Sentence:  When the Americans first took me on there was great debate about it. They thought it might be seen as shifty or untrustworthy. They said, 'Oh he's got a beard!'; 'Well, maybe it's a European thing'; 'Oh hey, that's OK then'. <WSD>Beardism</WSD> is rampant. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Prejudice against bearded people.