Rate this hairy fashion accessory

Eyebrows

Many people think that eyebrows are pointless, and to some extent they are. I mean if you really think about them, they are a pretty obscure patch of hair on your face…why does hair grow in that area and why is your forehead not covered in the stuff? However I believe their importance is not in their ‘proper’ function (something to do with collecting moisture which is not in the slightest bit interesting), but their ability to express a wide range of emotions and also act as a memorable facial feature.

Take Peter Gallagher for example, a man (like Hugh Laurie) who improves his looks the older he gets. His eyebrows ‘make’ his face and would be his best selling point if he was listed on ebay. Peter Gallagher is desirable because his eyebrows are exotic (and large enough to be used as airplane runways). But the wonderment of eyebrows is they can enhance different attributes from people. While Gallagher’s enhance his sex appeal, Eugene Levy’s add to his goofiness (and he has mastered the control of these furry devices by elevating them whenever he is in shock to perfect comedy effect) and Zachary Quinto’s as the villain Sylar in Heroes adds to his evilness.

You could remove the eyebrows from each of these men’s faces and on a table they’d all look similar, but the way these people manipulate them for their very different purposes is quite astounding. So while not exactly essential parts of the body, the eyebrows do add plenty of character, and a face without them would look slightly ridiculous. Could a person without eyebrows successfully convey a look of shock, fear or surprise? Probably, but it’d take an unnecessary amount of extra effort and at the end of the day, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson made a career out of raising his eyebrow. I think they’re swell!

Eyebrow modification (such as trimming and plucking): 1 out of 7

Ming The Merciless’ ability to use his eyebrows for evil: 6 out of 7

Rated: 5 out of 7