Do Italians have a lot of facial hair?

Answer 1

Si

Actually no, most of them don't. Some do, but most don't. In ancient times, most Greek men had beards, but most Romans shaved their faces. This is partly because guys who don't have a lot of facial hair look better clean shaven, and partly because it's easier to keep your face shaved when you don't grow a lot of hair on it, especially with razor technology as it was in ancient times. At any rate, while some Romans did grow beards, the stereotypical image in the minds of the collective consciousness is one of clean shaven Roman legions fighting bearded German barbarians.

When one looks at pictures of famous people in Italian history, from Julius Cesar to the Medicis to Machiavelli to Mussolini, one can see that they keep their faces shaved. Even the famous Italian American men on Jersey Shore today are clean shaven. Not one of them has any facial hair. There is nothing wrong with that, some men truly look better clean shaven even if they can grow full beards. However, a good rule of thumb when it comes to facial hair is to shave it unless it's thick, and in some cases to shave it even if it is thick. If facial hair grows in sparsely, wispy, or in patches, it should be shaved. It should only be seen in places it grows in thickly and consistently. For example, the stereotypical Italian chef has a black moustache. If a moustache can grow in thick and not wispy, it is acceptable to grow it out, and shave only the wispy facial hair on the beard, although shaving the entire face is still a perfectly acceptable option.

Note that the same rule applies to balding men and men with very little chest hair. While shaving the head is perfectly acceptable for men with full heads of hair and shaving the chest is perfectly acceptable for men with lots of chest hair, they are not required to do so to look good by modern society's standards. They can let their head or chest hair grow out and look fine. However, a balding man looks somewhat disgusting if he doesn't shave his head, and a man with little chest hair invariable looks better when he shaves his chest, provided he works out and has muscles to show.

Answer 2

On average, men of Italian descent tend to have more body hair than many other ethnic groups, although a given Italian individual may have very little.