16 Commonly Held Amish Myths Busted!
5. Myth - They Can't Cut Their Facial Hair
In many cultures there are visual ways of announcing a person's romantic status such as the very prevalent engagement and wedding ring system which many western countries use.
Not surprisingly the Amish do things a little differently and it's all down to facial hair or lack thereof. When an Amish man is clean shaven it indicates that he is not married. Amish partnerships are not pre-arranged, again contrary to popular belief, and an Amish bloke is free to marry whichever spinster will put up with his musky scent. So the lack of mutton chops is a good way of saying "Hey ladies, I'm single!".
Upon marriage however the man must indeed then grow a beard and never ever cut it - but this hairy face comes with a big caveat; no mustaches are allowed. This rule is a throwback from when the US military required that all enlisted men sport a mustache and, since the Amish are pacifists, they refused to grow one.
Even though this Army mandate was abolished over a hundred years ago, the conspicuously missing upper lip fluff continues to this day.