soul patches in American presidential history. No interest in it, either.
Totally trustworthy. (Photo via Wikimedia)
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