Posted on 11/29/2012 12:32:28 PM PST by JoeProBono
ISTANBUL, Turkey, - A Turkish plastic surgeon says he's keeping busy performing mustache implants on men wanting to project virility, wisdom and maturity.
Dr. Selahattin Tulunay told CNN he's doing 50 to 60 of the procedures each month, using a technique called follicular unit extraction in which clumps of hair are transplanted from other parts of the body under local anesthetic. Most of his patients are medical tourists from the Middle East between the ages of 30 and 50 who pay about $7,000 each, the U.S. broadcaster reported Thursday.
"For some men who look young and junior, they think [a mustache] is a must to look senior ... more professional and wise," he said. "They think it is prestigious."
Saudi Arabian journalist Andrew Hammond says the mustache has deep roots in Arab culture.
"Having a mustache was always a big thing, ever since the Ottoman time," he said. "Most Arab leaders have mustaches or some form of facial hair. I think culturally it suggests masculinity, wisdom and experience."
Christa Salamandra, an associate professor of anthropology at City University of New York, says the mustache conveys "high social status" in the Arab world where men have even used them as collateral for loans and have had them shaved off as punishment.
TMI
I wonder if that’s where my ex wife got hers.
What is cultivated around the lips, grows wild around the....er, uh.....you know where.....
transplanted from where?? ewwww
Just don’t trim the nose hair - eventually it will be long enough to work with.
“...clumps of hair are transplanted from other parts of the body...”
YIKES! Oh well, the people over there talk out their @$$ anyway.
I’ve had a “natural soup strainer” since I was 21, 45 years! If I shaved it off, no one would recognize me. Not even my catz!
Are the Turkish women the donors?
Wait until the grinning fools find out where the hair came from when they unzip to urinate!!!!
Unfortunately as I've gotten older its gotten a little lighter on the ends so that it only remains dark underneath my nose. The effect is disconcerting.
skeeter,
I have very few grey hairs on my balding pate, but my mustache went completely grey many years ago. Getting cold here in Ohio, and I’m debating letting my beard grow!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.