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WaimeaWahine
August 17th, 2009, 07:40 PM
I did search and nothing came up so please merge me into the proper thread. Thanks! :)

Just got back from a dental appointment and picked up O Magazine to leaf through it. I stopped enjoying her show ages ago and have never looked at her magazine. Anyhow... There's a typical makeover section where a 28 year old woman with waist length hair gets the above shoulder lop. And that's great. If the woman is happy then everyone should be happy for her. But they have a psychologist of all things, Rita Freedman, analyzing each makeover. And I quote the little section on page 147 of the August issue:


Alexandra has become very attached to her extraordinarily long hair. "From the time we're girls, long hair is something that garners positive reactions," says Freedman. "That makes it difficult to give up" -even when the hair length has gone from a little exotic to downright eccentric. But when a woman seriously considers why she's reluctant to cut her hair, that the devotion has nothing to do with versatility (the oft-cited reason among long-hair lovers) and a lot more to do with acceptance and attention.
So this woman's long hair was a little exotic and once it reached waist length it was downright eccentric? And if we all seriously consider why we don't want to :scissors: our hair off it's because we love the attention it gets us and how accepted it makes us feel? What LHL's did they talk to anyhow? I'm sorry but it just irritates me because it's on the same level as the media telling us what size we should be. Now they want to tell us what our hair should look like.

:justy:

Your thoughts on this please, especially if your hair is waist or terminal.

Carolyn
August 17th, 2009, 07:59 PM
Gee um, do those idiots ever consider the fact that some people just LIKE long hair? I wonder what my reasons for having long could be since my hair gets me absolutely ZERO attention and acceptance?

LittleOrca
August 17th, 2009, 08:01 PM
Here is the other thread that is talking about this subject as well: Click Here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31043).

This is also the reason my family considered me hair psychotic. :rolleyes:

ecologystudent
August 17th, 2009, 08:04 PM
Here's the previous thread: Oprah (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31043). Lost of pages there discussing the article. :D

Cherry_Sprinkle
August 17th, 2009, 08:07 PM
Gee um, do those idiots ever consider the fact that some people just LIKE long hair? I wonder what my reasons for having long could be since my hair gets me absolutely ZERO attention and acceptance?

same here. no one says anything about my hair at all outside of LHC... but I don't plan to cut for a very very long time. Those that do ask about my hair routine often thinks it sounds weird at first but they usually do try it and like it! but that has more to do with the condition of my hair vs the length I think.

LittleOrca
August 17th, 2009, 08:08 PM
Ironically, I looked up Dr. Rita Freedman to see what kind of work she did... She works on body image and how to love yourself. What if we love ourselves with long hair?

invisiblebabe
August 17th, 2009, 08:08 PM
I don't think eccentricity is a bad thing :)

My hair is somewhere between BSL and midback currently, but from age 11 to 21, it was anywhere between waist and classic. I wore it that way because I love the long haired look and felt it suited me. Right now it's BSL because I chose healthy hair with highlights over healthy hair with lots of length. haha. If I could keep it waist length and healthy with a thick hemline, then I'd probably wear it that way now :)

I have never had short hair unless you count when I was a baby/toddler. :) So I can't comment on the versatility from experience, although I do know it would drive me absolutely nuts if my hair were too short to put in a ponytail... hair on your neck gets HOT in summer and/or when I'm working out!l

LOL and do they know how many models have long hair?

MadPirateBippy
August 17th, 2009, 08:09 PM
Because if all women were a size 6 and had short hair, and dressed the same, then we can ALL LOOK ALIKE.

And that's the best way to express your individuality, ever.

darkwaves
August 17th, 2009, 08:11 PM
I wonder what my reasons for having long could be since my hair gets me absolutely ZERO attention and acceptance? This made me laugh. A few days ago, my DH said to me: "So, when are you going to cut your hair?"

soopahgrover
August 17th, 2009, 08:12 PM
Is there something wrong with liking attention? I mean, why wear makeup?

spidermom
August 17th, 2009, 08:13 PM
Eccentric. I like the sound of that!

Hey everybody - I'm eccentric.

ladylibra
August 17th, 2009, 08:14 PM
Because if all women were a size 6 and had short hair, and dressed the same, then we can ALL LOOK ALIKE.

And that's the best way to express your individuality, ever.

Well yeah! Remember, you're unique - just like everyone else. :laugh:

Kirin
August 17th, 2009, 08:15 PM
I just HAVE to say this. Wait, we don't want to cut our hair because we like the attention we get from the long hair? Well, isn't the point of a makeover and cutting your hair to gain attention?

S'cuse me, thats a mind f___ if I ever heard one. What a crock.

Monkey962
August 17th, 2009, 08:20 PM
Will us longhairs ever be accepted? :/

GlassEyes
August 17th, 2009, 08:24 PM
Eccentric. Hm.

I guess it fits me. I could care less what Oprah and her experts have to say about my hair. XD; Maybe if she gave me a car or something, I'd consider taking her opinion into my life. xDDD

Heavenly Locks
August 17th, 2009, 08:29 PM
Ironically, I looked up Dr. Rita Freedman to see what kind of work she did... She works on body image and how to love yourself. What if we love ourselves with long hair?

but, we're not loving ourselves the right (read: popular) way!

darkwaves
August 17th, 2009, 08:31 PM
Ahem.

And then there was the man last week who blushed (really!) and stopped mid conversation to say, "Your hair is amazing." After which, he resumed our literary discussion.

Was that a bad thing? (Call me weird, but I enjoyed it!)

ecologystudent
August 17th, 2009, 08:37 PM
See, I never saw any problem with not fitting in. I like being weird, odd, slightly crazy, eccentric- what ever you want to call it. My life is different, and I enjoy it.

naselflee
August 17th, 2009, 08:41 PM
I like being Eccentric. I take pride in my hair being long. And I also love when people compliment me on my hair.

Rebelkat
August 17th, 2009, 09:04 PM
I like being Eccentric. I take pride in my hair being long. And I also love when people compliment me on my hair.
Amen to that, naselflee. I take pride in being eccentric. I wear my hair "different", I dress "different", I listen to "different" music... I'm all about going against the grain. Who says going along with society is a good thing? Especially if you don't agree with society? A beautiful and somewhat related song: After Forever's Eccentric (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir1xDJrnHv0). Basically it's about a girl who's being judged by people who don't understand her situation and how she doesn't want to be like those people. Just thought I would share this inspirational song. :redgrin:

Honestwitness
August 17th, 2009, 09:32 PM
I'm an eccentric, too, even though I go out in public as an 'incognito' eccentric. I want to keep my job for the time being...until I retire at 72.

Then, I plan to live to be a healthy 100 years old, with white hair down to my ankles, and wear red and purple in the same outfit...or wear a periwinkle velour sweatsuit with a lime green feather boa...to go shopping at the grocery store...and wear light-saber hairsticks, like the ones I just saw in the homemade hairtoys thread.

Eat your heart out, Dr. Rita!!!

Hee! Hee!

Lamb
August 17th, 2009, 09:46 PM
Oprah? :disgust: Why Oprah? Why not the boy who sweeps the floors in the grocery shop on the corner? I`d say his opinion counts more, he actually knows me at least by sight.

trolleypup
August 17th, 2009, 09:52 PM
You say I'm "eccentric" like it's a bad thing!

WaimeaWahine
August 17th, 2009, 10:10 PM
I guess it's the labeling itself that bothers me. Why does a woman with long hair or terminal length hair have to be anything other than just a woman?

And if you ask the average woman, she's almost never telling you, "I just have to get a haircut!" It's always, "I'm trying to grow it out."

It's just freaky to me to call long hair exotic even when nature gave it to us to protect our bodies and keep us warm. I found a lovely photobucket album the other night of a woman in Samoa where waist length hair is very common. Her overall appearance and her country are exotic to many but you wont hear anyone calling them eccentric.

EdG
August 17th, 2009, 10:12 PM
You say I'm "eccentric" like it's a bad thing!Agreed. :agree:

Having long hair is like having... a personality. :D
Ed

Rebelkat
August 17th, 2009, 10:18 PM
Agreed. :agree:

Having long hair is like having... a personality. :D
Ed
:thudpile: We're allowed to have those? /sarcasm
Just kidding.

EdG
August 17th, 2009, 10:25 PM
:thudpile: We're allowed to have those? /sarcasm
Just kidding.Hee, hee!

I bet the magazine contains at least one advertisement for a homogenized, pasteurized, artificially colored and flavored, imitation food product. See what readers can aspire to? :D
Ed

noelgirl
August 17th, 2009, 10:25 PM
Eccentric? Why, thank you! Eccentric, to me, means that one has taken the care to create a unique life, and has the intelligence and intuition to know what that means for them. Since when are those bad things? Inventors are eccentric - they're the ones who don't settle for the status quo and instead change it. And I think we all benefit from the inventors among us.

RavennaNight
August 17th, 2009, 10:39 PM
I am sick and tired of magazines and "ask the experts" celebrity shrinks trying to create more to-do about the choice of long hair than what is behind it. And what is wrong with getting attention? Maybe Freedman blends right in with everyone else and is ignored in her life and is invisible. What is wrong about doing things that make you feel good about yourself? And just liking long hair? Now I feel like we are just being attacked. "You longhaired people have psychological issues." Holding on to something, want attention, need security blanket. Not to mention selfish for wanting something beautiful and healthy for ourselves. Seriously.

I always was eccentric, WTF is wrong with that!? I always liked being unique.

But waistlength hair? Eccentric? Like it is esoteric and strange? Like it is an exotic zoo animal? Are you kidding me? My hair is at hip and it doesn't feel weird or unique to have it that long. What benefit does it have to this pseudo-shrink to go on and on about one's hair length? She has no interest in the salon/fashion industry.

And villifying getting attention. Puh-lease. Nobody wants to be overlooked and forgotten and to be lost in the crowd.

may1em
August 17th, 2009, 10:49 PM
I have long hair partly because I like the physical pleasure of it - how it feels against my back when I take it down (well, unless it's ungodly hot out like it is now), the act of brushing or combing it, doing something cool with it or using a pretty hairtoy, looking at it.

And since women aren't supposed to really enjoy their own bodies (instead, we're supposed to view them as a constant work in progress), enjoying long hair runs against that. It says "I am satisfied with at least this one part of me and do not want to change it." And well, that doesn't make money and it doesn't jive well with the unhealthy attitude we're supposed to have towards the rest of our bodies, which we are also supposed to strive to fix.

Rebelkat
August 17th, 2009, 11:05 PM
And since women aren't supposed to really enjoy their own bodies (instead, we're supposed to view them as a constant work in progress), enjoying long hair runs against that. It says "I am satisfied with at least this one part of me and do not want to change it." And well, that doesn't make money and it doesn't jive well with the unhealthy attitude we're supposed to have towards the rest of our bodies, which we are also supposed to strive to fix.
Amen to that. It's amazing that we're supposed to be constantly "improving" our outward appearance to meet society's demands of it. Why not focus on something more meaningful, like improving our inner being? Well, I suppose that's not very profitable for the companies, either. :rolleyes:

HappyHair87
August 18th, 2009, 12:02 AM
Ya know....i notice they don't try to much of these haircutting shows with black women...lol!!!

Cause if i was there and she cut my hair off....it would be on and poppin'!! I ain't Never cuttin' my hair!!!

RancheroTheBee
August 18th, 2009, 12:06 AM
I like to make ridiculous, personalized stories for inane objects such a toothbrushes I find at the bus stop. I laugh at inappropriate moments during casual conversations when I remember something funny that happened eight months ago. I name almost everything I come in contact with. If I come in contact with any animal, I instantly put on a silly Spanish accent and tell them how cute they are.

If I wasn't considered eccentric already, I'm pretty sure having more hair isn't going to harm most people's opinion of me.

Heidi_234
August 18th, 2009, 12:48 AM
I like to make ridiculous, personalized stories for inane objects such a toothbrushes I find at the bus stop. I laugh at inappropriate moments during casual conversations when I remember something funny that happened eight months ago. I name almost everything I come in contact with. If I come in contact with any animal, I instantly put on a silly Spanish accent and tell them how cute they are.

If I wasn't considered eccentric already, I'm pretty sure having more hair isn't going to harm most people's opinion of me.
:rollin:
LMAO I wish I had an "eccentric" person like you at work!! Everybody's so boring.

Renbirde
August 18th, 2009, 01:17 AM
:rollin:
LMAO I wish I had an "eccentric" person like you at work!! Everybody's so boring.
I'll second that. :p

Fiferstone
August 18th, 2009, 05:07 AM
I gave up on those magazines years ago for the reasons everyone else has cited. I'm sick of the "you can be better" brainwashing. . .better than what, exactly?

It's simply crazy. I choose not to join in the general insanity.

Rentlle
August 18th, 2009, 06:15 AM
It's simply crazy. I choose not to join in the general insanity.

and you're right :)

Calanthe
August 18th, 2009, 06:23 AM
Now, this is cool. I'm an eccentric. And this before I'm 40 - you made my day! :D

Curlsgirl
August 18th, 2009, 06:47 AM
Ironically, I looked up Dr. Rita Freedman to see what kind of work she did... She works on body image and how to love yourself. What if we love ourselves with long hair?Oh that's eccentric! :rolleyes:


I just HAVE to say this. Wait, we don't want to cut our hair because we like the attention we get from the long hair? Well, isn't the point of a makeover and cutting your hair to gain attention?

^^^THIS^^^

Good grief! This is just the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Like maybe we LIKE our hair. Who are they to tell people WHAT is accepted or not accepted anyway? I daresay Oprah at one was encouraged to be "her own person" and not folow the crowd or she would never be where she is today that's for sure!

Hi, my name is Curlsgirl and I am TOTALLY eccentric.

willowcandra
August 18th, 2009, 06:47 AM
You just have to laugh really don't you.
Having long hair is about being bold and embracing your self and looking how you want to look. It's a good thing. It's very sad that some people believe it's not something an adult should have. why not? Are they scared of being classically beautiful?

If I cut my hair short because of people like this image psychologist it would show that I was weak willed and let people tell me what to do.

As for wanting attention? pah what a joke.....that lady is making a good living peddling snake oil.

Fencai
August 18th, 2009, 06:51 AM
This made me laugh....

I often tell DH that I want to be the image of the old "eccentric" witch standing on top of the hill with my ankle length flowing long hair, arms outstretched.....

LOL!!! Im looking forward to being "eccentric"!!!!

metalgypsy85
August 18th, 2009, 07:00 AM
Being eccentric rules!!

I'd rather be the weird chick than the "just like everyone else" chick any day.

NiAosSi
August 18th, 2009, 07:15 AM
Nothing wrong with being eccentric. Something is definitely wrong with being a clone...

JamieLeigh
August 18th, 2009, 07:25 AM
<----- is proud to be eccentric!!!! :D :cheese:

Curlsgirl
August 18th, 2009, 07:41 AM
Maybe we should start an "I love being eccentric club" :cheese:

Fractalsofhair
August 18th, 2009, 07:46 AM
I saw this article as well. Her hair didn't look great(too dark a color, IMO and kinda frizzy. But that could have just been the photo), but certainly not ugly. I do think her new cut looked better, mostly due to the color.(Now, if she liked being very fair with dyed black hair, that's fine! Just if she was trying to look conventionally pretty, it's not the best look.) Also, what's wrong with being downright eccentric instead of just exotic. If I wanted to look exotic, I could! It's called eyeliner and interesting without being flamboyant clothing! The main difference in the hair texture was how shiny it was in the new picture, which is called a flat iron+blowdrier+shine serum once in a while. Or, just the shine serum and a bit of oil.

Charentais
August 18th, 2009, 08:04 AM
Sort of off-topic:

I love the Oprah magazine. I love the O, for some reason.

However, my housemate made the mistake of watching the recent Oprah show about the biological basis of attraction (men are attracted to fertile-looking young women, women find strong providers attractive, etc) and she was so depressed after watching it. She's 47, her husband left her five years ago, and she's worried she'll never find a partner. I tried to reassure her that what O presents on her show is not the absolute truth. I also helped her "put the lie" to those attraction theories. Isn't my housemate currently attracted to a man at her church who isn't rich and who she adores because he's a very sweet and kind man? What does this have to do with biology? So, couldn't it be possible that a man might find her maturity, humor and independence hot and sexy? Yes.

So, now I'm mad at the O for upsetting my dear friend with her simplistic show about human attraction, which is a much more nuanced and complicated topic! ARGH!

Darn you, Oprah.

JamieLeigh
August 18th, 2009, 09:23 AM
So, now I'm mad at the O for upsetting my dear friend with her simplistic show about human attraction, which is a much more nuanced and complicated topic! ARGH!

Darn you, Oprah.

That says it all right there. Oprah constantly tries to delve into personal and relational issues that are too deep for the shallow show she produces. She tries to make deep-seated problems appear to be nothing more than fashion mistakes.......and vice versa. I respect the good things she has done for people, but I really have no respect for some of the things she and her team come up with for show ideas.

dearladydisdain
August 18th, 2009, 09:29 AM
I was going to say "I don't care if they call me eccentric!" but, uh, WAIST? Seriously?

Cindi Eponabri
August 18th, 2009, 09:43 AM
I've had long hair and I've had short hair and hair in between. In my experience, short hair was more work and more expensive as I had to have it trimmed about every three weeks. I haven't paid to have my hair cut in almost 6 years.....

Toadstool
August 18th, 2009, 09:52 AM
Having had a psychiatric history from age 22-29 I was so happy when my doctor told me I am not mentally ill, just eccentric. nothing wrong with that.

Incidentally neither label had anything to do with my hair:)

Wavelength
August 18th, 2009, 10:02 AM
Sort of off-topic:

I love the Oprah magazine. I love the O, for some reason.

However, my housemate made the mistake of watching the recent Oprah show about the biological basis of attraction (men are attracted to fertile-looking young women, women find strong providers attractive, etc) and she was so depressed after watching it. She's 47, her husband left her five years ago, and she's worried she'll never find a partner. I tried to reassure her that what O presents on her show is not the absolute truth. I also helped her "put the lie" to those attraction theories. Isn't my housemate currently attracted to a man at her church who isn't rich and who she adores because he's a very sweet and kind man? What does this have to do with biology? So, couldn't it be possible that a man might find her maturity, humor and independence hot and sexy? Yes.

So, now I'm mad at the O for upsetting my dear friend with her simplistic show about human attraction, which is a much more nuanced and complicated topic! ARGH!

Darn you, Oprah.

Human attraction is incredibly complex. I majored in Psych for three years and I still have the textbooks on interpersonal relationships. They're not a light read, that's for sure. There's a LOT going on with attraction (even the "love at first sight" phenomenon is not as simple as it appears). It really can't be summed up in a pithy sound bite, like daytime TV would have us believe.

Tell your friend that my husband and I broke most of the rules with our attraction. There's a 14 year difference in our ages -- and I'm the older one. I'm definitely not a sweet, nubile young thing and he's a graduate student, so he's definitely not wealthy. But we fell in love anyway, and we're very happy. :)

We might be an exception but there are thousands like us! Come to think of it, that's a pretty good description of longhairs too. :D

kdaniels8811
August 18th, 2009, 10:05 AM
Yay to exceptions and eccentrics! I never was one to follow the crowd...

camara
August 18th, 2009, 10:16 AM
I&#180;ve worked very hard for 20 years at least to become eccentric. I&#180;m very pleased that my hair counts into that eccentricity. :D *hehehe*

*plans to be a crazy cat lady in her later years* :)

LittleOrca
August 18th, 2009, 10:22 AM
*plans to be a crazy cat lady in her later years* :)

You too?

We'll have to arrange play dates for our kitties. :D

Fireweed
August 18th, 2009, 10:54 AM
We eccentric, exotic long hairs need to stick together and its called community. I LOVE IT.

Tanuki
August 18th, 2009, 11:19 AM
You know what strikes me as eccentric? Taking loads of harsh chemicals that never existed before they were invented in a lab and using them to turn your hair into something you normally wouldn't see outside of a cartoon. Granted I like those wild hair styles, but the idea that hair either has to be one of those or a limp mass down your back is kind of limiting. Viva la variety!

That said, having hair you have to worry about stepping on worries me. How do you even work around that? How does a SO work around that? However, that's an idea for another thread

redpepper
August 18th, 2009, 11:54 AM
Several family members ask me when I'm cutting my hair. I don't want to. Don't care what O mag says.

Honestly I think women look younger with long hair. I'm a grandmother too, and I totally love long hair. As several have said, it's easier to care for, and I usually put it up anyway.

Go LHC!! :applause

:puppykisses:Anna

Kiraela
August 18th, 2009, 12:15 PM
Wait, so waist length is eccentric? Does that mean hip length is 'kooky' and tailbone is 'nuts'? What about classic, is that 'complete whackjob" territory yet?

Bah. I am proud to be eccentric. I listen to a delightful mix of classical, celtic harp, and heavy industrial music... I'm already a crazy cat lady. I didn't bother to wait 'til I was old!

Cherry_Sprinkle
August 18th, 2009, 12:30 PM
Add me to the whack job category.. :) classic is my goal.. and I may even dip my toes in the "omg you're insane!!" category after that.. :whistle:

Renbirde
August 18th, 2009, 01:29 PM
Wait, so waist length is eccentric? Does that mean hip length is 'kooky' and tailbone is 'nuts'? What about classic, is that 'complete whackjob" territory yet?
Ooh! :eyebrows: I need to make me a XL fork with that written on it. And maybe a kitty dangle. No one in RL would get the joke, but it'd make me happy. :p

Whackjobs UNITE! :cheese:

FallenAngel
August 18th, 2009, 01:31 PM
Is there something wrong with liking attention?

This is exactly what I'm wondering as well. ;)

Beatnik Guy
August 18th, 2009, 02:57 PM
Eccentric? Exotic? I can live with either. :rolleyes:

And, presumably kneee length and longer is straitjacket time?

kmoc123
August 18th, 2009, 04:39 PM
It is just their opinion...we all get to have that!!! and what is wrong with being eccentric...I sorta like that title. It is better than a few of the other ones I wear...lol. Don't take things personally...especially the negative ones.

Kiraela
August 19th, 2009, 09:29 AM
I wanna be a whackjob someday, too, haha. I wouldn't mind being called eccentric, though. It
is far better than 'the boring one that nobody notices because she is just like everybody else'. Easier to say, too!

Renbirde: If you make one, definately post pictures, hehe.

frodolaughs
August 19th, 2009, 10:52 AM
Ah, well--another magazine I don't need to subscribe to. My BF and I have a running joke at the grocery store. It goes like this: "Look! Oprah! She made the cover of her magazine!" And she's got an 'expert' criticizing people for enjoying their own looks and the attention those looks bring them? Ah, but they aren't Oprah.

frodolaughs
August 19th, 2009, 10:56 AM
Ooh! :eyebrows: I need to make me a XL fork with that written on it. And maybe a kitty dangle. No one in RL would get the joke, but it'd make me happy. :p

Whackjobs UNITE! :cheese:
I would so wear that! I've always said that I aspire to be an eccentric and crazy old lady. And here I am eccentric at 32? That does it, I'm going for terminal :pumpkin:

Starr
August 19th, 2009, 11:46 AM
Ya know....i notice they don't try to much of these haircutting shows with black women...lol!!!

Cause if i was there and she cut my hair off....it would be on and poppin'!! I ain't Never cuttin' my hair!!!


Bwahaha:D!

That is so true. . . an accidental inch too short is worthy of a beat down in my family, lol. :p



And seeing as I'm only about 2 inches away from classic- I'm now in official whackjob territory and proud of it!

WhitsEnd
August 21st, 2009, 11:16 AM
I think that the article is completely bogus. I do not grow my hair for attention. I grow it because I like it that way. I wonder what Oprah and her team of 'body image consultants' would say about people who grow their hair for religious and spiritual reasons. It just makes me so angry that someone would say that long hair is eccentric and is looked upon negatively.

Sunshine69
August 21st, 2009, 01:10 PM
I think the beauty industry is down on long hair because they don't make any profit from longhairs. The industry wants to sell women on short styles that require need regular cuts, complicated coloring processes, and multiple styling products and tools to achieve their look. Of course all that styling and processing is a catch-22 which requires more intensive treatments to repair or hide all the damage that's being done to the hair. It's a money sink.

I think if women stopped reading women's magazines that our average self esteem would increase dramatically.

Tanuki
August 21st, 2009, 01:16 PM
Except they go outside and interact with other humans, and human beings are nothing if they're not competitive.

Themyst
August 21st, 2009, 02:30 PM
I receive a lot of extravagant attention when I wear my hair down. That could probably have something to do with the region I live in. But, regardless, I have posted so many different times about how I wear it up a lot just to avoid the attention.

Long hair just seems so natural to me that I'm wondering why anyone cuts it. Chopping it off just seems unnatural. :shrug:

LaurelSpring
August 21st, 2009, 02:49 PM
It wouldnt be the first time I have been thought of as eccentric. :crazyq:

krissykins
August 21st, 2009, 02:54 PM
Seriously? Eccentric at waist? I wonder what they would do to the knee-length hair members here. Probably attempt to put them in straight jackets and send them off to the loony bin...

:hifive: sign me up hahaha

Amara
August 21st, 2009, 03:41 PM
I think if women stopped reading women's magazines that our average self esteem would increase dramatically.


Amen. There have been studies done on this, and you are RIGHT ON.

Amara
August 21st, 2009, 03:46 PM
I like to make ridiculous, personalized stories for inane objects such a toothbrushes I find at the bus stop. I laugh at inappropriate moments during casual conversations when I remember something funny that happened eight months ago. I name almost everything I come in contact with. If I come in contact with any animal, I instantly put on a silly Spanish accent and tell them how cute they are.

If I wasn't considered eccentric already, I'm pretty sure having more hair isn't going to harm most people's opinion of me.

That's funny. My animal accent is French.

shockra
August 29th, 2009, 02:36 PM
Dont pay any attention to oprah!! She has a self esteem issue which is why she is on the cover of her magazine every month.

Jemoiselle
August 29th, 2009, 03:05 PM
If my wearing of long hair makes me dying for attention and eccentric...Oprah should just eat the darned cookies already and stop trying to be noticed for being thin. Because, by that standard trying to be thin is only for attention too...riiiight? Boy, I hope she isn't trying to do it because she *gasp* loves herself! Give me a freaking break already! Go get your hair dyed blonde again Oprah.http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZZ-CqtHjAnk/RyX1qBd5RHI/AAAAAAAAHhw/5x0SdnDkgPo/s400/OPRAH+SOUTH+AFRICA+SEX+ABUSE.jpg

Lady Mary
August 29th, 2009, 03:30 PM
I think if women stopped reading women's magazines that our average self esteem would increase dramatically.

Well said! :thumbsup:

funnybunny668
August 29th, 2009, 04:04 PM
I've always been known as the one who was different, regardless of my hair length. Eccentric suits me just fine! ;)

Medievalmaniac
August 29th, 2009, 04:58 PM
Dear Oprah,

I got my degree in medieval studies. That means that while everybody else was studying psychology, communications, law, or business, I was studying Old Norse Icelandic, Latin, Middle English, and the differences between Anglo-Norman French and French of France.

I teach medieval literature. That means that I read, analyze and lecture about books originally written out by hand in languages nobody speaks or studies anymore as my professional JOB. Not only that, but I totally get off on books like Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Morte Darthur, and The Canterbury Tales (I know, you've never heard of them. It's OK. A lot of people haven't.)

I play drinking games with really bad medieval films like First Knight and Robin Hood. I consider a Knight's Tale brilliant not because Heath Ledger was hot, but because it is so brilliantly medieval. I yelled and threw my popcorn at the screen at a midnight showing of Beowulf and made them refund my money because the opening credits scrolled across wide, mountain vistas, and Denmark is flat, and that was only the beginning of the horror I felt while watching that film.

I spend a lot of my discretionary income to dress up in medieval garb and gnaw on turkey legs in distant, far-off locations it takes me hours to drive to.

I own five thousand books in my personal library. And (gasp!) I've even read most of them.

I perform in musicals whenever I can, and myself spontaneously break into song-and-dance periodically in real time as well.

I wear long skirts because they whirl around my ankles, and sometimes I become so engrossed in the swirling of my skirt that I spill coffee all over myself while walking, or bump into things.

And you think my LONG HAIR is the most eccentric part of me?

Wicked Princess
August 29th, 2009, 05:09 PM
So many of the LHC's more eloquent members have already said everything I feel. (Thanks, ladies and gentlemen :flower: ) However...a couple weeks after reading it, I'm still plain confused by the opinion of their "psych" (more like Psych-O).

Whether or not long hair is considered fashionable is...:rolleyes:. Whatever. There is fashionable and there is "Timeless" and the latter is the term I would use for longer hair. I really wish we could have seen a well taken photograph of her long hair after it had been styled. I think she looks beautiful in both pictures, and if she is happy with her new hair style, then I am glad for her.

What I am really confused by is why her hair is considered eccentric at all! Her hair isn't THAT long! If it had been down to the floor...okay, I would somewhat-understand. It is quite rare to see such lengths, after all. But waist?! What kind of warped, hair world view must you have for waist length hair to be eccentric?

I would venture to guess that the commentators had never been outside of the United States, or to many larger cities at all. Where I live, it is not at all uncommon to see waist length hair. When I traveled, I always saw longer locks wherever I went (although my world view is somewhat skewed by those travels to the Middle East and South America, I think).

I do apologize for the rambling of this post, heh. :oops:

Bellona
August 29th, 2009, 05:56 PM
I didn't read the whole thread, so I don't know if this has been said yet, but: sounds like Oprah's just jealous :)

Rivanariko
August 29th, 2009, 06:08 PM
I honestly had no idea that long hair had become so unacceptable until I joined LHC... shows how much attention I pay to main-stream fashion! I do not own make-up, and have three or four sets of "nice" clothes that I pretty much only wear to church. There's no point in anything more for me than that because, quite frankly, I have no social life outside of the barn and wearing nice things while working with horses... not a good idea. Most of my shopping happens at the Good Will or other discount/thrift stores.

My long hair is one of the only things in my life that I do purely for ME. It has no purpose other than to make me happy, and I think that I deserve at least one of those, don't I?

Of course, I'm pretty sure Oprah would consider most of my life-style a little past the line for "eccentric"... :-D

Kiraela
August 29th, 2009, 07:30 PM
Dear Oprah,

I got my degree in medieval studies. That means that while everybody else was studying psychology, communications, law, or business, I was studying Old Norse Icelandic, Latin, Middle English, and the differences between Anglo-Norman French and French of France.

I teach medieval literature. That means that I read, analyze and lecture about books originally written out by hand in languages nobody speaks or studies anymore as my professional JOB. Not only that, but I totally get off on books like Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Morte Darthur, and The Canterbury Tales (I know, you've never heard of them. It's OK. A lot of people haven't.)

I play drinking games with really bad medieval films like First Knight and Robin Hood. I consider a Knight's Tale brilliant not because Heath Ledger was hot, but because it is so brilliantly medieval. I yelled and threw my popcorn at the screen at a midnight showing of Beowulf and made them refund my money because the opening credits scrolled across wide, mountain vistas, and Denmark is flat, and that was only the beginning of the horror I felt while watching that film.

I spend a lot of my discretionary income to dress up in medieval garb and gnaw on turkey legs in distant, far-off locations it takes me hours to drive to.

I own five thousand books in my personal library. And (gasp!) I've even read most of them.

I perform in musicals whenever I can, and myself spontaneously break into song-and-dance periodically in real time as well.

I wear long skirts because they whirl around my ankles, and sometimes I become so engrossed in the swirling of my skirt that I spill coffee all over myself while walking, or bump into things.

And you think my LONG HAIR is the most eccentric part of me?


You, m'Lady, are simply awesome. 'Nuff Said.



I agree, though.. Given that tomorrow I am going to go, in relatively accurate garb, to hang out with the local SCA at fighter practice, then rush home, change from my renaissance garb to my gothic clubwear to go to New orleans to see a gothic/industrial concert... Yeah. My hair is not what makes me eccentric, haha. (although it is what makes me look awesome while being eccentric!)

RavennaNight
August 29th, 2009, 08:45 PM
Wait, so waist length is eccentric? Does that mean hip length is 'kooky' and tailbone is 'nuts'? What about classic, is that 'complete whackjob" territory yet?

Bah. I am proud to be eccentric. I listen to a delightful mix of classical, celtic harp, and heavy industrial music... I'm already a crazy cat lady. I didn't bother to wait 'til I was old!

I call for a new hair classifier system!

11eleven
August 29th, 2009, 09:04 PM
I think you have to be a real pompous ass to think that you can put people in to neat little categories based solely on their appearance, not even having taken the opportunity to talk to them.

misstwist
August 29th, 2009, 09:09 PM
I'm intrigued by the subtext that cutting her hair makes her makes her a nice normal person (whatever that is) and that she just didn't know that the length of her hair made her an eccentric who needed to be rescued.

It's all about conforming to social norms, not stepping outside the boxes we create for ourselves and pulling those who step outside of those boxes back into them.

LadyGunn
August 29th, 2009, 09:16 PM
Dear Oprah,

I got my degree in medieval studies. That means that while everybody else was studying psychology, communications, law, or business, I was studying Old Norse Icelandic, Latin, Middle English, and the differences between Anglo-Norman French and French of France.

I teach medieval literature. That means that I read, analyze and lecture about books originally written out by hand in languages nobody speaks or studies anymore as my professional JOB. Not only that, but I totally get off on books like Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Morte Darthur, and The Canterbury Tales (I know, you've never heard of them. It's OK. A lot of people haven't.)

I play drinking games with really bad medieval films like First Knight and Robin Hood. I consider a Knight's Tale brilliant not because Heath Ledger was hot, but because it is so brilliantly medieval. I yelled and threw my popcorn at the screen at a midnight showing of Beowulf and made them refund my money because the opening credits scrolled across wide, mountain vistas, and Denmark is flat, and that was only the beginning of the horror I felt while watching that film.

I spend a lot of my discretionary income to dress up in medieval garb and gnaw on turkey legs in distant, far-off locations it takes me hours to drive to.

I own five thousand books in my personal library. And (gasp!) I've even read most of them.

I perform in musicals whenever I can, and myself spontaneously break into song-and-dance periodically in real time as well.

I wear long skirts because they whirl around my ankles, and sometimes I become so engrossed in the swirling of my skirt that I spill coffee all over myself while walking, or bump into things.

And you think my LONG HAIR is the most eccentric part of me?

That, my dear, was beautiful. :sniffs & wipes tear from my eye:
;)

Sissy
August 29th, 2009, 11:15 PM
wow, that's ridiculous. It always seems when it's a make over piece on TV or in a magazine a woman with long hair will most times lose a great amount of her hair during the makeover process. If I was ever fortunate to get a makeover I'd be clear about one thing... don't touch the length of the hair and don't do anything to damage the hair such as dyeing it. But, I'll most likely never get a make over anyhow :o

Aer
August 29th, 2009, 11:18 PM
I don't put much into what those that study human behaviors think or say. When I was fourteen, I had to go to a teen psychologist, for anger issues, and she told my parents I wanted to be male because I loved my kickboxing classes, listened to Guns n Roses, and loved to spend hours deep in the woodlands. I never even thought about being a guy, and was confused on why the things I enjoyed were labeled as masculine.
For some reasons it's ok to others that women can spend a ton of time on weight, boobs, and makeup, but its not understandable when a woman wants to have long healthy hair.

Medievalmaniac
August 30th, 2009, 05:03 AM
Given that tomorrow I am going to go, in relatively accurate garb, to hang out with the local SCA at fighter practice, then rush home, change from my renaissance garb to my gothic clubwear to go to New orleans to see a gothic/industrial concert... Yeah. My hair is not what makes me eccentric, haha. (although it is what makes me look awesome while being eccentric!)

Amen, Sistah! :cool: Although, come to think of it, maybe Oprah's right...maybe ALL of my eccentricities fall under that category...I probably spent the last fifteen years of my life studying medieval languages and literatures for the attention I garner from others by sitting alone in my study with dictionaries and texts! NYAH! :p

WaimeaWahine
August 30th, 2009, 06:08 AM
But we're in good company. Ballerinas have long hair. :blossom:

Toadstool
August 30th, 2009, 07:04 AM
I don't put much into what those that study human behaviors think or say. When I was fourteen, I had to go to a teen psychologist, for anger issues, and she told my parents I wanted to be male because I loved my kickboxing classes, listened to Guns n Roses, and loved to spend hours deep in the woodlands. I never even thought about being a guy, and was confused on why the things I enjoyed were labeled as masculine.
For some reasons it's ok to others that women can spend a ton of time on weight, boobs, and makeup, but its not understandable when a woman wants to have long healthy hair.

OMG That's terrible, and only ten years ago!! And would certainly increase any anger issues I already had...