Phantom Rats: To Shave or Not To Shave?

I dig men with beards.

Yeah, I find facial hair very masculine and sexy and I believe I prefer some form of facial hair over a clean shaven face most any day of the week. But what do you think of beards?

Here are some examples of men who are hot when they shave but even hotter when they don't.

Exhibit A: Ryan Gosling

Ryan has a bit of a baby face but he also oozes sex appeal with or without whiskers. I watch The Notebook and think "sure, he's a catch at the beginning, but a few years and a few pounds of facial hair into his house-building depression? Rowr!" On the other hand, he could stand to maintain his beard a little better by shaving his neck but I'm giving him a pass because he's Ryan Gosling.

Exhibit B: Ryan Reynolds

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find photos of Ryan both furry and not from a similar time frame where all of his clothes are on? I considered posting a picture of him without a beard from the late '90s when he looked much more young and gawky and then one of him with a beard from the torture scene in Blade Trinity or any scene at all in Amittyville Horror but I thought we should compare apples to apples so he's got his clothes on in both pictures and they were both taken within the last couple of years.

Clearly a handsome man no matter what but he wears facial hair like no one else on earth. He might just have the sexiest beard in all the world.

Exhibit C: Joshua Jackson

Or as I often refer to him "My Future Husband." Those in the know are aware I've been rather madly in love with Josh since round about 1998 and was merely smitten with him before that dating all the way back to The Might Ducks. I find him charming, charismatic, witty, intelligent and sexy beyond the telling of it. With or without hair on his face, he's dreamy and wonderful but when he grows a beard (or even a goatee) my heart skips a beat!

Wait, before you make your final call, let's make sure I'm making the best possible argument AGAINST shaving...