Agenda of Conservative Values Hidden in Plain Sight?

The secret conservative message of the “Duck Dynasty” beards

The bushy beards on "Duck Dynasty" are part of a long history of using facial hair to signify "traditional" values

Salon

Oh, the horror!!! 

Maybe you’re like me and you don’t have cable TV. Good for you. Tell yourself, like I do, that this makes you inherently intellectually superior to the millions of glow-box zombified American scarecrows who have nothing better to do with their lives than exist in an immobilized state guarding the TV from the nefarious corvids of real life. Or, you could be honest and, like me, admit that you can’t afford cable. But whether or not you have cable, there’s no way to escape the current American cultural juggernaut that is A&E’s “reality-based” show “Duck Dynasty.”

So basically, if this guy had his own cable service, he wouldn't have to watch cable at his buddy's house and be exposed to Duck Dynasty....

The 19th century was a period of vast changes during which the modern world as we know it was formed. Indeed, many of the cultural, political, and economic tropes that we acknowledge today were first articulated and solidified in the 19th century, and this includes beards and their relationship to manhood.

Does this imply that Karl Marx had a severe sexual bias? Since the solid logic of the Austrians hasn't been enough to demolish his economic ideas in the minds of the masses, could this be the new emotional appeal? "Well, I don't like Marxism because Marx was a sexist bigot, just look at his beard...."
Perhaps Abe Lincoln invaded the South to prove his manhood in a way his beard never could?

As Gold McBride writes, with vast social, political and economic change, women began to take a more active role in public life. This led to widespread male anxiety about gender roles, which in turn fueled the development of the idea of “separate spheres” of influence ... These distinctions included the realm of truly epic beard growth. Thus, in the 19th century, beards came to define a concept of manhood in a way that was unmistakably visual to better distinguish men from increasingly public women in an era when, Gold McBride observes, “traditional markers of masculinity were no longer stable or certain.”

I guess that applies to all those liberal hippies of the 1960's also? "Far from championing equality, hippie males in the 1960's sought to maintain their male dominance by growing epic beards. John Lennon, far from being the peaceful, loving person he was portrayed to be, was actually hell bent on creating a patriarchal society, as evidenced by his beard."

 culture is a process, and in the post-Civil War South, Southern culture was “an ongoing cycle of interaction” during which some Southerners constantly shaped, reshaped, and reformed Southern cultural identity to adapt older traditions to the demands of modern life.  

Is he lamenting that Southern culture is "an ongoing cycle of interaction" that is not centrally dictated by a group of elite 'betters?'

The show is consumed by a large segment of the American public that is fed up with what they perceive as the modern world’s assault on traditional values and religion.

Maybe they are mostly fed up with the loss of interaction and empowerment?

Just look at the hirsute Robertsons’ favorite things: they do manly activities like hunting, fishing, shooting guns and praising God.

That is really a veiled sexist comment. I know women that hunt, fish, shoot guns, and praise God as well as any man can.....Is he suggesting that the Robertsons dress in drag and watch Lifetime maybe?

 Hell, their entire business is built around the idea that men hunt to bring home food and take care of the family.

Is this a veiled attack on Lakota culture?

As Thomas DiLorenzo points out here, it is surprising "that Salon did not mention that Muslims associated with al Qaeda also have a beard culture associated with their traditional values."

I am sure Butler Shaffer isn't suggesting the author of the original Salon article is an anti-semite, is he?

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