What Is Shaveducking In Dating And Are You Experiencing It?

Even before the dawn of dating apps, dating trends existed. Except, before dating apps, there weren't always specific names for these types of trends. But all that changed when the term "ghosting" became part of the vernacular. Of course, ghosting has been happening forever but there just wasn't a specific name for it. Just like breadcrumbing, benching, zombieing, and all the rest of the trends, these really aren't new behaviors. We've just decided, as a culture, we needed a word for these things. Because, after all, it's so much easier to say, "I've been ghosted," as opposed to going into a long, drawn-out story about how you were dating someone and they just up and disappeared without a trace. Saying you've been ghosted just sums it up and puts the topic to bed.

While some dating trends have been around forever, others are relatively new, like wokefishing, in which some pretend to be "woke" in order to date liberally progressive people. But wokefishing isn't the only dating trend that's fairly new. "Shaveducking" is now on the rise as more and more men ditch the clean-shaven look in favor of sporting a beard. It may sound like a strange word, but it's going to make a lot of sense in a hot minute.

In the last several years, beards have made a huge comeback. According to a 2022 survey by EarthWeb, out of 2,000 U.S. participants, 75% of those who are able to grow facial hair feel more confident with a beard, 73% feel more attractive with a beard, and the 23.6% who can't grow a beard feel less masculine. While this survey was only a small sample compared to the whole of the U.S. population, the beard trend, for many, is here to stay. So where does shaveducking fit in?  

Shaveducking, according to Metro, is when you're swiping away on a dating app or have met someone IRL, and while they seem attractive, you wonder if they're actually attractive or if it's their facial hair that's getting you all hot and bothered. To give you a pop culture reference of what shaveducking looks like, there's a scene in "Schitt's Creek" where Alexis, who's been dating a bearded Mutt, freaks out when he shaves his beard, going so far as to tell him that his beard was her favorite part about him. And, honestly, the lack of a beard really does alter his face.

An easy way to figure out if you're shaveducking is if you look at someone who, in most ways, you'd never be attracted to, but you're willing to give them a chance because of their facial hair. Another example is if, like Alexis Rose, your bearded partner decides to shave their facial hair only for you to realize how much emotional attachment you had to it. Although attraction should be based on what's on the inside, shaveducking is proof that's not always how it goes. 

If you've been guilty of shaveducking in the past, try not to beat yourself up about it but remember that appearance is only a fraction of what makes someone attractive. So if you want to dump a really fantastic person just because they shave their facial hair, maybe you should think twice. Finding someone we have a connection with doesn't come along often, so letting a clean-shaven face ruin that can be a bad idea.