Men of the LHC- Why have you decided to grow?

[SoulOfTheSea]

Excuse me if such a thread already exists... But, since it is such an apparent anomaly to see a man with long hair in today's society, I have gained a curiosity as to why you men on the LHC have decided to grow your hair? Is a simple reason? Or something more complex? It's fascinating... and I cannot wait to read answers :hmm:

[EdG]

I have long hair because hair is supposed to be long. Why else would it grow long? :ponder:

I remember always feeling like this emoticon after a hair cut. :silly: I figure it didn't make sense to fight one's nature. So around 1990, I just let it grow.

Although long hair is rare on men, long-haired men tend to be the most determined longhairs that one could ever find. I think pretty much all of the men of LHC will be longhairs for life. :cheese:
Ed

[IanB]

Well said Ed, I first had my hair long 40 years ago, since then it's been short, long, short and even longer, then fate took over and I had to have my hair cut short 4 years ago. But now it's back and growing. And Ed, you right. Once a long hair, always a longhair! :D

[jtl45]

over the years I have worn every length possible ranging from 2 years of a crew cut to my present length which is trimmed right at my waist. I enjoy my hair long and will likely keep it this length moving forward!
Jim :)

[Diesel Tech]

I guess my main reason is that society thinks all men should have short hair. That and I like a challenge. Oh, and let's not forget how it annoys the better part of my family. As stated by Ed, I don't foresee going back to a crew cut anytime soon.

[Peter]

I first saw long-haired men in the form of heavy metal bands and its appearance appealed to me. So I grew mine, and over time it's become part of my identity. I like doing braids and I like being different from most people.

[Mutinous]

Because I prefer it long! Apologies for the lack of a deep answer :)

[gthlvrmx]

Spiritual reasons, it feels right to me and connects me back to my ancestors in my beliefs. Short hair is so boring too. :p There are smaller things that influence me(like seeing floor length hair, drool! and the boring part) but the major ones are because that's how i feel and my spiritual beliefs tied into it.

[ilovelonghair]

My boyfriend says it's easier to maintain (no need to style it and going to the salon all the time), plus it looks better. He also does various hairstyles; yes buns too, he has worn buns to job interviews and so far no one said anything, I suspect they didn't notice he has long hair. Fingers crossed we don't want interviewers asking for a hair cut.

[SoulOfTheSea]

This really proves my point that men with long hair are real men. :D You guys rock!

[gthlvrmx]

My boyfriend says it's easier to maintain (no need to style it and going to the salon all the time), plus it looks better. He also does various hairstyles; yes buns too, he has worn buns to job interviews and so far no one said anything, I suspect they didn't notice he has long hair. Fingers crossed we don't want interviewers asking for a hair cut.
Im pretty sure it's against the law to discriminate someone from a job due to their hair. I remember a thread buy a male LHCer who got this reaction and has all this law information on there, might be useful if it ever does happen.

[whitestiletto]

Im pretty sure it's against the law to discriminate someone from a job due to their hair. I remember a thread buy a male LHCer who got this reaction and has all this law information on there, might be useful if it ever does happen.

My friend told me a story of his friend who was a bicycle messenger for the same law firm for many years in Houston, with a tall colorful mohawk the whole time. Then new management came in and fired him for looking unprofessional, and he sued them and got a massive settlement. Sorry I don't know the details.

[gthlvrmx]

My friend told me a story of his friend who was a bicycle messenger for the same law firm for many years in Houston, with a tall colorful mohawk the whole time. Then new management came in and fired him for looking unprofessional, and he sued them and got a massive settlement. Sorry I don't know the details.
Wow some people, "unprofessional" my butt. Ill link the thread here if i find it.

[SoulOfTheSea]

Im pretty sure it's against the law to discriminate someone from a job due to their hair. I remember a thread buy a male LHCer who got this reaction and has all this law information on there, might be useful if it ever does happen.

If that is the case, why am I so afraid to put purple in my hair while I am job hunting at the moment?... Starbucks is very picky about that.... and if men are getting fired or discriminated at over their long hair, that is just wrong. Long hair on men doesn't mean they are lazy or slobs, it shows they are dedicated and patient.

[archel]

I live in an artsy town so long hair on men is not unusual. I just saw a guy today with hair to his waist and exclaimed to my BF, "I HATE it when guys have prettier hair than me!" He just laughed, LOL

As for discrimination...I can't believe I work at home now and I'm not doing wild crazy styles anymore. I have gotten laaaaaazy.

[SoulOfTheSea]

I live in an artsy town so long hair on men is not unusual. I just saw a guy today with hair to his waist and exclaimed to my BF, "I HATE it when guys have prettier hair than me!" He just laughed, LOL

I live in a very conservative town, so men with long hair (even women for that matter) is a very difficult thing to come by... it's so unfortunate! :( I can't wait to rebel with my hip length hair! :)

But anyways, most men here have short crew cuts... sigh.

[Bill D.]

I've wanted long hair since I was 9 years old. I grew it long once from ages 15-22, cut it to help in my job search, kept it short due to developing male pattern baldness, then grew it long(ish) again anyway starting at age 40. It's now only a pale shadow of what it once was, but to me it's still much better than short hair.

I don't feel right without long hair. It's *me*. Once in a while I'll dream that my hair is very long (hip or longer) and thick, and I am overjoyed as long as the dream lasts.

Bill D.

[chahuahuas]

Would any of you younger LHC men decide to cut your manes short if you ever develop severe male-pattern baldness? I know that some people call the look of the top half bald/bottom half long a 'skullet (http://www.mulletjunky.com/skullet.htm)'....

[Ithonna]

My dad is 6'5'' with waist length hair, his hair is in better condition than mine and my mothers. His hair is longer than mine too! AND he blowfries it daily. :confused: I don't understand how he does it.

I asked him why he grew it out and he said, "Corey Taylor looks cool with long hair and I look better than him. Besides your mom likes it."

[whitestiletto]

I wish I had a heavy metal boyfriend with long long hair... *sighs dreamily*

[archel]

Soulofthesea, just move to a hippie college town - problem solved! LOL

[gthlvrmx]

Would any of you younger LHC men decide to cut your manes short if you ever develop severe male-pattern baldness? I know that some people call the look of the top half bald/bottom half long a 'skullet (http://www.mulletjunky.com/skullet.htm)'....

I would as of now, maybe i'll change my mind over the years with longer hair if i do bald. I simply do not like the look enough to keep my hair long and with balding occuring like that, ill embrace my full on bald head. I mean i was born bald, so it's still all natural :p

[Monkey962]

When I was very young, obviously my parents took me to get my hair cut and it would be their choice what the stylist did because I had no idea about anything. When I was given more control of the situation I simply opted for a buzzcut, because it was the easiest, took the least amount of time and required no maintenance. I've also never been one to follow fashions. On the buzz front, I actually remember asking the lady for the shortest cut possible. Then, I wanted a change. Openly, I'll tell you that I was simply bored of having no hair. However privately, I'll tell you that I was partially inspired by a little-known webcomic in which the main character was a tall, thin guy with hair past his shoulder blades. When I started growing my hair, my goal was to look something like that guy, but when I had grown my hair to just past my shoulders I became sort of infatuated with the feeling of it brushing my bare shoulders. I decided at that point that waist length would be a better goal. While growing out, it was just a lot of fun to play with my own hair, and some days it would feel really fantastic. I should say at no point did it feel at all odd that I was doing what society would say is feminine. In fact, I would say that there are a lot of dudes out there who could probably be longhairs, they've just never tried growing their hair out, simply because of stigmas. The same could hold true for women, just to a lesser extent. Anyway, quite some time ago I actually reached waist length and I am now on my way to upper tailbone. To be honest, I'd grow my hair to my knees, but I don't think I could deal with sitting on it all the time, and how much more I'd have to take care of it. Not to mention I'm very active, and I have enough difficulty taking care of the hair I have now as it is.

[pixi_stix]

It's good too see so many men with long hair who actually take care of it. I have been to loads of biker rallies and the long haired guys usually have long hair that looks like a birds nest reject.


I wish I had a heavy metal boyfriend with long long hair... *sighs dreamily*

I was surrounded by guys with long hair in my 20's. But now in my late 30's all I see are former long haired guys sporting a buzz cut. Though I have to admit it looks better than long hair with a big bald spot on top.

[Yame]

I was surrounded by guys with long hair in my 20's. But now in my late 30's all I see are former long haired guys sporting a buzz cut. Though I have to admit it looks better than long hair with a big bald spot on top.

Back in high school most of my male friends had long hair. I was into metal (still am), and made friends mostly just with people who also liked metal (nowadays I make friends with all kinds of people though), so that kind of came with the territory.

Today, almost all of these guys sport short hair, though.

Still, I don't find guys with long hair to be unusual. With that said, it's not something I encounter in my day-to-day life anymore, unless I am hanging out with other metalheads.

[Monkey962]

Would any of you younger LHC men decide to cut your manes short if you ever develop severe male-pattern baldness? I know that some people call the look of the top half bald/bottom half long a 'skullet (http://www.mulletjunky.com/skullet.htm)'....

LOL, I would do everything in my power to fight baldness. If there was nothing I could do, I'm afraid I would have to throw in the towel. Unfortunately, balding+long hair doesn't look good to me, and I don't think it would look good ON me. I will say however, that some guys can look really good like that.

[seaj]

I've always wanted long hair so I'm growing my hair now because I will most likely not have much later in life. Darn genetics. I also gave up hair dye so having long hair also helps me piss off my dear aunts and uncles. Growing up I was also jealous of how my mom only braided my sister's hair, so I'm sure that ties in somewhere.

Besides that, I always admired hair of other groups of people who grow out their hair like the Sikhs, Samurai, hippies and certain Native American tribes. I still think that topknots are awesome! All those cool fictional movie/anime characters have surely provided plenty of inspiration as well. A full head of long hair on anyone always looks powerful to me.

[Peter]

Would any of you younger LHC men decide to cut your manes short if you ever develop severe male-pattern baldness? I know that some people call the look of the top half bald/bottom half long a 'skullet (http://www.mulletjunky.com/skullet.htm)'....
Maybe my reaction would be different if I were to actually be in that situation, but my best guess is that I would indeed cut it. I don't like the look of balding + long hair (however, if someone else does, that is none of my business :)).

[AshleyTheRed]

I have plenty of guy friends with long hair. I live in a small town in Tennessee and many of those guys have had to cut their hair to get/keep a job. The schools don't even like it, although they can't make you do anything about it.

[bte]

Would any of you younger LHC men decide to cut your manes short if you ever develop severe male-pattern baldness? I know that some people call the look of the top half bald/bottom half long a 'skullet (http://www.mulletjunky.com/skullet.htm)'....
I am also one of the few with MPB who chooses to ignore the "convention" of going short when the baldness starts. That's because I enjoy having as much hair as I can as long as I can grow it. I have always wanted long hair since I first really became aware of it when I was about 7 or 8 and grew my fringe (bangs) out long enough to reach my mouth. Parental pressure made really long hair difficult, but I refused to go to a barber's from the age of 14 (instead of going there, I took the kitchen scissors, went to the local park and gave myself the minimum trim I thought I could get away with). So I have never paid for a haircut in my life, and have not trimmed since 1994. Why? I feel that long hair is part of me, I don't mind standing apart from the crowd, and as EdG said, if men weren't supposed to have long hair, why does it grow long?

[ilovelonghair]

Im pretty sure it's against the law to discriminate someone from a job due to their hair. I remember a thread buy a male LHCer who got this reaction and has all this law information on there, might be useful if it ever does happen.

Do you know where to find the link? It could be useful if it become a problem one day.




Today, almost all of these guys sport short hair, though.


What pisses us off a lot is when guys with short hair say to my BF: 'I used to have long hair, but...' and mostly they mention something like 'I grew up', 'got older'. That is rather insulting, as if you can't have long hair when you're past your 20's, as if that would mean that someone with long hair is immature (ah well, women sometimes got these same comments)


LOL, I would do everything in my power to fight baldness. If there was nothing I could do, I'm afraid I would have to throw in the towel. Unfortunately, balding+long hair doesn't look good to me, and I don't think it would look good ON me. I will say however, that some guys can look really good like that.

Lucky nowadays hair pieces (what a horrible word) are invisible, so no one needs to go bald :)
If I ever get thin hair myself (yes women can be unlucky too) I get extensions (I had a period of time where my hair awfully thin) again and if it's real bad an invisible hair piece. Who cares what people think: they won't notice it anyway.
hair pieces got a bad reputation due to ugly toupets LOL

Btw long hair helps to cover up those bald what-are-they-called thingies at the sides of the forehead, with short hair that shows so badly.

[Shadow Walker]

I always wanted long hair, but never grew it when I was younger because I would get annoyed with it when its was in the awkward stages and I'd cut it off. I didn't grow mine out intentionally, I had a bad breakup and for awhile I stopped caring about shaving my face or cutting my hair, and I had started my current job so I wore a hat pretty much all day long. I didn't even really notice how long it had become until it was to my shoulders, and to me it was almost like a surprise because I hadn't paid attention to it at all. Then of course I was happy because I had it evened out to one length and was able to tie it back, and with the awkward stage out of the way I was able to grow the long hair I always wanted! I'm quite happy with it now.

[gthlvrmx]

Do you know where to find the link? It could be useful if it become a problem one day.
.
I FOUND IT!
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72549
Finally!

[beez1717]

I do it for three reasons: The first reason is because I think it looks quite good no matter what gender you are. Second I do it because I tend to gravitate naturally to more feminine stuff and so I decided to get long hair and I love it. Lastly, I have long hair because I get to have a part of my body that I can feel proud about and I can look at it every day. Unlike loosing weight, growing hair takes a long time and you can go back to short hair at any moment if you cut it. I am intending to loose weight as well (for those who are curious)

[ilovelonghair]

I FOUND IT!
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72549
Finally!

Thank you so much! That is very helpful! I will look up the Aussie version of that law when it's needed. I just hope it's not necesairy :)

[toaster]

I never really liked my hair, but didn't really care. Then the lady that had been cutting it for over 10 years changed careers, so I just went to somebody else who proceeded to give me the worst haircut of my life. It was so bad it even caught my attention. So I never went back to get it "messed up" again and couldn't be bothered to search out somebody new.
After a few months (maybe a year) it was getting pretty long and out of control and my daughter had enough. She bought me a gift certificate for an upscale hair for men place to get it "fixed". I went in and told her that I didn't care what she did, I wasn't attached to it. She could cut it all off if she wanted, I didn't care.
She looked and thought and announced that she was cutting it all off. The other stylists in the room intervened and forbid her to cut it off. They felt the long hair would work better on me.
So she cut it to about shoulder length and made it look awesome. It looked better than it had ever looked before and I got tons of compliments.
That was over two years ago, and I haven't cut it since. And I still love it. That might change, but I doubt it.

[trolleypup]

As a kid I didn't desire long hair (nor did I desire short hair)...as a teenager, I noticed that long hair pissed off my mom, so that was my rebellion...and when it got long, I found I really liked it...it got gradually longer with various cuts until a particularly bad self trim after chewing on a mouthful of pizza and hair...no significant cuts after that.

I like it long, I like long hair on others...and it appears that the MPB question is moot in my case.

I'm very glad I live in a place where I don't face either discrimination or social pressure over being different (hair or other things).