Bearded, heavy and solidarity: it was the meeting of the fraternity that encourages respect and loyalty – 03/10/2019

The bearded ones came to La Rural from different countries and provinces to make the first Argentine long beard contest, as part of the new edition of Tattoo Show, the country's largest tattoo convention bringing together body art lovers.

At first glance, they look like characters from a ZZ Top video. They look like hard-to-live, cruel and heartless. Torn demons who wear black listen to heavy metal and drink tons of beer. In the best style of Hells Angels. But all this is really an illusion. And just one of his goals is break down this prejudice and show that appearances are misleading.

They join an international club called Bearded villains, which debuted in Los Angeles in 2014. The group's name -Barbated Villains, in English- is an irony that tries to make fun of this picture of nasty men. But they are the opposite. On their website, they very clearly state that they are related "a fraternity dedicated to beard, charity, family, respect, loyalty".

Mauro Ponti, who created the Argentinian version of the club in 2015, is very serious on this point. "The goal of the club is to demystify the image of man with beards and tattoos," he said. Given the fact that the "fraternity", as they call it, has more than 60 members all over the country and that one of the goals is to participate in several NGOs, pick up clothes and food to help people on the street, as well as children's toys in hospitals.

"We meet twice a week and go out to feed people in the streets, we start at Ramos Mejía Hospital and then at Capital. We give them not only material things, we are also with them, we listen to them", count.

Despite his pint of Argentine Khal Drogo (the leader of the Games of Thrones' Dothrakis), Mauro is married and has two children. He is dedicated to tattoos and his wife is a public service employee. On his Instagram page, he shows his two facets: that of the threatening viking and that of the tender father with his newborn son in his arms.

He says being tattooed and wearing a long beard is a way of life. And that in "fraternity", there are people of all kinds. "Everyone here is professionals, bankers, lawyers, students, municipal employees and even retired police officers," he said.

Ponti measures 35 centimeters And it has not been cut for six years. Make sure it takes a lot of work. "Every day, we have to take care of it, because otherwise, it spoils," he says. To maintain it, wash it daily with neutral soap, special shampoo, oils and bristles.

He organized the first beard competition in Argentina, which took place this weekend in La Rural and was attended by beards from the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Peru and the United States. Chile. It is evaluated beard length, style (shape) and profiling, where the hairdresser's work is badyzed. The winner of the contest was the Brazilian Paulo Januario, whose beard Measure more than 40 centimetersIt has not been cut for ten years and, according to the jury, "it's spectacular".

"It's a way of life that represents us," said Matías Águila, representative of the Tucumán club and one of those who participated in the contest. Five years ago, he is a telemarketer who has left his beard a long time and says that he has had to repeatedly overcome prejudices for his "outlaw" appearance. "At first, they look strange, but later they know you and realize that there is nothing to see". Matías has 20 tattoos and says that there will be many more. "My only limit is the face, I would not get tattooed," he admits.

DD