Mustache backlash just keeps on growing

There was a time when the mustache was an emblem of rugged masculinity, required equipment for karate-chopping street punks in a back alley or outrunning the county sheriff with a tractor-trailer full of contraband booze.

With the exception of Jason Lee in "My Name is Earl," the prime-time appeal of that thin patch of hair went off the air in 1988 along with the last episode of "Magnum, P.I." Now, fraternities force new members to grow mustaches as a form of humiliation. The most famous mustache in the world these days probably belongs to Saddam Hussein. Grow one, and you'll be treated to the frightened stares and stinging ridicule of friends and co-workers.

"When you come down to it, it just doesn't look hip, modern, fashionable or good — and I think that's a recipe for staying away from any facial-hair style," says Eric Malka, author of a book on shaving. Malka rarely sees mustachioed men of any age in his The Art of Shaving salons in New York, Miami and Las Vegas.

Two recent exercises in organized mustache-growing have served only to highlight how far out of favor it remains.

Mustaches for Kids, a charity organization, trades on the social stigma of mustache-growing to raise money for children's social services. Mustache-growers collect money for their sacrifice from sponsors.

And when a filmmaker recruited a couple-dozen acquaintances last year for a documentary about reviving the grooming style, most of them found it difficult to keep the mustache for a month. A handful succumbed to the anti-mustache sentiment and shaved it off before the four weeks were up.

"I had to get down on my knees and beg for people to keep their mustaches at some points," says documentarian Jay Della Valle, who premiered his "Glorius Mustache Challenge" last month in New York.

So how did the once-elegant mouth-mane become so reviled?

Like fashion trends, grooming styles come and go in cycles. By that logic, the mustache — unpopular for about 20 years — would seem primed for a comeback.

Experts say the mustache has been dying a slow death since its 1950s heyday on the faces of men like Errol Flynn and Clark Gable. In the 1960s, its popularity was eroded by the full beard of the hippie; it was later supplanted by the 1970s sideburn; and it had all but disappeared by the 1990s when the goatee ascended to the top of the facial-hair food chain.

Image experts offer various reasons as to why the mustache is still being denied its turn on the fashion merry-go-round. The most compelling: Hollywood has done its share to assassinate the character of the mustachioed man, allowing the strip of hair over the lip to become closely associated with the guy tying the damsel to the train track.

"We equate mustaches more with villains than heroes," says Gordon Patzer, an expert on physical attractiveness and dean of the Walter E. Heller College of Business Administration at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

In rare cases when it's the protagonist sporting the 'stache, results are often damning. Recent examples have included "Anchorman," in which Will Ferrell's facial hair added to the ridiculousness of his character; and "The Aviator," in which Leonardo DiCaprio's mustache hogged the screen as he squinted and rubbed his hands until they bled. Meanwhile, no leading men this side of Jack Black are wearing a mustache offscreen.

Image consultant Judith Rasband says the mustache has been squeezed out of the spectrum of men's style by competing trends. Currently, the most popular look for men is clean-shaven and youthful. Patzer points out that the mustache detracts from the full lips and clean white teeth that are modern symbols of beauty.

If men reject the clean-shaven look, they're more likely to go for perpetual stubble or even a full beard. The mustache is too sculpted for those seeking the rugged look, Rasband says, and too distinctive and mature-looking for those wanting a more youthful style.

"It was great in it's heyday, but it's just not fashionable any more. Let it die," says Michelle Volpe, 32, of New York. "Whenever you see a man with a mustache, it's either a policeman or a pervert, and you've got to stay away."