Little Boys with Long Hair?

[Arctic_Mama]

I like long hair on men, but I think it needs to be s choice older men make. I am a huge proponent of traditional sex-specific attire on children. When they leave my house they can do what they want, but my girls are dressing like girls and my boys like boys as long as I have a say. I have a longer haired husband, I am not opposed, but anything below shoulder isn't something i'd allow my son to wear under my roof.

[Armelle]

I'm alright with it but do think that parents shouldn't be surprised if strangers think that the kid is a girl at first glance. I've made that mistake once and I just got a semi-snappish, tired response that the pre-schooler with long wavy blonde hair was actually a boy. How was I supposed to know?

[florenonite]

I think that by the age of 8 a boy is old enough to know whether or not he wants long hair. If the parents are forcing it upon him, then I think that's not right, but I equally think it's not right for them to force him to have short hair. It's only been in the past century or so that men have even had short hair, why should we force boys to do it? Besides that, I disagree with trying to force children into conventional gender stereotypes, whether that be through dress, hobbies, behaviour, etc. All gender is is a social construct*, and heaven knows children have enough of those forced on them without adding gender to the heap.

*If you want to be pedantic (as I am ), 'sex' refers to a biological sex whilst 'gender' is the behaviours associated with that sex.

[Peter]

I don't think it's a problem unless being mistaken for a girl is bothersome to the boy. Personally, I don't consider it insulting or demeaning for someone to think I'm female because of my hair. It's happened to me several times and I don't really care.

[Anlbe]

My cousin had below shoulder wavey bright blonde hair until he was thirteen. People did sometimes mistake him for a girl, which was hilarious as he wore nothing but t-shirts and combats, but it never bothered him - it may seem strange to say this but in our family being male/female didn't seem to be a big part of our identities until we get to teenagerhood. Unless it's was day for smart clothes our outfits were pretty interchangeable and for the rest of us hair styles only varied from a longish boy hair to a page boy cut, and that was dictated by hair type not our gender.

When he was thirteen he cut it off for a charity day at school and since then has varied between longish boy hair to just touching his shoulders. As far as I know neither he nor any of my other cousins have been confused about their gender.

Historically boys and girls used to be treated the same until about seven (when boys were 'breached'). In old portaits you can only tell little boys from girls by the jewelrey (girls wore pearls and flowers).
http://www.maximiliangenealogy.co.uk...hogarth31.html the toddler in the cart is a boy.

[mattt]

Interesting opinions. Maybe my neighbor will always be a long hair now never having known short hair. He loves it too, at least that's what his mom says.

[ericthegreat]

Just saw my little neighbor who is about 8 and he has hair to his waist. Got me to thinking what do all of you other long haired people think about that? I asked the mom one time and she said they had been growing it form day one. Personally I think moms should wait until their sons are older to avoid some of the gender confusion and until they ask to grow it out themselves, but thats just me.

Well, I'm not a father and nor do I plan on ever having any biological children(I'm gay), but if I hypothetically had a son then I would allow my son the freedom to express himself however he would like to. Even if he were very young say 3 or 4 years old, if he ever expressed an opinion that he wanted to grow his hair long or wanted to play with dolls, I'd fully support him. The same would hold true if I hypothetically had a daughter and if she happened to be a tomboy.

I myself simply don't believe in any traditional gender roles. Hair naturally grows long on both sexes, so by nature long hair is completely unisex. Yes, I myself have been the target of some name calling and getting laughed at and the usual odd stares. But I really don't care what other people think. I grow my hair out for ME, not anyone else. I love MY HAIR, and that's all that matters. If I somehow had a son who wanted to grow his hair long, I would no doubt support him one million percent.

[halo_tightens]

It's entirely up to the child and his parents! My baby brother (he's 7 now) has had long hair off and on. He didn't want to cut it at all from the ages of about 2 to 5, and for a long time his silky curls were around waist length. He did get tired of being teased about it when he went off to kindergarten, and made the decision himself to have it cut into a short boys' style.

Lately he's started letting it grow again, and it's now fast approaching APL. I'm glad that he knows what he wants, and glad that my mom is letting him have his own choice in the matter. Who knows what he'll decide in the future? As we say from time to time, it's "just" hair!

[Teazel]

When DS20 was about 4 he said he wanted to grow his hair long, so we stopped cutting it. After a few months he changed his mind, so it got cut. No big deal - I think every little boy -and girl - I've ever known has gone through this stage. Long hair is infectious!

ericthegreat - I couldn't agree more. For a while my son also loved a hand-me-down doll from his cousin; it freaked DH out to see his boy clutching a doll, but he managed to control himself. I think it only does harm to get worked up about these things, ... heck, when I was a kid I detested dolls; I wanted a train set!

I've always remembered a little boy I met at a marina when I was about 9; his hair was waistlength and beautiful. He was a very 'manly' boy, so there was no chance of mistaking him for a girl, and very secure in himself. In fact I think he was the coolest kid I've ever met. Wonder where he is and what he's doing now....

[gypsychild]

I agree with florenonite about 8 being a good age to make decisions about hair length. Recently, I've noticed boys ages 10-14 almost uniformly having much longer hair than usual. Seems to be some sort of trend to me. Waist-length, in my opinion, is a little out there (not to mention a little hazardous for someone so small) but I don't see anything wrong with boys of any age having longer hair. I've seen toddler girls looking boyish due to short hair, and I doubt any gender identity issues have resulted from it. Plus, long hair is better for headbanging!