r/hair on reddit doesn't seem to like long, natural hair. Why do you think that is?

[jane_marie]

I've been an active reddit user for years and have been following the largest hair subreddit there for about as long.

Since starting to grow out my hair, I have noticed that the top posts on the sub are almost always b/a of ladies that have chopped off significant amounts of healthy natural hair into a bob or pixie, had it dyed and then heat styled into the same beach waves. I don't get it. It's like they don't appreciate natural individuality or something.

Even if you have never been on reddit, it seems to be a sentiment that is popular in daily life too.

Does anyone have any thoughts on why that might be?

[Wavelength]

I've been an active reddit user for years and have been following the largest hair subreddit there for years.

Since starting to grow out my hair, I have noticed that the top posts on the sub are almost always b/a of ladies that have chopped off significant amounts of healthy natural hair into a bob or pixie, had it dyed and then heat styled into the same beachy waves. I don't get it. It's like they don't appreciate natural individuality or something.

Even if you have never been on reddit, it seems to be a sentiment that is popular in daily life too.

Does anyone have any thoughts on why that might be?

People are generally insecure about their looks, and so they want to look the same as everyone else.

They won't express it that way, but that's usually the case.

[Ylva]

People are generally insecure about their looks, and so they want to look the same as everyone else.

They won't express it that way, but that's usually the case.

And when this is the case, it's also quite common for them to be jealous of people who aren't insecure of themselves and dare to be their genuine selves.

[jane_marie]

People are generally insecure about their looks, and so they want to look the same as everyone else.

They won't express it that way, but that's usually the case.


And when this is the case, it's also quite common for them to be jealous of people who aren't insecure of themselves and dare to be their genuine selves.

So would you say you think it is because of general insecurities of the broad population?

I have noticed it more and more recently, and I almost think it's due to what I am going to dub "The Brad Mondo Effect" aka basically hair dressers over time subtly (or in Mondo's case not so subtly) putting down long natural healthy hair, then chopping it all off, dying it any other color but brown (eta) and praising women for it.

Note: I'm not typically one to think ill of stylists since I used to be one but I have this theory nontheless. :shrug:

[Wavelength]

And when this is the case, it's also quite common for them to be jealous of people who aren't insecure of themselves and dare to be their genuine selves.

Jealousy doesn't even have to be a factor. It could be just a matter of automatically disliking anything that's outside their comfort zone.

[Begemot]

For some it's probably just that women are kinda expected to change their appearance more or less. I started dyeing and styling my hair and wearing makeup when I was 13 mostly just because I thought it was something girls and women are supposed to do. I don't think I questioned it at all at the time, like doing nothing to change my hair wasn't an option even. So if I was still feeling that I'm supposed to dye and style my hair, I'd probably be really invested in thinking that non styled and dyed hair is boring and bleh and blah. For hairdressers and such it's about money :shrug:

[lapushka]

Plus, bobs in general have always been sort of popular styles as well!

[AmaryllisRed]

Guilty.
:run:
Seriously, though, I don't know what it is about them, but I LOVE watching the sped-up videos on Instagram where a lady goes into the stylist with usually mid-back-length hair, gets it chopped into a bob, dyed some shade of blond, then curled into those beachy waves...
It's somehow calming to me? Maybe part of me wants to look like that (but not enough to actually do it) and that's why I like them. Living vicariously.

I agree with Wavelength, though. I think people are just more accepting of the norm, whatever that is determined to be. It's probably subconscious for a lot of people.

[daisy rei]

No one appreciates individuality on Reddit? Who'd a thunk?! ;)

[godivawannabe]

My two cents is that the people in subreddits gather into a "niche", so people who are interested in the same-ish styles would gather in one subreddit. As much as I love long hair, in the end it's their choice and I think it looks pretty nice when done well.
Another reason may be because short hair is looked to be more "modern" and fashionable. I disagree and I looooooooooooooooooove long hair, but to each their own.

[cestlavie]

I think that people are stimulated by the media to do something with their hair regarding short modern cuts and bleaching, which I think will never go out of fashion. Humans are known for following the big croud right? What Lapushka said, bobs are a popular hairstyle. Just like makeup I think cutting and coloring hair are somewhat expected from women to do?

[jane_marie]

I think that people are stimulated by the media to do something with their hair regarding short modern cuts and bleaching, which I think will never go out of fashion. Humans are known for following the big croud right? What Lapushka said, bobs are a popular hairstyle. Just like makeup I think cutting and coloring hair are somewhat expected from women to do?

I guess with reddit in particular I don't understand why the comments for these drastic B/A posts are always "Oh your hair looks so much healthier!" when typically they had healthy long hair before. I almost wonder if people just don't know what healthy long natural hair actually looks like.

[Eleanor_]

I get the impression that everyone wants to think that they're "standing out" when really they're all just being slightly different versions of each other. When I see pictures of my sisters with their friends before a night out they're all wearing essentially the same dress, which is probably black (or may be red) and extremely short. It seems like the hair version of that is becoming "short, bleached and I spent an hour styling it".
In my opinion this comes back to society telling us we aren't good enough in our natural state, like removing body hair. I was hoping that body hair would start to be acceptable again like it is with men, but looking at celebrities and programs like love island it seems to be going the other way and soon men will have to be hairless as well! All while we're meant to have full time jobs, clean like Mrs Hinch, have hobbies and exercise every day.

[DropStitches]

Great thread!


For some it's probably just that women are kinda expected to change their appearance more or less. I started dyeing and styling my hair and wearing makeup when I was 13 mostly just because I thought it was something girls and women are supposed to do. I don't think I questioned it at all at the time, like doing nothing to change my hair wasn't an option even. So if I was still feeling that I'm supposed to dye and style my hair, I'd probably be really invested in thinking that non styled and dyed hair is boring and bleh and blah. For hairdressers and such it's about money :shrug:


I get the impression that everyone wants to think that they're "standing out" when really they're all just being slightly different versions of each other. When I see pictures of my sisters with their friends before a night out they're all wearing essentially the same dress, which is probably black (or may be red) and extremely short. It seems like the hair version of that is becoming "short, bleached and I spent an hour styling it".
In my opinion this comes back to society telling us we aren't good enough in our natural state, like removing body hair. I was hoping that body hair would start to be acceptable again like it is with men, but looking at celebrities and programs like love island it seems to be going the other way and soon men will have to be hairless as well! All while we're meant to have full time jobs, clean like Mrs Hinch, have hobbies and exercise every day.

I agree with Begemot and Eleanor_ - also I think someone going for a big, dramatic change in appearance can be fun to watch, whereas any changes from growing longer, natural hair happen very slowly and incrementally.

As someone who has changed their hair a lot in the past (I've had almost every hair cut in between a buzzcut and about BSL, and most of the colours), I know from personal experience that making a big change can be a bit of an adrenaline rush - and that that, plus other people's reactions when they see it ('Oh my goodness! It's green now!'), can be quite seductive, especially during bouts of low self esteem... Going forward, I'm hoping to channel that feeling of self-care I got from going to the hairdressers into learning new ways to care for and preserve the hair that I have!

[SelenVinland]

I think it's less reddit hates long hair and more people (generally) like dramatic changes, and cutting off a significant chunk of hair and dying it is a pretty dramatic change? That's my guess.

[cestlavie]

I guess with reddit in particular I don't understand why the comments for these drastic B/A posts are always "Oh your hair looks so much healthier!" when typically they had healthy long hair before. I almost wonder if people just don't know what healthy long natural hair actually looks like.

I really think that a lot people nowadays don't know what healthy hair looks like.

[0xalis]

Try r/longhair (https://www.reddit.com/r/longhair/) and r/fierceflow (https://www.reddit.com/r/FierceFlow/) instead

I took a look though and I agree, it does seem incredibly biased. Might as just well be called r/haircuts...

[Wavelength]

I really think that a lot people nowadays don't know what healthy hair looks like.

Agree with this. Most people have no clue at all, because seeing healthy hair these days is a rarity.

[jane_marie]

Try r/longhair (https://www.reddit.com/r/longhair/) and r/fierceflow (https://www.reddit.com/r/FierceFlow/) instead

Already subscribed! I post on r/longhair often... or did... now that my hair is shorter I won't be posting there for a while.

[SelenVinland]

I really think that a lot people nowadays don't know what healthy hair looks like.

This is definitely also true. a lot of people straight up aren't able to tell when they're looking at healthy hair.

[0xalis]

Already subscribed! I post on r/longhair often... or did... now that my hair is shorter I won't be posting there for a while.

Come to think of it, I saw you on there once when I still used reddit! r/longhair is soooo much better, when it's actually active ;) it was a little dead last time I was there :(

[AmaryllisRed]

I guess with reddit in particular I don't understand why the comments for these drastic B/A posts are always "Oh your hair looks so much healthier!" when typically they had healthy long hair before. I almost wonder if people just don't know what healthy long natural hair actually looks like.

I'm so afraid when I do cut my hair and post a pic, people (elsewhere on the internet, not here obviously) will say how much better my hair and I look than when it was long.

But yeah, people love a good before and after.

[Lucy McLucyFace]

I don't use reddit but I remember once searching for something hair related on Google and finding an old reddit post where a girl with very long hair was asking for advice on what to do with it because she was bored of the same look. And everyone was telling her to cut it to her shoulders. It broke my heart that people would tell someone with extraordinary hair to change it into an extremely average look she would probably regret once the novelty wears off. I didn't even check if she actually did that because it just made me so sad.

Not meaning any offense to people who use reddit (I personally know many who do) but almost all my encounters with that place were negative so my expectations of it are low

[Lucy McLucyFace]

In my opinion this comes back to society telling us we aren't good enough in our natural state, like removing body hair. I was hoping that body hair would start to be acceptable again like it is with men, but looking at celebrities and programs like love island it seems to be going the other way and soon men will have to be hairless as well! All while we're meant to have full time jobs, clean like Mrs Hinch, have hobbies and exercise every day.

It's already happening, I know guys from other countries who have been bullied for having chest hair

[Chromis]

Reddit gonna Reddit /shrug

I Reddit is at its best the more niche you go. General topics there are usually dumpster fires.

[Laurab]

I'm so afraid when I do cut my hair and post a pic, people (elsewhere on the internet, not here obviously) will say how much better my hair and I look than when it was long.

But yeah, people love a good before and after.

So here's my theory!

BEFORE these women cut their hair no one's th8inking their hair doesn't look healthy. I've literally never looked at someone's natural hair and thought it was unhealthy looking, even when it thins out at the end.

But when someone makes a drastic change, people want to be supportive and positive about it.
No one wants to tell someone who just cut off years worth of growth that it wasn't a good choice.
I think "Your hair looks so healthy" just translates to "your hemline looks so thick!"

When I compliment someone's new hair I try to avoid saying it's better, for this reason. You worry people thought it looked bad before.

[MadelineMomo]

Once I was on a date with a girl with short, dyed hair. We discussed hair for like 2 minutes before moving on to another topic, but in that moment, I realized that—even before I grew to like my natural color—I'd never seriously considered dying my hair. I distinctly remember that moment. I felt like I didn't even have the vocabulary to discuss it with someone who had such a different background on hair.

That was sort of the moment I started thinking about this question more in-depth. I've come to the consenus that short, dyed hair is sort of the hair equivalent of fast fashion. Keeping up with trends; changing it often; treated as disposable.

"It's just hair, what does it matter?" Well, when I've spent the last 7 years growing it out, that's a pretty significant personal investment on my part, actually.

I try not to be disparaging, although sometimes I still have my thoughts. I think that a lot of us are actually being driven by the same things. I relate to the feeling of wanting color in my hair—I do that by doing a scarf bun; they do it with hair dye. They want to be "different, unique" and who knows, maybe their hair now actually is quite different than the hair of the people they grew up with—mine certainly is.

[neko_kawaii]

So here's my theory!

BEFORE these women cut their hair no one's th8inking their hair doesn't look healthy. I've literally never looked at someone's natural hair and thought it was unhealthy looking, even when it thins out at the end.

But when someone makes a drastic change, people want to be supportive and positive about it.
No one wants to tell someone who just cut off years worth of growth that it wasn't a good choice.
I think "Your hair looks so healthy" just translates to "your hemline looks so thick!"

When I compliment someone's new hair I try to avoid saying it's better, for this reason. You worry people thought it looked bad before.

This.

Someone got a hair cut, it is a dramatic enough change to merit some sort of comment in acknowledgement. I have to say something nice, say something supportive. . . Uh. . . “It looks so healthy!”

[Arciela]

I guess with reddit in particular I don't understand why the comments for these drastic B/A posts are always "Oh your hair looks so much healthier!" when typically they had healthy long hair before. I almost wonder if people just don't know what healthy long natural hair actually looks like.

Omg this drives me crazy when they say that! Its like..well it's been heat styled and dyed..its all processed. That is *not* healthy :lol:

I was also wondering about this as well..why they all have the same hair style. I guess they must think it looks good..when all that happens is it usually ends up looking faded and damaged. I suppose they dont have patience to grow it out and such...but who knows honestly.

[Bri-Chan]

I like watching videos or foto with drastic changes in hair - I find them fun to watch. My impression is that long, natural and healthy hair is considered boring in the fashion world. And as a sign of a person who doesn't actually care about hair, or at least, this is what a lot of hairdressers think about "simple" hair. Like long healthy hair was not something achieved with time and dedication, but just letting hair be.
I deduced it reading on some american hair group on Facebook, or watching Brad Mondo's video. It's like you don't care about your hair, unless you do something high maintenance.

[Lucy McLucyFace]

I like watching videos or foto with drastic changes in hair - I find them fun to watch. My impression is that long, natural and healthy hair is considered boring in the fashion world. And as a sign of a person who doesn't actually care about hair, or at least, this is what a lot of hairdressers think about "simple" hair. Like long healthy hair was not something achieved with time and dedication, but just letting hair be.
I deduced it reading on some american hair group on Facebook, or watching Brad Mondo's video. It's like you don't care about your hair, unless you do something high maintenance.

I agree but I've also seen something different for once. Youtuber and professional hair stylist Sam Vay is respectful of people who grow natural long hair despite having her own hair in short trendy styles. One of her subscribers once sent her a photo of her long hair for a "critiquing my subscribers' hair" video asking if she should change anything to add some variation to her usual look and Sam just said to try different fun braids, didn't tell her to chop it off or to bleach the life out of it. It was refreshing to hear that

[lapushka]

Drastic changes are... not for me. I never was "into" reddit; don't even know what it is, to be honest. :o

[Laurab]

I agree but I've also seen something different for once. Youtuber and professional hair stylist Sam Vay is respectful of people who grow natural long hair despite having her own hair in short trendy styles. One of her subscribers once sent her a photo of her long hair for a "critiquing my subscribers' hair" video asking if she should change anything to add some variation to her usual look and Sam just said to try different fun braids, didn't tell her to chop it off or to bleach the life out of it. It was refreshing to hear that

I like Sam Vay a lot!
Even when telling stories about rude clients she focuses on what she could've done to improve the situation, she seems very focused on making her client's happy.

In contrast, while I'm not going to say Brad mondo is mean or bad at his job or anything like that, he clearly has STRONG preferences. Short, blond/brightly colored, curled, usually describing it as cool. And it's fine to have those tastes, but sometimes he calls natural hair boring and it makes me sad.
Like, he reacted to a simplynailogical video and really wanted to her to cut and dye her hair. Idk if anyone's watched any of her hair videos, but she's got really long natural hair. It makes me cringe when she rips through it with a paddle brush, but other than that it's really pretty! I'm glad she's stayed firm on not doing anything drastic her audience wants her to.
If she WANTED to do that and make a video on it I'd happily watch, big changes are so satisfying to see, but it's only fun when the person is actually excited and happy.

[Kake]

Nobody makes money from long, healthy hair. (Except hair toy makers)

[Wendyclaire]

People are generally insecure about their looks, and so they want to look the same as everyone else.

They won't express it that way, but that's usually the case.
There are people who don’t want any individual expression so will try to get others to conform to whatever, Reddit had a lot of bad people in my opinion. Very mean.

[Pouncequick]

Drastic changes are... not for me. I never was "into" reddit; don't even know what it is, to be honest. :o

Reddit is just a large semi-anonymous forum. It's full of subreddits based on topics which pretty much always become echo chambers of the most popular opinions within the sub. I go on there for science subs and learning advice. Sometimes some threads are a bit entertaining to read, but I dunno. I've been on the site for around 8 years and it's become so heavily used and heavily moderated that it's... tiresome. Interesting threads get removed when the mods feel like power tripping and there's just so much other stupid, petty behavior. Comment sections always seem to start devolving into the same arguments every day, every post. I used to occasionally browse the hair subreddits but they died or constantly recycled the same posts for long enough I gave up. I like it better here, anyways. There's more variety of opinion.

[Servana]

I don't read Reddit but I do enjoy watching hair transformation videos on YouTube. I think the hairdresser is in turkey or the middle east and all the girls come in with extremely long black hair and he chops it off into lobs and gives them blonde balayage. I'm not a fan of that style because literally everyone has it but I do like watching the transformations. It's just...fun. I also love watching videos of girls with extremely long hair cutting to pixies or shaving their head. No particular reason and I'd never do it myself but if they like it then that's what counts! My hair is for me only, so I really don't give a damn if people think it looks boring and want to chop it off into a blonde balayage 😂
If they like it so much they can do that to themselves!

But yes, of course hairdressers don't like long natural hair. There's no money in it. They want you needing to come in for constant trims, root touch-ups, buying the salon's "repair damage" serums, etc. I just love it when they give me that extra charge for "long, thick hair" even though all they had to do was trim off an inch...

[ynne]

Omg this drives me crazy when they say that! Its like..well it's been heat styled and dyed..its all processed. That is *not* healthy :lol:

I was also wondering about this as well..why they all have the same hair style. I guess they must think it looks good..when all that happens is it usually ends up looking faded and damaged. I suppose they dont have patience to grow it out and such...but who knows honestly.
This is unrelated to the original question, but just to address this part: when I had short and often dyed hair, it had nothing to do with patience, but just wanting to experiment with it, express myself, try out different colors and styles. :) It was not really a trendy style, so I can't comment on that, but yeah. I also stayed around lengths that I considered a good balance of low maintenance and flattering. There are also people here dyeing their hair and growing it long, so it's not like it contradicts one another!

[MeganAimee]

I don't know why that would be ... but I know in my case it's boredom. Like, people today find it extremely hard to be bored, compared to Victorian times, when it was the norm (as was long beautiful hair). I feel that plays a part in it. Doing anything to your hair is often very easy, takes up time, and also engages you for quite awhile. lol. Also, when my hair was waist/hip length every hair dresser wanted to cut it off, so I guess that kind of attitude towards long hair could make you feel "boring" potentially?

[lapushka]

Reddit is just a large semi-anonymous forum. It's full of subreddits based on topics which pretty much always become echo chambers of the most popular opinions within the sub. I go on there for science subs and learning advice. Sometimes some threads are a bit entertaining to read, but I dunno. I've been on the site for around 8 years and it's become so heavily used and heavily moderated that it's... tiresome. Interesting threads get removed when the mods feel like power tripping and there's just so much other stupid, petty behavior. Comment sections always seem to start devolving into the same arguments every day, every post. I used to occasionally browse the hair subreddits but they died or constantly recycled the same posts for long enough I gave up. I like it better here, anyways. There's more variety of opinion.

That doesn't sound like it's much fun... :(

I don't think that would be for me, but thank you for explaining! :D

[spidermom]

I guess I fell into the "this is what women do" camp for a long time. In addition, I enjoyed going to the salon and getting new styles. I also enjoy watching makeover videos on YouTube.

[zhivago]

It's pretty rare where I am to see long natural hair, including not styled. >95% of girls cut, dye or heat style their hair. It can look pretty and be lots of fun, so it makes sense. Longn natural hair can be pretty boring from some pespectives. What really is the point of hair if not to have fun with it?

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

It's pretty rare where I am to see long natural hair, including not styled. >95% of girls cut, dye or heat style their hair. It can look pretty and be lots of fun, so it makes sense. Longn natural hair can be pretty boring from some pespectives. What really is the point of hair if not to have fun with it?

100%

I believe r/hair shows a lot more dramatic hair cuts and more "trendy" hair styles rather than untouched long hair, because well, hair is a fashion statement. Bright, bold, textured. Etc. Its just like clothing for some people, and people like to see hair change and you can do a lot with a cut or color. While natural, untouched hair, remains the same. Doing different bun styles, it can get boring! And this is coming from someone that likes long hair. There are only so many ways to feature long hair. Maybe not everyone agrees with me but, consider that the r/hair community has over 400,000 members. While the r/longhair page has half that... The dramatic changes are fun and people like it. It is not about conformity and saying that it is, is pretty judgemental. Its about taste, thats what they like. I personally love the transformation videos, I love cutting hair and seeing it get highlighted, its fun to me. I plan to eventually do the same with my own hair because... I like it. Not because I am insecure and want to be like everyone else. Long hair, can be boring for some people! Im personally happier at my shorter length now and am SO excited to go to the salon.

It is just two sides of the same coin. Neither one is "better" than the other, because better is just a perspective.

[MadelineMomo]

The other day, I stopped by this hair store. And I was really taken aback to realize that there was nothing in this whole store of hair products I actually wanted.

I asked about hair-sticks, and they showed me a very small selection of simple plastic ones. No other materials, nothing carved into a fancy shape. I asked about hair oils, and they showed me a very small selection of oils cut with all sorts of other ingredients.

I might be being a little dramatic here. If I were in the market for a new shampoo or conditioner, I surely could've found something I liked here there. But I'm in the middle of a bottle right now so I didn't look in those isles. I think there's a decent chance this store might be one of the few places that carries U-pins, if I were out of those.

But still. I was really taken aback by how this store had nothing to sell to the girl with hip-length hair.

I've said it before: I really think that LHC's approach to hair, and the mainstream western approach to hair, are just fundamentally different at their root. Both seem incomprehensive to the other because it's apples and oranges.

[Trip]

The other day, I stopped by this hair store. And I was really taken aback to realize that there was nothing in this whole store of hair products I actually wanted.

I asked about hair-sticks, and they showed me a very small selection of simple plastic ones. No other materials, nothing carved into a fancy shape. I asked about hair oils, and they showed me a very small selection of oils cut with all sorts of other ingredients.

I might be being a little dramatic here. If I were in the market for a new shampoo or conditioner, I surely could've found something I liked here there. But I'm in the middle of a bottle right now so I didn't look in those isles. I think there's a decent chance this store might be one of the few places that carries U-pins, if I were out of those.

But still. I was really taken aback by how this store had nothing to sell to the girl with hip-length hair.

I've said it before: I really think that LHC's approach to hair, and the mainstream western approach to hair, are just fundamentally different at their root. Both seem incomprehensive to the other because it's apples and oranges.

Yeah every time I've gone to a "hair store" in the us at least turns out to be more of a hair dye/ hair extension store really

[spidermom]

100%

I believe r/hair shows a lot more dramatic hair cuts and more "trendy" hair styles rather than untouched long hair, because well, hair is a fashion statement. Bright, bold, textured. Etc. Its just like clothing for some people, and people like to see hair change and you can do a lot with a cut or color. While natural, untouched hair, remains the same. Doing different bun styles, it can get boring! And this is coming from someone that likes long hair. There are only so many ways to feature long hair. Maybe not everyone agrees with me but, consider that the r/hair community has over 400,000 members. While the r/longhair page has half that... The dramatic changes are fun and people like it. It is not about conformity and saying that it is, is pretty judgemental. Its about taste, thats what they like. I personally love the transformation videos, I love cutting hair and seeing it get highlighted, its fun to me. I plan to eventually do the same with my own hair because... I like it. Not because I am insecure and want to be like everyone else. Long hair, can be boring for some people! Im personally happier at my shorter length now and am SO excited to go to the salon.

It is just two sides of the same coin. Neither one is "better" than the other, because better is just a perspective.

I'm feeling the same way. I love long hair, but for me personally - there are only 3 things I can do with it: bun, braid, or leave down, and leaving it down (including half down) is both impractical and annoying. It gets all over the place, catches on things like cabinet handles, presents a danger around open flame, plus tickles my skin and causes itch. With shorter hair, I could add curl it or straighten it because I wasn't so paranoid about damage when I was getting regular haircuts. I think I had more fun with it when it was shorter. All I have to look forward to right now is will it get longer by the beginning of next season.

[illicitlizard]

Yep I think they're just a different target demographic. r/hair isn't a place to appreciate untouched "boring and unachievable" hair, it's a place to see epic transformations, amazing colours, intricate styling. Things that the majority of people of any hair length can look at and say wow, that's really cool, maybe one day I will get magical unicorn hair, or a curly shag, or grow all my hair out then chop it all off...
I don't think it's about conformity necessarily, more about using hair as a vessel for self expression - high maintenance hair appreciation. Though I would appreciate less suggestions of "trim it into a bob!" every time someone asks for hair style advice.

You can do more from a styling/experimental POV with shorter hair (BSL probably being the limit), especially since so many people who've been growing for years are so precious about hair, so won't heat style, many don't even have layering or bangs which is double boring. Plus cutting of long hair is always exciting, the dramatic change is so fun, and usually the OP seems so excited to get the chop! So I understand why people love to see it.

I wish there was some more appreciation for long hair, but societally it's not the norm nor the ideal so it makes sense that the majority of people online are disinterested.

MadelineMomo hair stores are absolutely not for long hair where I am haha, they're a place for dye and heat tools. With a side helping of overpriced shampoo, conditioner, and styling products.

[7up]

I think people just enjoy being creative and expressing themselves with the hair which I also enjoy. People who keep it natural and lengthy express themselves equally by going al naturale and that’s great too which I also enjoy. There’s people who keep long hair but dye it and style it often and it’s great too. I think Those who lean to either side is going to look at the other and
Maybe not enjoy it or advocate for it, hence the girls who express themselves through change will tell the long virgin hair girls to cut cut cut and dye meanwhile the growers will think that a bob and bleach is the worst style ever lol. And some enjoy it all and some don’t care. I don’t really think Reddit has a narrative about long hair or anything I just
Think majority of people like expressing themselves like that with their hair and the forum is a reflection of society. ( in a semi-anonymous way of course )

[Isle-of-Mel]

Just to add… I only joined Reddit recently so don’t have a lot of context, but some of the older comments on this thread related to societal expectations and influences related to hair really resonated with me… I had solid tailbone length natural hair 5 years ago and chose to cut it all off to a bob because that was the ‘in’ thing at the time, I then went through 2ish years of intense bleaching because my hair was not “blonde” enough (if you’ve seen some of my previous posts, I actually have pretty blonde hair). Actually, a good portion of my adult life has been spent believing that my hair isn’t blonde enough (even during my long, natural period). While there’s obviously nothing wrong with short, coloured hair (or any hair style, colour, length, etc.) it’s only as I’ve gotten older that I’ve actually been able to love my hair in its natural state regardless of what’s trendy that month…

[Shol'va]

Hypothesis: very long hair is seen as traditionally feminine. Any act of cutting it very short--especially shorter than a bob--is seen as a defiance against traditional gender norms, which is automatically celebrated. Anyone wanting to grow or maintain long hair is seen as anachronistic, conservative, and aligned with an aesthetic that doesn't reflect the current trends/general zeitgeist. LOTR vs bouffant with shaved sides in neon colors.
This isn't meant to disparage any particular style or preference. Just my two cents.

[illicitlizard]

Hypothesis: very long hair is seen as traditionally feminine. Any act of cutting it very short--especially shorter than a bob--is seen as a defiance against traditional gender norms, which is automatically celebrated. Anyone wanting to grow or maintain long hair is seen as anachronistic, conservative, and aligned with an aesthetic that doesn't reflect the current trends/general zeitgeist. LOTR vs bouffant with shaved sides in neon colors.
This isn't meant to disparage any particular style or preference. Just my two cents.

For sure, I responded to someone on reddit a few weeks back who likened someones lovely classic length hair to being overly conservative/"little house on the prairie". Often, styling choices associated with traditional femininity are associated with conservatism, and in many online spaces (including certain forums on reddit) conservatism is not the goal. I think it's a bit of a shame that certain personal grooming choices are considered almost anti-feminist - but I understand the need for useful generalisations. And at the end of the day, dramatic and colourful short haircuts are much more "in" right now, and I think you may be right that this is at least in part due to the association with shirking gender norms.

[Shol'va]

For sure, I responded to someone on reddit a few weeks back who likened someones lovely classic length hair to being overly conservative/"little house on the prairie". Often, styling choices associated with traditional femininity are associated with conservatism, and in many online spaces (including certain forums on reddit) conservatism is not the goal. I think it's a bit of a shame that certain personal grooming choices are considered almost anti-feminist - but I understand the need for useful generalisations. And at the end of the day, dramatic and colourful short haircuts are much more "in" right now, and I think you may be right that this is at least in part due to the association with shirking gender norms.

Makes sense. So many association games. Everything is so heavily politicized and it really pisses me off, to be honest.
I'm not sure if politics are allowed here and I don't want to delve into it anyway, but I don't consider myself a feminist (despite being grateful and happy about equal rights, supporting first-wave feminism and bits of second-wave, etc.). I'm not a conservative either. It just annoys me that the typical reaction to something as innocuous as a hairstyle preference is laden with politics. Oh well.
I may be reading too much into it, but it's the general impression I get with such things. That "little house in the prairie" comment you saw just solidifies it as an example.

On the other hand, something like a tousled, layered, relatively long hairstyle is also seen as automatically preferable to a very long, natural style where the length is more or less uniform/has no deliberate layering, and a long layered hairstyle can hardly be said to be traditionally un-feminine, despite not being actually traditional. I guess the modern vs. old school/medieval/fantasy-esque thing might trump the length aspect. That being said, there is the whole "CUT IT OOOOOFFFF YEEEES" thing, too. Especially with guys like Brad Mondo (nothing against him--I actually find many of his videos highly entertaining).

Who knows :D

[Corvana]

Incredibly long hair is considered stylish, but only via wigs/extensions. Wanting it to be your own is weird for some reason :laugh: My guess is because of how fast fashion changes now? If it's your actual hair you're growing, then it's seen as slow which makes people think of the past or conservatism (which often wants to go back to said past). But you can absolutely still see fairly long hair here and there. The Haim sisters are an example (I believe one or more may have gotten a haircut during quarantine, but for most of their careers they've had waist to hip length hair), and a lot of people are into the 70s again lol.