Pogonophobia and pogonophile: what do they mean?

We’ll give you one hundred guesses and you still won’t get it right…

There seems to be a phobia for everything and everyone. There are the usuals: spiders, heights, enclosed spaces, your mother-in-law, receding hairlines, the list goes on...

And then there are the more unusual phobias: fear of the colour yellow; fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth; fear of long words (which, quite sadistically, has been named hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia and is one of the longest words in the dictionary). But what is pogonophobia?

What is a pogonophobia?

Pogonophobia describes a person who’s afraid of beards. This could stem from a negative encounter with someone who has a beard or fear induced by not being able to properly see a person’s face. The disorder ranges in severity - from someone who has a slight distaste towards beards to someone who has an extreme aversion to beards. Seeing a person with a beard can induce severe anxiety, sweating and even a panic attack for someone who has pogonophobia. To overcome pogonophobia, therapy, such as CBT, is recommended. 

That brings us on to pogonophiles. 'Philes' denotes having a strong affinity for something specific. Some unusual 'philes' include an oenophile (a person who loves wine), a clinophile (a person who loves bed) or the much more disturbing, coimetrophile (a person who loves cemeteries). We’re not short on unusual ‘philes’ but what is the meaning of pogonophile?

What is a pogonophile?

A pogonophile describes a person with a deep affinity for beards. Contrary to a person with pogonophobia, beards induce feelings of adoration and admiration in a pogonophile. Anybody can be a pogonophile.

If you’re a pogonophile, you might be wondering what makes those shaggy bristles so darn attractive. There’s actually a science behind the reason why beards charm the masses with health, age, and masculinity, all characteristics that are perceived as higher in a man who sports a beard than a man without.

Despite falling culprit to the evolutionary attraction to beards, are you a pogonophile who’s cursed by poor beard growth? Don’t fret. A few simple life tweaks can drive an increase in beard growth, with Topical Spray for beard growth the newest treatment on the market. Give your beard all the tools it needs to flourish with the Beard Growth Kit, complete with a Topical Spray (containing minoxidil), a derma roller, activator gel and a beard comb.

So, there we have it. The question is: are you a pogonophile or pogonophobic?