If you’re looking for the key to happiness, it’s right under your nose. I mean, literally under your nose. It’s the famed, sometimes tamed, highly acclaimed, mighty mustache.

This extraordinary piece of facial art has been around since the dawn of man. It has occupied upper lips of males (and occasionally others) everywhere, providing them with a sense of identity, status and all-encompassing manliness. The mustache is not only an emblem of the various historical figures of our time; it has evolved to play a larger role today, serving as a fresh, avant-garde approach to facial hair.

This upper lip apparatus is the focus of several social groups, many of them represented online in niche websites like the Handlebar Club, the Beard Community and ’Stachist, a mustache blog.  

One of such organizations is the American Mustache Institute (AMI). The AMI is the fiercely patriotic, self-proclaimed international “leading facial hair advocacy organization and think tank … promoting the growth, care, and culture of the lower nose forest,” according to their website. It serves to maintain the integrity and prestige that comes with owning a legendary facial adornment.

“I think it symbolizes a very singular vision of power, strength and intellect that our clean-shaven brethren cannot understand nor relate to in any way,” said Aaron Perlut, chairman of the AMI.

Perlut, who identifies himself as a doctor, is extremely invested in this cause.

“We’re freedom fighters,” he added with a voice full of experience and satirical wisdom. “We’re civil libertarians, and we’re fighting discrimination against people of mustached American descent.”

Perlut is quite the expert on the almighty ’stache. He himself sports what appears to be something of a quasi-horseshoe style mustache. In other words, it resembles an upside down letter “u” that doesn’t quite extend to the chin. A myriad of mustache styles exist in society. There’s the aforementioned horseshoe (think Hulk Hogan) and the Fu Manchu (the same concept, but with length below the chin and a bit more streamlined). In addition, there’s the toothbrush, made famous by Charlie Chaplin; the Chevron, donned by fathers everywhere; the walrus, as modeled by Mythbusters’ Jamie Hyneman; and of course, the quintessential handlebar mustache.

Ted Sedman, previous president of the 65-year-old Handlebar Club, explained in a YouTube video that a handlebar mustache is “a hirsute appendage of the upper lip, with graspable extremities.” For those who don’t speak British English, it is a hairy facial attachment which can be taken hold of at both ends.

So why is this strategically placed tuft of hair such a significant part of society? It’s all about the symbolism.

“I think it represents the personality of the person that has it,” said Hunter Schlemer, sophomore in FAA and wearer of what appears to be a trimmed-down Chevron-style mustache. “It just shows the type of person and their characteristics — where they’re from, how they style it … even if they’re from a foreign country, and it’s kind of just a fashion statement.”

Everyone has a right to their own mustache. And in the World Beard and Moustache Championships, varying mustache forms are welcomed and even celebrated. At the international contest, mustaches are meticulously judged under a number of categories including the Musketeer, Hungarian Moustache, Natural Goatee and Freestyle Moustache. Every two years, this worldwide bushy battle takes place in a different chosen city. The United States is having their third annual national competition just a few weeks from now on November 11.

Like snowflakes, each mustache is unique in its own way. Each has its personal history, and every set of whiskers is symbolic to the wearer himself.

“When my girlfriend and I found out we were having a baby, I decided that I wasn’t going to shave for the whole nine months,” said Johnny Torres, a second-year Parkland College student studying autobody collision repair. He has maintained a neatly-styled handlebar mustache for more than two years. 

“My beard got bigger and my mustache got longer, and it just kind of became its own thing,” he said. 

Torres has been a barista at Espresso Royale for seven years now, and he is also an alumnus of the University. He keeps the ends of his mustache curled symmetrically with pomade, a waxy substance that holds it in place nicely.

“Nowadays, (the mustache in society) is definitely a thing for fashion,” Torres said. “Personally, it’s about just going back to that old idea of taking care of yourself, making sure you look good, presentable.”

A mustache is a transformer robot — there is more to it than what meets the eye. There are people who go to great lengths to keep their fuzzy facial formations intact, and they all have their own reasons for doing so. If you are skeptical about the subject of mustaches, keep doing your research, because you never know — it could grow on you.

Reema is a sophomore in FAA and can be reached at [email protected].