The Society does not forbid beards, but leaves it up to the local congregation as to what sort of 'priveleges' a brother who has one should recieve in view of the local perception of brothers who wear beards.
At the same time, they SAY they are permissible, but in actual practice MOST witnesses in MOST parts of the world will treat you as WEAK in view of all the ANTI-BEARD propaganda the Society has written in the past.
In most parts of the world, no matter how lenient your local elders may be with this matter, you will NOT be allowed to give any circuit or district parts, and likely Bethel requires no beards as well.
While I personally have no desire to have a beard myself, I find the subject the epitome of pharasaical man-made unwritten rules and utter hypocrisy considering shaving is a pagan practice and we all know how anal the society is about everything "pagan".
Path