were you allowed long hair as a child?

[vanity_acefake]

i yearned for long hair as a child but due to the fact that i had a tiny face and incredibly thick hair that allegedly swamped it, i was not allowed long hair and instead was stuck with a page boy bob my entire childhood! Cute when i was 3 but the family photos are testament that it was awful after that. It was the 70's and most girls (and some of the boys) had long hair. My mum had waist length hair as a child which she hated as it took so long to dry (she used to have to sit in front of the fire for hours) and she hated my nanna brushing it. (which probably explains part of the reason i was not allowed long hair). My 7 year old daughter has waist length hair as she wants to look like a princess and although it is sometimes a pain to get her to sit still long enough for me to brush it and put it up (thank you tangle teezer!) and it is as thick as mine and she has a tiny face it is beautiful. So was i the only one who was not allowed long hair as a child?

[DragonLady]

I grew up in foster care, so someone was always whacking my hair off. And they didn't take me to a salon to do it, either. Just grabbed scissors and hacked away while I cried.

[Ravenne]

I was forced into a bowl cut bob until I was around 6 or 7. Then my mom started letting me grow it. On the flip side she didn't let me cut it shorter than my shoulders until after my high school senior pictures. Lol! Once I was through with them it went up above my jawline. *shudder* Never again...

[chopandchange]

Oh DragonLady, poor you. :( (Both the foster care and the enforced haircuts).

[vanity_acefake]

i second chopandchange. Dragonlady that sounds horrible.

[bte]

Nothing as horrible as Dragonlady's experiences, but I only managed to grow once I had left home.

[Johanna]

I had about shoulder length at the age of about 11 through to about 14 before I could grow it. I dyed it before then but the length always stayed the same :(

[Qadupae]

My mother actually wanted me to have my long hair for quite a long time. I didn't start cutting it short until I was 17. She didn't push me to have long hair, just encouraged it to be around BSL.

[pineconejg]

My mom cut my hair in an awful pageboy as well... in the 80's, no less. I had girlfriends in primary school who had waist length or longer hair, and I was always envious, but my hair kept getting cut every time my dad would tell me I looked like a sheepdog. I would want just a bang trim, but my mom would cut my whole head. When I was old enough to take care of it myself, about fifth grade, I let it grow, but was then forced to cut it off when I got it tangled in my newly-pierced ears and got an infection. After that, I kept it short by choice for several years, until I was 16, at which point I don't really think I could be called a child anymore.

[PineappleJello]

I always had, and wanted long hair as a little girl, although I'm sure if I had said that I didn't want long hair I would have been forced to keep it.

[Mamakash]

I don't think my mother ever forbade long hair . . . but she didn't care for it on me and I had short hair as a kid. I was always fighting it . . . all my doodles/drawings of me from age five and after had me with long hair. I hated short hair! However, she did have a reason. My hair was far too fine and thin and couldn't hold up to length. I tried to grow it whenever I could . . . I like my school picture when I was nine and my straight hair was brushing my shoulders.

My best childhood friend had long blond hair as a kid. I remember the morning after the sleep over and her whimpering as her mother brushed her hair. Long hair and little girls . . . not a good combination.

[jane53]

I remember in the late 50s and early 60s all the girls in my family lined up in a row in the early mornings and my mother going down the line braiding our hair.

We have slippery hair, so she'd braid it tight. Our eyes were pulled back early in the morning. But lunch, we were normal. Our hair was starting to slip out by dinner time.

[virgo75]

I'm biracial with baby fine, curly hair.
My mom is white with straight hair.
She treated my hair how she treated her own - shampoo, no conditioner, brush it to death.
It was always a frizzy, poofy, dry, tangled, undefined mess so it's no wonder that she kept it shoulder length or maybe a little longer if she forgot to cut it.

Every once in a while she would feel 'inspired' and cut it into a chin length bob with bangs and take a curling iron to it so it would look 'styled' - I looked like Carol Channing. :(

To her, my hair was 'impossible' and she didn't know what was wrong with it or why it was so horrible. Even now when she sees me with my hair looking nice because I've learned how to take care of it, she's surprised because "your hair didn't do THAT when you were a kid." She's oblivious to the fact that it was like 'THAT' because of how it was treated, not how it was.

Oh yeah, there was also the time when I was 10 and she decided to 'style' my hair with a tiny round brush which promptly got stuck in my hair. Instead of taking the time to untangle it, she just cut it out. She kept me home from school the next day and sent me to the beauty salon with a note. I don't know what the note said, but I walked out with about 2 inches of hair all around. :cry:

So I can't say I was or wasn't allowed long hair as I never even asked about it. I was taught my hair was such a nightmare that I just wanted it to go away.

[mhiap]

I had long hair until I was 11 and starting secondary school, for some reason I decided to get it cut to shoulder length from about waist length. Apparently I had never had it cut until then and looking back I wish I hadn't.

[Merlin]

I remember in the late 50s and early 60s all the girls in my family lined up in a row in the early mornings and my mother going down the line braiding our hair.



Wouldn't it have been easier for you each to braid somebody else's? I saw a photo once of a ballet school with a load of girls doing that - would have saved oodles of time...

[chopandchange]

Oh virgo75, poor you. :(

It's good that we now have control of our own hair and are able to treat it properly!

My childhood experiences weren't nearly as bad as yours, but my mother certainly didn't have much of a clue about my (thick curly) hair, either. In terms of haircuts, my mum made the decisions, but in terms of haircare, my sisters and I were pretty much left to our own devices. My hair routine went like this: shampoo, rub with a towel, rip with a brush, then leave to dry into a frizzy mess.

When I was about 15 years old and tried some conditioner for the first time, I couldn't believe how amazing it made my hair feel!

[In2wishin]

This is as long a my hair ever got:

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk315/eclctcmnd/Me1.jpg

Saturday nights were bath nights then afterwards we would all gather in the living room for popcorn and TV (either Gunsmoke or "Saturday Night at the Movies) and mom would put my hair in pincurls for Sunday School (late 50's to early 60's). When I started school I got a pixie and she kept that until Jr. High when I was old enough to make some decisions on my own....although she never stopped nagging me to get my hair cut.

[EdG]

Absolutely not. My parents were dead set against long hair on men. They feel that way even today.

I couldn't grow my hair until after I left home. Leaving my parents and growing my hair were liberating. :cheese: The feelings were so strong that I will have long hair for the rest of my life.

I like to scare overly-controlling parents by joking "If your kids want to grow long hair, it's best to let them do so while they're still kids. Otherwise, the kids could turn out like EdG." ;)
Ed

[frodolaughs]

I love the image in Jane53's post. My hair was kept short until I was about five or six. After that I had control over the length of my hair--I got into a cycle of growing for about five years, cutting, regretting, and growing again--I've done that 4 times now. My last haircut was 4 1/2 years ago. If I can get through the next 18 months without losing my head and going wild with the scissors I think I'll finally be able to say that I've put the yo-yo hair cycle behind me.

[ericthegreat]

I'm so sorry Dragonlady for your painful childhood. I only hope that now, today since you have obviously survived your experiences that you are now a stronger woman because of them. :flower:

My mom always took me to took me to the barbershop to get my entire head buzzed into a crewcut with I was a young boy. Everytime my hair grew back to even half an inch long, it was back to the barber's again. She just didn't want to deal with combing out my hair I suppose. I kept the crewcut up until I was 14. Once I turned 14, something inside me just told me to grow out my hair. And by that time, she figured I'm grown enough to at least make my own decisions regarding my hair and so she allowed me to keep it long.

And now, all these years later my mom actually almost embraces my hair in fact. She will even give me her own opinions about which haircolor she feels looks best on me.

[Purdy Bear]

I had short hair until about four, then I grew it to tail bone plus. This continued until I was 11, when my mother took it upon herself to give me a basin cut, the week before I started a new school. I looked so much like a boy, even in a skirt, everyone (including the teachers) thought I was one.

[JenniferNoel]

It was around wast for most of my childhood, it hovered around chin length ar around age 8 though, and after that, I grew to tailbone and kept it there for a while. A long while. It seems my parents never wanted to cut it, ever, even when I wanted it shorter.

[Siava]

I had shoulder length hair a few times as a little girl, but for the most part my mom kept it bobish because it was easier for her to maintain. I have two older brothers. She had her hands full.

[Isabel]

Bangs. My mum kept insisting that I should have bangs, so I had bangs until I was 12 or so. Otherwise I had lengths varying in between BSL and an bob length, but the bangs were non-negotiable. Mum just kept telling me that my hair wouldn't look good without bangs. After 12, I got to keep my hair at whatever length I wanted, and I haven't had bangs for years.

[PF Graham]

I got shipped off to boarding school at 6 - I know, strange for an American boy to be sent away so early - I guess I was naughty, very naughty.

Anyhoo, the school employed a barber and he came once a month and like some sort of cruel machine, the boys would line up and in about four or five hours, we all looked EXACTLY the same, even the black kids!

Sucked.

As I got older and change to another boarding school (I was still a bad boy I guess?!?), I decided to rebel in the only way I could and refused to get regular haircuts. So, around the age of 13 or 14, I had shoulder length hair. I played football (because I HAD to) and I was the kid you could spot with the hair that came out from his helmet.

My last years of highshool, I went back home to Georgia and for some reason, got a "normal" boy haircut.

BUT, just after highschool, I started playing rugby and started growing it out again. I left if long for years.

- - I know you're asking "what does playing rugby have to do with long hair?". I don't have a good answer for that just now. Give me a second to come up with something witty....

[dropinthebucket]

Nope, it was always cut off above the shoulders. It was thin and fine and tangled easily. The sight of someone coming at me with a comb still gives me nightmares!

[Iron0Maiden]

I got shipped off to boarding school at 6 - I know, strange for an American boy to be sent away so early - I guess I was naughty, very naughty.

Anyhoo, the school employed a barber and he came once a month and like some sort of cruel machine, the boys would line up and in about four or five hours, we all looked EXACTLY the same, even the black kids!

Sucked.

As I got older and change to another boarding school (I was still a bad boy I guess?!?), I decided to rebel in the only way I could and refused to get regular haircuts. So, around the age of 13 or 14, I had shoulder length hair. I played football (because I HAD to) and I was the kid you could spot with the hair that came out from his helmet.

My last years of highshool, I went back home to Georgia and for some reason, got a "normal" boy haircut.

BUT, just after highschool, I started playing rugby and started growing it out again. I left if long for years.

- - I know you're asking "what does playing rugby have to do with long hair?". I don't have a good answer for that just now. Give me a second to come up with something witty....


----------------------------------------------------------

Nice very nice. :D

[ChrissieM]

No, I wanted long hair so badly, but my mother didn't want to spend so much time detangling it, so I got chin length bobs and then a mullet-y haircut when I was 8 or 9. I finally got to grow my hair out when I was 12

[MissCoco]

...........

[Fractalsofhair]

My mum tried to keep my hair shortish, but then I had the most hideous bowl cut(it was only the 2nd or 3rd cut of my life) and I grew it out. She thought she could maintain it at shoulder length by asking for 3 inches off, every 6 months. My dad liked long hair on me, since he used to have long hair himself, and my mum didn't dislike it, just figured maintaining it would be easiest for me. Since my hair grows a bit faster than that, it was very long by the time I was 10(Thigh per photos, hips per memory.). Then I went to a stylist who encouraged small amounts of coney conditioner and lots of shampoo. I was young enough so I'd listen to how my mum told me to wash my hair, and it broke off to shoulder length :( .

[viking_quest]

I wasn't allowed long hair as a child because my mom didn't want to take care of it, but I didn't want long hair anyway. I was really active as a child and it was easier to play around and swim in the summer without a lot of hair.

[dreamsofthewind]

I had no say at all in how I wore my hair when I was a young child. It was medium-long (around APL or waist-ish, it varied throughout the year.) until I was about 9, when my grandma decided I would look better with a severe chin-length bob. I had a very round face, and the cut only made me look chubbier than I was. It was bad. But she realized how much easier it was to take care of and comb, so I was forced to wear it like that until I was around 12, when I started to take control over my hair.

[Wanderer09]

My mom didn't have time to care for long hair, so mine got kept shortish throughout my childhood, usually a pixie cut or bob. When I started school, the longest it was allowed to get was shoulder-length, and I wore pigtails a lot. Then when my hair started getting curlier, I just became convinced (by mom and hairstylists) that it was so poufy that I had to have it cut into a thinned out, layered style, and that having it long would be too much trouble.

Mom still doesn't like long hair on me for some reason.

[gossamer]

I wanted long hair from about the age of 4, I think. My parents weren't opposed to it, but they also had no idea how to care for it. When I refused to get trims from about ages 9-14, they didn't know to teach me about conditioners or proper brushing. My hair was awful, perfectly timed to coincide with my most awkward early teens. When I finally went in for a trim, the hairdresser cut off over a foot, back up to BSL. I think I still have a lock of it somewhere to remind me how splitty and damaged those ends were.

[ukuleleclaire]

The longest my mother ever let me have it was shoulder length, in the 3rd grade. One day when I came home from school in the 4th grade, she sent me over to the neighbor's house to have it trimmed (our neighbor was a hairdresser). She cut, and cut...and cut my hair to above my ears, similar to a bowl cut. I still remember coming home and getting to look in the mirror for the first time, and crying.

[Gumball]

I certainly wasn't. As a young boy I was always kept in a standard young boy's cut. Short on the sides, almost as short on the top. My mom had the say on when the hair cutting times came. At least there wasn't much that needed to be done to it, but on the other hand there wasn't much that could be done to it! I didn't get to start growing my hair out until I was about 18, and didn't start taking care of it until probably about 20 or 21. Haha.

[Cholera]

My hair was usually between shoulder and chin, with the occasional boy hair cut by stylists that didn't know what they were doing. I always wanted hair that swung on my back, but I also loved to get my hair cut. I always liked the attention it brought when I'd come to school with a chin length bob after having it shoulder length for a while.

[Yozhik]

My parents gave me free reign over my hair, which means I was allowed to get a pageboy at 6 when the mood took me. A couple of years later my dream was to be able to wear my hair in a low ponytail and have it cut in a V-shape. The hairstylist told me I couldn't do both, so I had blunt-cut hair.
The longest my hair has ever gotten was around MBL when I was 14. It was horribly damaged, though, because I didn't use conditioner and ripped my brush through it . . . I got it cut to APL and it got progressively shorter until about 1 year ago when I decided to grow it back out again :)

[breezefaerie]

As a child I had waist length hair. My mom didn't really know how to take care of it and I dreaded the brushing. It was always full of knots and I remember crying during brushing.
When I was 13, I decided I hated long hair and begged for a short cut. I got my wish and spent a year with people thinking I was a boy.

[Kristin]

I always had, and wanted long hair as a little girl, although I'm sure if I had said that I didn't want long hair I would have been forced to keep it.

Me, too. My hair was somewhere between waist and TBL for most of my childhood. My mom wouldn't let me cut it. Not surprisingly, she let my little sister cut hers. I didn't get my first- and probably last- short cut until I was 25.

[Jessikinz]

Well my mom let me grow my hair until I was 6 or 7. It ended up being waist length hair. She would always braid it for me and brush it. I don't know why she wanted me to get it cut off, but I assume it was because I wasn't taking care of it. Getting things stuck in it etc.

She would always make me and my older sister get the "mushroom" hair cut. If you don't know what that is, its where they buzz cut the back of your neck/head and the rest of your hair would be styled into a really short bob. It was hideous! I look back at the pictures and I just freak out haha.

But as I got older I was able to do whatever I wanted with my hair. My younger days consisted of mushroom cuts and pixies. Can't complain though, because I loved to go swimming and run around and climb trees lots. It was easier with less hair on my head. :P

[xladolcevitax]

No I wasnt. I was forced to have a bob and and fringe/bangs until I was about 8, then I was allowed to grow it to shoulder length. I hated it so much and wanted long hair so badly.

My mum says its because my hair is thin and fine, and thin and fine hair doesnt look good long, which is ridiculous!

Throughout my teens I would grow it to waist but she would always tell me it looked awful and hassle me to get it cut. Once she took me to the hairdressers and told them to cut a good 6 inches off. It was waist length and I was devastated! I was 15 years old and looking back, I cant believe I let that happen because I was not a little kid anymore but she was very controlling. :(

She really doesnt like long hair, especially on me, and will probably try to persuade me to cut it into a bob for the rest of my life, which is something I will NEVER EVER do.:cheese:

[Pandora.]

I've had long hair for as long as I've lived. In fact, my mum would never let me cut my hair short, which frustrated me because when I was younger I really HATED long hair and was so desperate for it to be cut short. I remember when I asked the hairdresser to cut my hair short when I was 7, and my mum went absolutely crazy at me! Lol. :p

I also cut my hair short when I was 14, which grew rapidly and became long again (just over BSL), then I began to hate it long and got it cut shorter than APL (which is drastic and exceedingly short for me). I loved it for a month, but then I suddenly realised that I really wanted my long hair back. After that, I have never had short hair again.

I adore short hair on other people, but I guess short hair on me looks utterly grotesque. Besides, I could never maintain short hair, because fast hair growth is hereditary for me.


My mum says its because my hair is thin and fine, and thin and fine hair doesnt look good long, which is ridiculous!

No offense to your mum, but I just absolutely hate it when people say that. LHC is living proof that people with fine and thin hair CAN have long and beautiful hair!

[mira-chan]

I was never prevented from having long hair by anyone but myself. My mum cut my hair short (ear length) until I was 6 years old becuase I hated to comb it and wouldn't really let anyone else do so either. So it got badly tangled and needed to be cut at anything longer than that. At 6 I decided I wanted longer hair and started combing it properly. I was not stopped from doing so, thus it's long now.

[jane53]

Wouldn't it have been easier for you each to braid somebody else's? I saw a photo once of a ballet school with a load of girls doing that - would have saved oodles of time...

That would've required a few things--like that my older sister had a shred of responsibility, and that the younger ones had more dexterity than likely for their age.

My mother worked full time, baked our bread, sewed our clothes, and wrote and published children's books. Bless her over-extended self! One time when she was very sick, my father approached our hair with clumsy confusion and stuck in barrettes here and there (no braids). The first thing my teacher said when she saw me was, "Jane, is your mother sick?"

[Quixii]

Yes, I was. :)

[zeldagirl7491]

When I was little my mom kept mine and my sisters hair to our chins in summer and let us grow it to our shoulders sometimes. Usualy in fall and winter. I remember we all had really thick bangs. Like half of all our hair was cut into bangs.
But I hated it. I always wanted super long hair. One time in Sunday school I saw another little girl with hair past her hips. I didn't know hair could get that long.

[Deb!]

No, my sisters and I had our hair cut at the drop of a hat. We grew up hearing "It's time for a summer cut, It's time for a back to school cut, It's time for a "whatever" cut". :scissors: Having extremely short hair while the fashion was extremely long is something that has affected me throughout my life.

So many of my friends had super long hair while mine was hovering near my ears.
Looking differently than everyone else(in a negative way), messes with ones self esteem.

My mother cut our hair into hideous "pixies", complete with super-short bangs. We all hated short hair! Oddly enough, both grandmothers had very long hair and wore them in giant buns.

Our looks were complete with below knee dresses, while our schoolmates dresses hovered just below their rears.

My childhood...:tbear:

[Beatrice]

I've had long hair almost my entire life. I had a wedge cut until I was five, and I've whacked it down to a bob twice.

My feelings about long hair have changed a lot over time. At first, long hair was exciting and grown-up. Then I had to have long hair for ballet, with no bangs, and we all know what happens when you're forced to do something--you start hating it. Back then, my hair was on the finer side and 1a/1b. I've always had a long face and dark circles, and that lank hair made me look sickly.

Thank heaven, my hair's thickened up now and has some natural body. Though I don't always like the half-hearted wave I get when I air dry, it's a breeze to style when I want to cheat.

[lapushka]

Mine was kept short until I was about 6/7, at which time I started talking non-stop about having long hair. My mom finally let me grow it out and I reached classic length at around age 10/11. Then I went back to all sorts of shorter hair styles. It never even reached BSL again until this year.

[Lexy]

Nope. I had to wear a pixie until I was 13 because my mother, "didn't do hairstyles."

[Twil]

Quite the oppisite really. I was never allowed to cut it short. My mother didn't know how to take care of curls, nor did she want to learn, so it always had to be long enough to pull back into a ponytail so she didn't have to mess with it.
When I was 16 I cut most of it off and had to start all over.

[Merlin]

Nope. I had to wear a pixie until I was 13 because my mother, "didn't do hairstyles."

Therefore, it follows that....

"A pixie is not a hairstyle"

So why do hairdressers charge sooooooooooooo much to make a good job of cutting one?
:)

[rchorr]

Nope! My mom was not allowed to cut her hair when she was a child. When I was little, she kept it in a pixie. As soon as I was able to take care of it myself, it was long.

RCHORR'

[CrisDee]

From the time I was a toddler, my mother whacked my hair into such a short bob, with such short bangs, that on my little pin head it was a pixie. I hated it SO much, made me feel so ugly! Later in life, she told me that she cut it short and ugly on purpose because she thought I was such a beautiful child and she did not want me to become conceited. She also did not want to be bothered brushing my super fine hair, and did not believe in spending money on frivolities like conditioner.

Wow, it's amazing how many of us have painful memories about childhood and hair :grouphug:

[jera]

I had very long hair when I was very little until my mother realized she could control my behavior by chopping it all off into a bowl style whenever it suited her. :scissors: Sadistic ! :(
By age 13 I had grown taller than she, so, uh hem, the haircuts stopped. I swear I still have PTSD from what she did to me. To this day I can't look at a shaved head without becoming nauseated. I mean it. :tmi:

[Siava]

- - I know you're asking "what does playing rugby have to do with long hair?". I don't have a good answer for that just now. Give me a second to come up with something witty....

Sometimes, there are no answers. It just is because it's right. Yea. :)

[ukuleleclaire]

Wow, it's amazing how many of us have painful memories about childhood and hair :grouphug:

So true! I know for me it can be easy to feel like my childhood hair memories were pretty bad, but it's nice to know I'm certainly not alone.

[Lunami]

My mom cut it short when i was really young because she had heard it would bring out curls :P It never did though. I guess after five or something i had "normal" lenght hair. I don't remember thinking about my hair lenght... ever, until recent years.

[Long_hair_guy]

My mother was always wanted me to keep my short hair until after 3 or 4 years of saying I want long hair she gave up. Next month is 8th (or is it 9 years) since my hair was last cut short

[Miuku]

I wore my hair the way I liked it (mostly long but have experimented with shoulder length for a while and with chin length once), but my mom and grandma were really nasty about it and kept nagging me to cut it.

Mom grew out of it eventually and says this only rarely and reasonably politely, mostly when she sees something she finds very nice and suggests it would look good on me. grandma never did and kept saying nasty things, though not as often as when I was a kid.

Wasn't really the question of "allowing". When I was 4 I said I don't want any haircuts anymore, when they protested I said it was my hair to do with as I pleased. They left it at that for a while. When I was 6 my grandmother threatened to cut my hair by force, and I answered with a very graphic death threat. This ended the threats of force forever.

[MsBubbles]

Dragonlady that is so awful. I'm sorry.
Virgo75 we should have switched Mothers!

Wow. It is good to know I'm not alone in my Mother-child hair trauma!

A couple of strands of light blonde, fine hair, plus sticky out ears and a mother who hated straight hair, yeah I was forced to have my Dad's best version of a bowl cut up to the ears every 2 years. Like that made it look any nicer! Got mistaken for a boy a lot because I was tall and wore my Brother's hand me downs. All I ever wanted was long, flowing ABBA hair.

My Mother still refuses to say anything nice or positive about my dead-straight, unable to curl, hair.

[Stormphoenix]

Dragonlady, I hear what you are saying and I sympathize. My mother wanted my hair short and curly. So every three months I spent Saturday mornings in a beauty chair with awful smelling perming solutions burning into my scalp from the age of 5 until about 13. I was finally able to let it grow past my chin once I was 14. My mother wanted her hair to "look like it was naturally curly", so both my sister and I were treated to the same regimen so we wouldn't embarrass our mother.

Now, she is a lonely old woman and all of her hair is thinning to a few bits of peach fuzz over a square inch and her hairline is nearly vertical from ear to ear. She spent decades abusing it.

[GRU]

I'm not sure if I should feel comforted to be in the company of so many others who had controlling, manipulative mothers like I did, or saddened at the thought that there are so many really horrid mothers in the world?

In my case, my mother detested my hair, because it was curly while hers was straight and hard-to-perm. My mother also hated being a mother, and she hated for anyone to get positive attention -- unless it was her, of course! :rolleyes:

She kept my hair in what I call a "boy cut" although most boys have hair longer than this! The closest I can find online is this, only my bangs were much higher: http://www.hairfinder.com/hairstyles6/latesthairstyle9.htm The problem with this is that my hair is naturally curly, and extremely unpredictable when it is short. So I'd end up looking like the guy in the picture, only I'd have one little "wing" sticking out somewhere. Some days it was above my left ear, sometimes it was above my right ear, sometimes it was at the left or right temple, sometimes it was in the middle of my forehead... you just never knew what it was going to feel like doing on any given day.

I begged and begged and begged to have "girl hair" but she always refused. I think it was around the age of 10-11 that I figured out just how much she abhorred any kind of public display of attention-getting behavior, and I threatened to put on one hell of a temper tantrum if she made me get my hair cut. I also outweighed her by that point, so she couldn't physically force me into the beauty parlor. However, she also didn't bother finding out how you're supposed to care for or "style" curly hair, so I was brushing my hair with one of those horrid round brushes for a few years... POOF!

Finally I had a session with her hairdresser, who instructed me to NOT brush my hair and just let it curl. Throughout junior high and high school and into my 20s, my hair was just past shoulder-length, layered, with bangs. It was in my 20s that I decided to grow my hair longer and stop cutting the layers, and in my early 30s when I got up the nerve to grow out my bangs.

It's only been since Oct 2009 when I started the Curly Girl method that I really noticed some good growth. Not b/c my hair started growing faster, but b/c when I stopped brushing out the tangles before my morning shower, I stopped breaking the ends off my hair. At age 41, my hair is longer than it's ever been in my entire life. Depending on the humidity level, it falls at or just above waist level (add about 8" if it is pulled straight).

Oh, and that witchy mother I had? I haven't seen her in over eight years, and my life is SO much less stressful as a result!!! :D

[Stormphoenix]

Miuku: Good for you for standing up for yourself at such a young age.

Ms Bubbles: My sympathy. Let me say your picture looks wonderful and you know better than most it is more important what you think of yourself than what anyone else thinks.


And GRU: Yep, I feel some company in knowing there are other folks out there who tolerated overly aggressive mothers. I think most of them congregate in the Deep South, but not exclusively.

[girlcat36]

I am still scarred by my bad/short hair memories!

Granted, my mother was bewildered by my fine, frizzy 3a/b hair. She had no idea what to do with it, so it was always chopped into some sort of pixie.
I wanted long straight hair like all my friends had!

I remember one particularly bad pixie at the age of nine. After leaving the salon, I crawled into the very back of our Jeep Wagoneer, pulled a blanket over my head and cried and cried. I refused to come out of the car for a very long time.
The next day at school my friends teased me and acted like I had a disease and refused to come near me. Oh, the trauma!

Yep, I was constantly being mistaken for a boy.
I hated that. If only I had long hair--then they all would know I was not a boy!

I remember being 12 and thinking that the only short hair cut that I thought looked really cute was the Dorothy Hammill.
When my mother insisted it was time for yet another stupid hair cut, I was all excited to get the Dorothy Hammill Wedge. I was crushed when the stylist told me my hair wouldn't do that!!!! I didn't understand hair types, so I just didn't understand why I couldn't have it.
I ended up with this instead:
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd63/girlcat36/bad%20hair%20years/12years.jpg
Imagine being 12 and walking around with that head??? Can't believe I am posting that picture!

When I was 23 my daughter was born and I vowed I would NEVER cut her hair! And I didn't. My own long haired dreams lived vicariously through her TBL curls!
My own hair would not grow past BSL due to cone-induced breakage.

When DD was 10 she insisted upon a haircut. Gone went the TBL curls! ***sob***
I missed her long lovely hair, but not wanting to inflict hair trauma upon my own daughter, I allowed her the freedom to choose what she wanted to do with her own hair. I think I am still mourning that hair! LOL
DD never grew past APL after that.

I still feel like my childhood was ruined by hair trauma.

This thread is kind of like a support/recovery group!

[OperaTeacherMom]

Dragonlady, I'm so sorry! I hope to foster or adopt someday, and will NEVER be "one of those" foster parents ((hugs)).

We were on the other end of the spectrum, never allowed to cut it. The one time my mom conceded, I got it cut into a shoulder length bob that gave me serious triangle head. Oh and bangs were a necessity, and of course my straight haired mother brushed out my 2c/3a curls and my sister's strong 3a ringlets. I looked pretty awful, but no horror stories.

[Siava]

Aww, girlcat36! Still, you look awfully cute 'n retro there. Tee hee!

[patchoulilove]

My dad (a long haired hippie himself in his teens) has always been an enthusiast, so I absolutely never had "short" hair until I was 16 and cut it to APL. I had tailbone length when I was in 3rd and 4th grade. Unfortunately, we were kept in very thick bangs which I hated. It was a big deal when I got permission to grow them out. My mom wasn't the best at doing long hair though, and I remember her becoming frustrated and taking it out by brushing my hair hard --- ouch!

[Aleria]

I had long hair as a young child, then I refused to brush it and started chewing on it (ew) and my mom cut it. I always brushed it after that, and kept it fairly long for most of my childhood except the one time I got lice.

[trillcat]

So many bad stories of childhood hair! :(
I was lucky. My Mom, for as long back as I can remember, always let me have my hair as I wanted, which was long. Even as a little nipper I had it long, and although I looked like a little angel with my very fine long white blonde hair, I was very much a tomboy and my poor Mom, dealing with all the tangles!
I do remember one time when we were going to get my hair trimmed she just could not get a comb or brush through it before we went, and was so exasperated she announced "We are just getting it all cut off!" I ran screaming and crying and hid under the bed till she calmed down and relented. :)

[Speckla]

Scissors never touched my head until I was about 8 and that was to fix the 'bangs' I had cut myself. :) My mother fixed them herself. I didn't have my first real haircut until I was 10 years old. My grandmother hated my wild, curly hair so she took me to the hairdresser and told her to cut off all the curls. I walked out with a cut about 2" all the way around. My hair was kept like that until I was 14.

[DragonLady]

Wow.

I'm sorry to hear I was not alone with my bad hair traumas. When I left foster care I kept my hair very, very short for years because I thought it was more "adult" and "professional".

I grew it out to about BSL in my late 20's, but my boss at work was always "suggesting" that I do something with my hair...so I permed it, dyed it, curled it, and cut it.... I've always been all-thumbs, and it wasn't 'till I came here that I really started learning to be able to put it up nicely without a lot of work, chemicals, heat and bother.

Finally, I decided that I'd had enough, and was going to do what I wanted...but I didn't know what that was. So it was just kinda neglected for about a year and grew in rather scraggly and wild. But I was standing in a grocery store one day and saw a woman with floor-length hair. I didn't even know hair could grow that long!

Well...I knew I'd found my calling! Sadly, I had no clue how to grow it. I thought the whole secret was just not to cut it...but it grew to slightly above my waist, and stayed there for years. When I found this site I started learning so many things I'd never imagined.

Honestly, sometimes I'm a little bitter about foster care and the way I was treated. I was never taken to a dentist, and had a mouthful of cavities. I was always wearing rags and being told I needed to "earn my keep" by doing hours of housework everyday. I was in my teens before I discovered foster parents are not only paid, but so is all the kid's maintenance -haircuts, dentists, clothes, etc are all covered. I had no idea. And, yeah, I was pretty uptight and became very rebellious when I found out the truth. Years of being the maid they were paid to keep.

But...I had a few good foster parents, too. Some of them were real dolls, and I love them to this day. Sadly, I can count those on one hand...a few years ago I tried to actually count how many homes I'd been in, and ran out of fingers and toes. And I've probably forgotten a few altogether.

[PF Graham]

Sometimes, there are no answers. It just is because it's right. Yea. :)

At the time, I thought it was just cause the girls I met in Buckhead drinking establishments thought I was different then every other preppy goof that trolled that section of town.

Think about it - 19 year old boy, long hair, rugby player, 6 feet tall and driving a Jeep instead of a BMW, Volvo or Ford.

None of that matches.

In a two year period, I think I got in more bar fights because of my hair then I got in fights in rest of my entire life.

I guess there was a reason for playing rugby after all!

PS
If I had a long mullet, all sins would have been forgiven - but NOOOOOO, no mullet.

Siava, the grits and frog legs comment in your thingy is crazy funny and, sadly.... true.

[Stormphoenix]

Dragonlady, I am very sorry to hear that. I really am.

I don't know if this helps any, but even though I was under the roof with my birth mother, I was also told to "earn my keep" and was directed to do all cleaning, washing, cooking, laundry, etc. My father never missed a child support payment, but I did not go to the dentist unless I really made a fuss...it is actually why I was able to grow my hair out after I was 13; My mother didn't want to spend any more money on his "darned" kids than she had to.

Now, I find I migrate towards folks who had a very good, almost exceptional childhood experience. My sweetheart, Jim, and some friends at school have great supportive families around them. I appreciate the closeness they share with each other...maybe more than they know or can truly realize.

There are some wonderfully nice folks out there to meet..and I hope this helps anyone reading this...in that while we may carry less-than-desirable memories about our childhood hair (and etc...), that we can control our own hair length now (and etc...). And we choose to be and are more comfortable in the world than we were growing up.

Sorry if this tends to be too much on the serious side.

[DragonLady]

There are some wonderfully nice folks out there to meet

Oh, yes, and I've been blessed with many in my life. :)

I survived childhood, just as almost everyone else, and I don't judge people by the actions of others. If anything I'm very tolerant and accepting, just because being in so many foster homes taught me that people -good and bad- come from all kinds of background and that most of them are just trying to get by.

Anyway...I've managed to derail this thread quite enough. I really just wanted to thank everyone for the concern. :)

[christine1989]

I was allowed pretty much whatever I wanted so I spent most of my childhood with TB length hair. I think being allowed long hair was the reason I got bored with it and kept a short bob for the past 3 years but now i'm ready to return to long :)

[aksown]

One time when she was very sick, my father approached our hair with clumsy confusion and stuck in barrettes here and there (no braids). The first thing my teacher said when she saw me was, "Jane, is your mother sick?"
Lol!! That's EXACTLY what the girls I babysit get sometimes. You can tell who they are with that week cause Mom will put barrettes in nicely or braid it. Dad does a low ponytail or leaves it just barely brushed. :rolleyes:
I don't recall any trauma about my hair. It was cut to a pageboy when I was 5, because I wouldn't take care of it. Honestly, 5!? After that, I grew it as long as I wanted, with bangs. I permed when I wanted, chopped when I wanted and even made my mom quit cutting halfway through cause I changed my mind. I had a mullet but didn't realize how goofy I looked. Dye, perms, chops, growing... It was all left up to me.

[Twil]

see, it was always the oppisite in my house, dad took wonderful care of my hair. Mom was always the one to savage the curls until it was frizzy afro (see the brush out thread for an idea) then pull it back in a pony tail. The broken off 'baby hairs' was smothered under a large, scalp covering headband.

Dad always detangled it gently and braided it neatly, I always felt so pretty when daddy did my hair. He couldn't often because he worked so much but I loved it.

[ScrimHazard]

My mom preferred I keep my hair between chin and shoulder length. It wasn't until I was in college that I could choose how long I wanted my hair. I remember envying all the girls with long hair...I thought it was soooooooo beautiful!

[squiggyflop]

my hair would matt itself together in like 2 hours.. so my mom got tired of always combing it and she hacked it off into a mushroom cut (which is a popular cut for boys).. my family didnt have enough money for clothes for me so i wore my brothers hand-me-downs.. a 6 year old girl dressed like a boy with a boy haircut.. and i was in daycare most of the day so the teasing was pretty bad from the hundred or so other kids.. all the other girls had braids in their hair.. not me.. i was always being asked if i was a boy or a girl..

[HintOfMint]

When I was very young, younger than kindergarten, my mom would keep my hair short and I remember wanting long (shoulder length) hair like my neighbors. But after that, most of my short haircuts were because I wanted them. I would periodically grow my hair for dance recitals but when they were over, I would just lop it off. My mother preferred short hair, but she never forced me. She did want me to wear it up more if it was long though. Actually, she still does that. "So you can see your pretty face!" Oy, such a mom!:p

[PF Graham]

my hair would matt itself together in like 2 hours.. so my mom got tired of always combing it and she hacked it off into a mushroom cut (which is a popular cut for boys).. my family didnt have enough money for clothes for me so i wore my brothers hand-me-downs.. a 6 year old girl dressed like a boy with a boy haircut.. and i was in daycare most of the day so the teasing was pretty bad from the hundred or so other kids.. all the other girls had braids in their hair.. not me.. i was always being asked if i was a boy or a girl..

Christ on a crutch - stick a pair of hair sticks in my eyes so I don't have to endure any more Dickensian tales!

Just kidding - sounds rough. But, I fully expected you to follow up by saying "and then, my father would sell my hair to buy medicine for my little crippled brother".



It's a miracle we survived childhood.

- Patrick

[Masara]

I don't remember being particularly interested in my hair during childhood.

My mum had very thick, coarse, curly waist length hair as a child which she found difficult (and painful) to look after. My hair was very different, being fine and thin.

Looking at photos, my hair was probably left to grow until I was about 4 when it was cut short (I'm pretty sure this was a test to see how I looked with very short hair) Then it was kept between APL and BSL (on a child) until I was 11. At eleven I had a pageboy cut which I loved but which needed a lot more upkeep.

I can't say what I was or wasn't allowed, I didn't really care and went with what my parents suggested. At the time, most of my friends had longer hair, it was normal and people generally weren't going to spend money to take children to the hairdresser's every 6 weeks or so to get their hair cut. Most of us had our hair trimmed every so often by our mums.


Thinking back, I had weekly dance classes from about 4 to 11 and my hair had to be able to put in a bun. So longer hair was more or less automatic. My hair is fine and tangles easily so a plait or a ponytail was much more practical, I wasn't the kind of child who would think to brush or comb their hair during the day.

[KittyLost]

I was never allowed long hair as child, my mam was hair useless and kept it shoulder length or just below because it was easier to clean and look after. She also prefered my hair short too, and she has never had long hair herself, always short never touched the shoulders so I'm surprised that mine was short and she didn't live some hidden desire for long hair through me!

[countryhopper]

I had my hair at waist length when I was six... I'm not sure when I started cutting (maybe fourth grade?), but it got shorter and shorter... never above chin length, though. I also had so Sun-in and perm disasters in there, too.

[BunnyBee]

....I fully expected you to follow up by saying "and then, my father would sell my hair to buy medicine for my little crippled brother".


LMAO :rollin:

I wasn't allowed to have short hair. My mum made such a fuss when I finally got my hair cut off at about 16... She still has the ponytail somewhere shudder:

[IndigoAsh]

I wasn't allowed to have long hair as a child either. I don't think I really thought about it though. I had a bad habit of chewing my hair, yeah I was a strange one, so my mom kept it short. I actually never gave me hair any thought at all until January this year.

[CrisDee]

...Anyway...I've managed to derail this thread quite enough...

I'm gonna disagree here - I don't see your story as derailing the thread at all, I think it's helped a lot of people, myself included. Many of us came to this forum after having chopped off all our hair in a fit of hair/life/self hate. Threads like this, and stories like yours, really help many of us get down to the crux of why we take out these feelings on our hair. I'm really glad you shared your experience with us :blossom:

[Sunsailing]

It was the "butch" cut every summer. "It's summer....it's time to get your summer butch!" (The "butch" was when the hair was buzzed all over). When I was very young, I think I actually looked forward to the butch, because it meant it was summertime. But there reached a point that I didn't want it buzzed anymore.
In fact, I wanted to grow it longer (early 70's). Once I had the urge for longer hair, I began hating going to the barber. I remember having tears roll down my cheek everytime I sat in the barber's chair.
For a little while, I was actually allowed to have a little longer hair. It was only a few inches long, but the barber teased by saying things like "it's long enough that we can but some bows in it now.." I was very shy and did not take the teasing very well.

I remember having talks with my father. He said things like "If you never get your hair cut, you'd be walking and tripping on it." Little did he know that sounded pretty cool to me :) But I do remember telling him that a few inches long was no where close to being tripped on.

I was probably in kindergarten when I got the desire for long hair. And I've had the desire ever since. I always had dreams where I had very long hair.

Because of my upbringing and surroundings, I never let my hair get very long, even in college. I wanted to "fit in", so I conformed. But the urge for long hair was always there. I just thought it was a dream that I would never acheive.

I didn't begin growing it until I was 37 years old. My wife does not like long hair on men, but she knew of my desire for long hair. She told me to do it now while I still had hair, but don't wait until I was an old man (possibly without any hair to grow).
So I have to thank my lovely wife. Even though she doesn't like my long hair, for the most part she has been supportive because she knows it makes me happy.

I don't have any current plans to cut. I know I'll always want long hair.
But I do wonder if my current desire for long hair would be different if I had long hair when I was younger. I wonder if I have always been (and will always be) a true long hair person?

[virgo75]

It's a miracle we survived childhood.

- Patrick

2nd this.

:flower: to all on here who've had such a hard time.

[noelgirl]

I had short curly hair, very Little Orphan Annie, until about the age of 4, when I was somewhat grudgingly allowed to grow it. The old "if you'll learn to take care of it" deal. Although my mom did help me with updos until I was 9, when she was in an accident and was hospitalized for an extended period of time (and severely injured her right arm). I'm pretty sure that's when I learned to braid and bun my own hair, and learned quickly! It pretty much kept growing throughout my childhood, however slowly - by senior year of high school it was hip length.

All this talk of envying what someone else has reminds me - there was a girl I went to school with from kindergarten onwards who always had long, straight hair, always waist or longer. At the time I first met her, my hair was just starting to grow, maybe about shoulder length, and I admired her hair and hoped my hair would be just like hers someday. She was also taller than I was, and exotic and gorgeous - she might have been my first girlcrush. Fast-forward to high school - my hair has grown quite a bit, as have I, and this girl and I both played flute in the marching band. For shows, anyone with long hair had to wear their hair in a French braid, and of course we were in uniform too. One day, after a performance, my parents mentioned that they had talked to her parents, and they couldn't tell which of us was which from the back! I don't think they knew just how happy that comment made me :D

[Bller]

I don`t know how many of you are boys/men, but since I was a child I wanted long hair, my father was in the rock/hippie/disco groove thing in his days and had this cute a bit longer than collar length. My father would have let me grow my hair, but my mom always went locco over it, and always took me to cut it, I went like this for some years, always starting to grow off for like 9 10 months than bang, they`ll cut off. I was pissed. Until now, i have well over a years since i cut my hair the last time, and they aren`t saying nothing, maybe it is the fact than i`m 18 now, and can`t really oblige me to cut it. Anyway i`m happy with my hair now, i`ll grow it until my desired length and see how it looks.

[xladolcevitax]

No offense to your mum, but I just absolutely hate it when people say that. LHC is living proof that people with fine and thin hair CAN have long and beautiful hair!

Yeah I know, I hate it when people say this too. My mum still fully believes this. Thin and fine hair does not look better short, it just looks thin and fine and short!

[windinherhair]

I had short hair as a child probably because it was easier for my mom to take care of. As I got older I started to grow it out. I remember when I was 9 or 10 it was getting past my shoulders. I wore it at my waist for a few years and cut it again when I got to high school. Just going through changes I suppose and wanting a new style. As a child I remembering dreaming of having long hair and adored the long hair on women when I would see it. So it is like living a dream come true now and I am glad I could finally make it happen.

[jjgammon]

When I was really little I had looonnng hair... There's a picture of me around age 3 or 4 with hair to my knees... But I got head lice in 2nd or 3rd grade and off it went. To my EARS. I cried for MONTHS because my shadow looked like I had an acorn for a head. After that my mom made me keep it no longer than BSL "just in case"

When I was in H.S. (2001) it was around the middle of my back- red-faded-orange with a blonde stripe down the middle... and I got the brilliant idea that I was going to copy a hairstyle my friend had that involved ear-length hair and chin-length bangs. The thought was that I was cutting off the majority of the dyed hair to get closer to being a blonde again...

After that I had one good trim to take off the last few inches of orange and then let it go.

In 2005 it was down to the middle of my back again and my boss at the time taught me how to cut it myself. Since then I've kept it about the length it is now for convenience.

[squiggyflop]

Christ on a crutch - stick a pair of hair sticks in my eyes so I don't have to endure any more Dickensian tales!

Just kidding - sounds rough. But, I fully expected you to follow up by saying "and then, my father would sell my hair to buy medicine for my little crippled brother".



It's a miracle we survived childhood.

- Patrick
lol.. :) nope no crippled brother.. just a very lazy mom and not enough money for things.. we got by though.. its not such a big deal now..

[PF Graham]

lol.. :) nope no crippled brother.. just a very lazy mom and not enough money for things.. we got by though.. its not such a big deal now..

Thanks - I was worried you might take my comments the wrong way.


Procedural Question:
Is this the best way to thank someone for a comment or should I do it as a Private Message - it seems like I don't see to many people directly thanking other people.

[3chickadeesandm]

I couldn't have long hair until I could brush it myself.

My oldest has donated her hair twice and she is 9

My middle girly has hair to her knees.

My littlest hair doesn't grow that great, but it is as long as it can be.

[Lamb]

Thanks - I was worried you might take my comments the wrong way.


Procedural Question:
Is this the best way to thank someone for a comment or should I do it as a Private Message - it seems like I don't see to many people directly thanking other people.

Some people "post and run", that is, they don't revisit the thread in which they posted for some time.
You can always post a visitor message on someone's profile, they'd be sure to see that next time they log in.

[RavennaNight]

Nope. My hair was pixied until around the 3rd grade when I told my mom I wanted longer hair. She kept it short because she didn't want to take care of it.

[Lamb]

I was free to wear my hair the way I wanted it from, I'd say, age 13-14? Although my mother always encouraged short hair, and I had to wear my hair short (short bob) before that. I think she simply didn't like long hair (still doesn't).
Sometimes, when we talk of my childhood and the girls I went to school with, she remarks how silly it was to see them look so uniform, they all had long, "girly" hair. I think I actually inherited this prejudice to a degree. If I had a daughter, I definitely wouldn't keep her hair long just because "that's what a girl's hair should look like."

My mother's school had a ridiculous dress code, all girls had to wear two braids pulled forward over the shoulders, tied with bows. :rolleyes: Mom had baby-fine, white-blonde hair and hated to have to wear it like that. I think a lot of her decisions about my sister's hair and mine had their roots in that dress and hair code.

[Alun]

I always had short hair as a child, but I can't really remember wanting long hair until I was 13. It was a long drawn out fight, haircut after haircut, every time arguing with my mother inch by inch. She doesn't like long hair. Her own hair has never been longer than shoulder length.

My mum insists that my father doesn't like long hair on men, but he has never once complained about it. Mind you, he did once tell me that he compared notes with another guy whose son had a green mohican. Apparently they were both surprised that we didn't change when we 'grew up'. We both had a good laugh about that. I reckon he counts himself lucky that my hair isn't green!

Even now I can't spend more than a week with my parents without the subject coming up. That's about as long as my mum can force herself not to say anything! And I have a son with long hair ...

[fisher2]

i started growing my hair at 12 told the 13 cried for a yr due to the fact dad said he was gonna cut it off and i took it serious and now im on constant watch in school for people with gum... i wonder if im sojumpy due to dad

[RoseRedDead]

I didn't care about my hair, and my mother kept it short. Presumably because it was easier to deal with.

[reishka]

Bowl cut from age 5 until 11, at which point I was allowed to grow my hair out -- but I was forced to perm it. It got slightly longer than shoulder, at which point it was axed back into a bowl cut. Grew back out to shoulder, kept it there until 17 at which point it was bowled again, and then let grow to BSL.

My parents hated the idea of me having long hair because neither of them knew how to take care of long hair for someone with hair as thick as mine - neither of them have thick hair. My father also couldn't get over the fact that I wouldn't wash my hair EVERY day.

[Fiferstone]

I had shoulder length braided pigtails until I was 6, then I had short "shag" haircuts until I was 11-12. My mother (a loving, good mother by the way), simply did not like long hair and had been forced to keep her hair long as a child in a misguided attempt to discourage her from being a wild tom boy and to encourage her to be more "girly" and "feminine." It didn't work. :).

She had 3 of us within 4 years, so with several very young children, she simply didn't have time to fuss with her daughter's hair and I really didn't care one way or the other, though it did puzzle me that people would call me "young man" or "son" when I was a girl ?!!?!. My haircut really didn't look all that different from my brothers', and I wore the same clothes they did (jeans, sneakers and t-shirts) . To this day I see home movies and I ask "who's the boy playing with L.J. (my brother)...it's me. :).

I had the dorothy hamill style wedge in high school, but by my sophomore year in college my hair was BSL, that was the start of "long" hair for me. I always liked long hair, but didn't think mine was alll that "pretty" long, and my mother really preferred shorter hair on me, so I often got my hair cut when she got hers cut because it pleased me to please her.

She still prefers short hair on me, but she realizes my personal preference is to have it long. The turning point came for her when I made it through my son's infancy without once cutting it off :), although she still says "I love short hair on you." My reply is that it's a good thing there are so many pictures of me with short hair in the family albums. I'm going to be a little old lady with tailbone-or-longer length white hair some day.

[urara12]

first I am very sorry to hear that Dragonlady's experiences
but you have such beaitiful hair right now :)

I have a very thin hair when I was born.
so my mom took me to **hair temple** to pray
that my hair grow thick.
and she always keep my hair long.I often did pig tail.
also I remember she bought me goody's hair pin which made of plastic or vinyl one from USA. I rememeber it's tooked long time to get them to my country even via air mail.

[Arctic_Mama]

My mom was forced to wear short hair when she was a little girl in the 50's and 60's, so she wanted me to have mine longer. That, coupled with the color (golden blond) and texture (thick and wavy) of my hair made her LOVE it longer. I had a few short haircuts, usually my choice, but it was almost always between APL and BSL.

[Katurday]

I had long hair for most of my childhood, and the angry brushing and knots and hair ripped out made me resent it. The greatest blessing of my childhood came along with head lice, when my hair was cut into a neat bob. I kept the bob for a number of years before I grew it out, until finally reaching that angry brushing stage yet again. Then I pixied it after the worst knot in history. Now that I'm growing it out, conditioner helps, but I do have some of the tangliest yet slipperiest hair on the planet.

[Amelia]

I wasn't allowed to have long air. That simple. In my family whenever I was to express a wish, I was told "Little miss has not wantings." My hair was already curly and I think my mother just couldn't be bothered. My hair only grew almost to BSL once! I was 13 and a friend of mine and her twin sister had tailbone length (of very badly unkept hair, I now realise..) and i just didn't cut my hair for over a year or so. Apart from that my hair has always been bobbed or shoulder length.

I remember being three/four and my mother detangling my hair to the verge of tears. I often cried after washing my hair because the brush she used was so wrong for my type of hair. Maybe that made her not want to have more length to brush? I don't know.

[Melisande]

I had long hair as soon as I make my own choice be known. Since the age of four, I think. When I was twelve, a then fashionable "pot cut" was tried but it soon grew out again LOL

I was always "the one with the long hair" at school. When I was eighteen, I tried a shoulder long bob for a while but again let it grow out. And this has been the pattern for all my life: letting it grow until I felt it had to be cut a bit shorter, and letting it grow again. I never had a high-maintenance hairstyle where you have to go every six weeks to the hairdresser. Not as a girl and not later.

Actually I remember every single visit to the hairdresser of my life since it was a momentous event every couple of years.

I'm glad my mother let me have the long hair. She had longish hair herself, as had her sisters. She didn't and doesn't know to take care of long hair, but who after all does, except for us LHCers? LOL

I always saw myself with long hair and still do.

[Svenja]

For my siblings and myself it was not a question of being allowed. Being 4 children of similar age my mother decided to always keep our hair as short as possible (usually bob and shorter) in order to have less work.

[fairystar32]

I could sit on my hair as a child, my mum never wanted it cut short but I hated the fact she had to wash it and brush it and got it cut to my shoulders as a teenager :(

[Nikki-Jade]

My mum loves my long hair but sometimes it gets annoying but i love such long hair (:

[Lemur_Catta]

My mom has always hated long hair, so she kept mine and my sister's quite short, but not too short that we were mistaken for boys...it was a bob, just under my ears, sometimes a bit longer. My sister's hair was cut the same way, but hers was actually longer because it was curly.
I didn't care much for hair. I hated having it washed and dried, because my mother was not gentle at all! She cared for my hair the same way she cared for hers: harsh shampoos, and HOT blowdrying. I hated the blowdrying.
Now, I can see that my hair was AWFUL. I had a round, chubby face and round glasses. A bob with a blunt fringe was simply horrible on me.
But, as I said, I didn't really care if my hair was short or long :P When I started going to the hairdresser by myself, I usually got it cut around shoulders or APL. Never longer till I was 18, when I started growing it after an hairdresser nightmare. Actually, when I was 14 I cut my hair short, just below my ears. It was a messy cut, kind of cute actually :) but people said that short hair didn't suit me :(

If I ever have children, I will respect their choices to have short hair or long hair, if they express one. If they don't, I will try to choose according to their lifestyle and face shape :) I don't think it's right to keep children's hair short so that mothers have less work to do. If you decide to have children, take care of them as individuals, not as chores. If they wish to have long hair, let them have it, and teach them how to care for it.

[doro357]

My sisters and I were not allowed to have long hair. Always pixie cuts.If my father couldn't get a comb through your hair ,off it went.

[punkcatknitter]

My mom always wanted long hair herself as a child but she had hairdressers in the family (my grandmother and two aunts) and they wouldn't let her. She never had a choice, her hair was just cut however they wanted it. She had her first perm at 18 months old, I kid you not. And the first thing she did when she moved out was grow her hair long.

She's a big long hair lover, so she had me and my sister's hair long when we were little. I wanted it cut for a large chunk of my childhood, but she put it off b/c when she'd let my sister cut hers she (my sister) had cried and regretted it. I think I was ten or so when she let me cut 8-10 inches off... I can't remember 100% but I'm pretty sure my hair was still nearly waist length at that point. At least past BSL. Funny, I spent most of my childhood wanting short hair... had it through most of my teen years, and am spending much of my twenties getting it back to where it was when I was little. I used to be able to sit on my hair! *sniffle* Someday...

[lavenderblue]

I wanted long hair very bad but wasn't allowed to because of my thick hair. My mother said it wouldn't look nice and she even told me once I would look like Blondie (Debbie Harry)....I thought that would be very cool though ;)

[freckles]

I never showed any interest in long hair as a child, so I don't know whether I would have been allowed it. My parents kept my hair in a long bob, and around 11 I started getting shortish trendy cuts (never very short like pixie, but always above shoulder).

[Flossy]

My mum let me have my hair however I wanted, for as long as I can remember. I used to grow it, and then cut it. Grow it, and then cut it.

I was just looking at some photos of the last time it was super long, I think I was about 11. It was to my waist, and it was so nice and thick (let's not mention the tragic 80's fringe ;) ). It was varying lengths as a teenager, but now I want it back to my waist again.

[Hypnotica]

My parents allowed me to have multicolured mullet (spray colour that washes out with one washing).

I'm not sure if I ever going to forgive them!

[Naava]

My mom let my hair grow (it got trimmed every now and then) until I was about 5 years old. I loved my long hair, but hated getting it washed and brushed, so my mom thought it would be practical to cut it into a bob. I cried and kept a hat on for the rest of the day. After that my mom took me to get my hair cut when ever it strated to grow past my shoulders.

As soon as I was a little older (maybe 10 years old) I got to make my own decisions, but for some reason I didn't end up growing my hair long before now.

[FrannyG]

My mother kept my very hair short until Kindergarten, when I had shoulder length hair. Then I got another boy's cut in the first grade. After that, my hair never was allowed to be much below the shoulders, and after the eight grade, I got another short cut (by choice). With my very straight hair, it didn't look wonderful, so as it grew out a bit, I started getting perms, and curling my hair with a curling iron.

I had layered hair, about 5 inches long all over, and I curled it back in the way most of the other girls did, in an imitation of the Farrah Fawcett style. I don't think I was ever longer than APL until 2007, after I joined LHC.

[Trixie33]

I always had shorter hair as a child (flip length). My mother was not a long hair person, she had a hard time putting in a pony tail and never wanted to deal with all the tangles I would get.

[LadyLongLocks]

I had very short hair until about the age 10. My mom always cut it short like hers. I always dreamed of long hair! When it reached my shoulders at age12 or 13 I went to a salon and walked out with the worst haircut of my life, a short bob with a side part. I decided to take control at this point and grow my hair longer! :) It worked.

[kmoc123]

I was never allowed to have long hair. My Mom believed in going to the beauty shop and my hair was always chopped off!...now my hair is 37.5 inches long!!!

[maybe sparrow]

I was allowed to have pretty much whatever I wanted, usually.

Including a perm in first grade, which was a TERRIBLE idea. It frizzed out, my mom couldn't take it, and we hacked it all off.

I got gum stuck in my hair in 4th grade, and had to get it all chopped off.

And, the first time I got a cut without permission (in 8th grade with my aunt) my mother's feelings were hurt.

But, all in all, it was low-drama. My grandmother absolutely refused to let Mom cut her hair when she was little, and she didn't want to do the same thing with us girls.

[Leabhar]

I had long hair (and insisted on it, despite being a tomboy!) as a kid but when I hit school it got bobbed. Aside from a brief flirtation with a chin-length bob, I've had long hair ever since.

[Jules diamond]

I had waist length hair when I was 6, but I always had a 'rats nest' for an underlayer and refused to brush it, so my mom cut it to a pixie. I had it between that and a bob on and off until I was in seventh grade. After tiring of being mistaken for a boy, I started growing it out.

My poor little sister wants long hair too, but it gets stringy looking if it even starts to approach her shoulder, so I have it cut into an inverted bob. That's as long as she can manage for now. I'm hoping her hair type changes like mine did and she can have long hair in middle school.

[jackiesjottings]

I was :) Even at the tender age of 6, I wanted long hair because I saw pop stars with long hair. My mum did let me grow it, but the first time it was very very thin so it was cut again. But I had longish hair most of my childhood, longest was waist in my mid teens.

[Loreley]

I was allowed to have long hair but I had to wear it in a braid all the time. I hated it, I always wanted to wear it loose. :)

[Paniscus]

Oh yeah, long hair was the only style I was allowed to have! I wore it in two long braids through most of my school years. My Mother just preferred the long hair on me, so it wasn't due to religious convictions or anything. I did wear it loose some, but being so long, was easier in the braids to play hard and not have to deal with Mom and the dreadful comb and brush later :-)

[Arielle8960]

I was allowed long-ish hair, but never as long as I wanted (which was probably around knee, or as close to Rapunzel as I could get). I didn't grow any hair at all until I was about three, so my mother had amassed a huge collection of bows which I wore all through childhood, perched atop my head. Once I actually had hair my mother wanted it to be shoulder-length, so the compromise was APL. Neither of my parents were very talented with braiding or barrettes, but Dad was even worse than six-year-old me at bows. I remember I had one very sweet teacher who would re-do my hair on days my dad styled it so I wouldn't have to go all day "looking like that".

My parents were very tolerant of my wishes to dye, highlight, and otherwise make my head the colors of the rainbow. I'm glad I got most of that out of my system as a young teen so now I actually have positive feelings about my natural hair color and texture.

In retrospect, I'm not sure what a lot of the battles were really about. With the exception of the fourth grade lice epidemic, my parents had little to do with my hair after about age 8.

[Alexannee10]

I wasn't :(

[Naamah]

I've always had long hair, except for when I cut it to chin length when I was 11...my mom didn't want me to do it, but she let me. I should have listened to her, it looked bad on me. :p

[*Aoife*]

I had bob to shoulders length hair for most of my childhood. I think the longest I ever had it was around BSL. I hated my hair when I was a child. I have curly hair and we didn't use conditioner at home. So no conditioner and a brush ripped through it. Ow :(
I also move around a lot at night and even with my hair tied up and sleeping on a satin pillowcase these days, I get quite tangley at night. So when I was a child, it was torture!

[opbutterfly]

Way back in the beginning my mum kept my hair short and easy to manage, but when I was about 5 I said I wanted long hair and she let me begin to grow it out. It got past APL over the next few years, and when I was 9 the issue came up again. I had to choose- long or short. I cut up my little pieces of paper, wrote half each, started pulling them out of a hat... eventually I chose short, simply because short hair was instant, long hair would take patience. It went up to a bob at my shoulders, and I've been growing it out ever since (11 years).


My mum basically let me do what I wanted with it. Mind you, she was forced into a short haircut all through Primary School, so I think she was sympathetic!

[SerenityBlue]

It is not that I was not allowed long hair, just that things kept getting in the way. When I was about six, I had long hair and had to get it cut up to my ears due to a chewing gum fiasco that I will not go into, lol. After that my mom started working in a local hair salon and my sister and I became her practice heads for every new short fad that came out. I spent many years with a "Dorothy Hammel" cut, "pixie" cut and everything in between. Once I got to high school I did start to grow it out, but in a moment of weakness got it cut to my neck again. It has been chin length ever since.

I am currently growing my hair out from an inverted bob and it is about an inch past my shoulders in front and shoulder length in the back. I intend to let it grow now that it can go back in a pony tail. In the Florida summer, having my hair off my neck is a must!

[LadyMydnytMoon]

I wasn't allowed long hair for a very good reason which I'm only seeing now that I'm actually paying attention to hair care.

I've wanted long hair since I was a kid (probably from watching all those Disney and Anime heroines with long hair) and I'd get upset when its haircut time. My mom always told me that I wouldn't know how to manage it and she was right. We've only ever used those 2in1 shampoo and conditioner and I keep losing my combs when I was a kid. Also, I keep forgetting to comb my hair after washing unless it's a school day and even my grandmother would scold me. Because of that, I had chin-length hair 'till around 2nd grade and around shoulder length until I started in college.

Now I make all hair decisions myself and my mom doesn't mind as long as it's presentable.

[Crackaleen]

My mother kept my hair short when I was little because I wouldn't let her comb/brush it and my hair is particularly tangle prone. I've loved the look of long hair for as long as I can remember (I used to put over-sized t-shirts on my head to pretend I had long hair >.<). It wasn't until about the 3rd grade that I was allowed to start growing it past chin length. I wasn't allowed to go past shoulder length until I was in middle school. I guess growing my hair was one of the ways I rebelled. ^.^

[Pimpernel]

Actually, my mother forced classic length hair on me throughout my entire childhood. I was a hopeless tomboy and she was trying to make a girl out of me, I suppose. I desperately wanted one of those cute trendy that everyone else had. When I was 18 I cut my hair from classic to a razored 1" blue-black pixie. My mother almost had a heart attack!

[Sunny_side_up]

My hair was left to grow and mum would do braids on me and sis (with our lower back length hair) while we sat patiently while she did it looking forward to our mermaid hair results.
Then bob cuts and growth again. I enjoyed mum washing and touching my hair and she'd do french braids, pigtails, half up-does and other things. When i started secondary school i asked for it to be bobbed to be like friends hair.
I never minded what was done to my hair. Had a yellow headband i wore so often with the bob. Kinda cute. Grew it to bsl then chop again. Been up and down over the years my hair length!:p I gave up the hairdryer years ago, i have never used hair straighteners. Always had positive compliments from my mum about hair. Dad just acts like he doesn't give a hoot:)

[Tamara78]

I always had long hair as a child and miss those days, so now I'm trying to grow it all back!

[beez1717]

since I kept my hair short all my life until now I don't know what mom would have said. I do know now that she says she doesn't like my hair much but it's my hair so I can do what I want. She prefers it when I have a low ponytail but I would rather have a higher up ponytail it looks much better and keeps more hair out of my face. I just hope mom doesn't tell me: "you need to cut your hair so you can donate it" I would reply back that it's my hair and I can do what I want with it and no i'm not being selfish, i'm just being me. I want my long hair and if I cut it I won't have my long hair will I? And after all the work I put into my hair it's become sort of a personal thing to me.

[Colorblond]

As a child I was made to have short hair I always resented this and as result now growing out somewhere nearing BSL, whether it is the right style for me I don't know but now I can grow it I am.

[Patty lou]

Mum kept my hair long and every day she put it in 2 braids which I have done to both my daughters, I find this a bonding thing with them.
they both still have long hair.

Patty_lou

[krn2891]

My mom made me have short hair and now is convinced that I only have long hair as a way of rebellion. She just can't seem to imagine that I want long hair just for the sake of having long hair.

[Capybara]

Not only was I allowed long hair, it was highly encouraged. I was scared to have short hair :p

[GRU]

My mom made me have short hair and now is convinced that I only have long hair as a way of rebellion. She just can't seem to imagine that I want long hair just for the sake of having long hair.

And heaven forbid that at your age, you consider yourself an ADULT and do things for YOURSELF rather than having every facet of your life revolve around your relationship with your mother!!!! :rolleyes:

[Drynwhyl]

Actually I was forced to have long hair xD
It was such torture, my grandmother brushed it and braided it and put a bunch of clips in while I cried. I hated it. I'm amazed how I love long hair now, I thought I'd despise it after that...

[RachelRain]

I went from long hair to no hair regularly. I couldn't care for it on my own, so my mom had to wash it and brush it out and constantly do stuff with it. When she got annoyed with that, she'd try to have me do it, and I just couldn't, so she'd literally hack it all off at the nape of my neck so I had nothing at all. Even boys didn't have haircuts that extreme when I was a kid.

I think I actually have a picture of me about 3 with hair past my tush, and then another one roughly the same age with no hair. It almost makes me want to cry, that the kid in the picture had no hair to play with.

I used to hack it off myself with scissors when I got really fed up with it in high school too, but now I just throw my brush out the window and go fetch it. The walk around the house to get it helps me calm down enough not to do stupid things.

[misslicorice]

I had long hair as a child, but I wish it had been cut more often. My mother didn't know how to take care of it, other than spending an hour with a bottle of detangler and a comb after every bath, trying to rip out the knots! I can't imagine how damaged it must have been. If she had just hacked it off, it would have saved me a lot of agony. My hair was hideous all through my childhood.

[Khiwanean]

As I recall it, my parents let me keep it the way I wanted it from the time I first took an interest in making any kind of decision about it. I don't remember being very concerned about my hair when I was really young either. My hair was around midback length by the time I was in kindergarten. It stayed around that length or a little longer until I decided to chop it to chin length in 5th grade (because that was where my bangs had grown out to). From there I grew it out to shoulder length. It stayed there for a while and then started to grow it out again.

My mom would have been the one to decide if she wanted it long or not. She used to have around tailbone length hair, but that was before I was born. It got shorter and shorter and it's now about 1.5 inches on top (she just got a haircut a few days ago). She says her head gets hot and that's why she's cut it so short. I'm just glad she let me have long hair as a child.

[krn2891]

Quote:
Originally Posted by krn2891
My mom made me have short hair and now is convinced that I only have long hair as a way of rebellion. She just can't seem to imagine that I want long hair just for the sake of having long hair.

And heaven forbid that at your age, you consider yourself an ADULT and do things for YOURSELF rather than having every facet of your life revolve around your relationship with your mother!!!!



Yeah no kidding.

[Hylia]

Yep, it seemed to be in, in the 90s. But it seemed like after 2000 short hair was more common. Thats when I was forced to cut my hair :( But I think long hair is always in, I hate having short hair.

[freezerpop]

I never actually had my hair cut until I was 6, then my mom finally had it cut up to my chin because I complained of headaches. She has always wanted me to keep it long and natural-looking, but for the most part just let me have it the way I wanted. I believe she gave me so much freedom with my hair because her mother always forced her to have a short bob.

[eicamawa]

I could have as long hair as I wanted as long as I took good care of it. If I didn't, they would have cut it all of... Lucky for me I did.

[Idun]

I had really short hair as a child. My mother did the cutting and especially the bangs were really short. She is a very practical person. She doesn´t reaaly understand why I want to have long hair now. :)

[SlightlySoprano]

My mom styled my hair according to what was "in" at the time. I've had my hair as long as waist and as short as chin. Now that I want it long, she's being really supportive. At my age she had just about classic length hair!

[Merewen]

Yeah, I was allowed long hair. I dreamed of knee-length hair, though it never got that long. I was allowed to cut it shorter too, after I had been considering it for a while. I would never have been allowed to dye/perm etc, though!

[tinti]

My mom is a hair stylist, and for some reason she always cut my hair short. If I was lucky I had a bob. So ever since I've promised myself that once I'll have really long hair :) I also promised myself that if I had a daughter I'd let her hair grow untill she wants to cut it herself.

[HotRag]

I was allowed to have long hair.

But I was not allowed to let it out of my braids (other than for wash or night, or special occation when I have waved it).

[morguebabe]

I wasnt allowed short hair...

[ArienEllariel]

I've had anywhere from chin length to shoulder length hair growing up. My problem was that until about 6, I didn't brush my hair and the back would be a giant rats nest a lot of the time. I think that's why my mom kept it short. I didn't really notice my hair for the longest time.. I was rather a tomboy.

[tofuowl]

My mom definitely encouraged me to have long hair, so it was always between BSL and waist growing up. I remember several times wanting to cut it up to my shoulders, just for a change, and she'd always talk me out of it. In retrospect, she was right--I would have looked absurd with short hair lol.

So I guess I feel like ideally, parents should let their kids wear their hair how they want to; I can also see where parental guidance on what looks best can be appropriate and helpful in some cases. My mom and I had very similar hair, so I'm sure she spoke from experience when she said I would regret cutting it short.

[Coriander]

I had shoulder-length hair for a long time until I was old enough to have an opinion. :lol:

I grew it out all the way through high school, then had it cut to about APL. I grew it out again until I had it cut VERY short for boot camp, and here I am growing it out again. :)

[PineappleJello]

I was allowed to have long hair.

But I was not allowed to let it out of my braids (other than for wash or night, or special occation when I have waved it).


My mum wouldn't even let the school undo my braids to do a lice check. Mostly because they wouldn't rebraid them afterwards.

[AZDesertRose]

I wasn't allowed long hair when I was really little because I wouldn't comb/brush it myself and I wouldn't sit still for my mom to comb it. I had the Dorothy Hamill wedge when I was about 5-6 (1981) at which point it looked cute and again when I was around 8-9 (1984) at which point I looked like a boy in a dress, and then after that it stayed at least chin length, sometimes shoulder to BSL-ish until my senior year of high school when I chopped it off for one of those weight-line hairdos. Yuk. Mom tried to talk me out of that one, and she was right.

I kept my daughter's hair long. It was waist length by the time she was around 10, when she decided to cut it to shoulder length. I was sorry she did it, but I didn't fuss about it either. Now she wears it a little past shoulder length; I guess it's APL. It looks good on her and she can easily take care of it, so she's happy with her hair and that's what matters.

[Cloverleaf]

I was the oldest of six - four were girls who were required to have a "pixie" cut, and the two boys had a buzz. I always wanted long hair but was told it wouldn't look good on my small face, and it would be "stringy" and too hard to take care of.

Guess I'm rebelling in my old age. My three sisters keep their hair short to this day!

[eschmi1]

Yes, my mother helped me out quote a bit with the length and braiding, etc. I have always loved having it.

[Peter]

As a young child, I never considered having long hair myself because I simply accepted the current societal norm of short hair for boys and long hair for girls. As a teenager, I started growing my hair to see what it would be like. I was technically allowed to grow it out, but I got a lot of crap from my family and friends about it. Now they tell me they love it and I should never cut it. Figure that one out. :shrug:

[minaa]

I loved having longer hair, but I kept it about shoulder length because my parents hated brushing out my hair (I had a really sensitive scalp). When I got to 7th grade my hair was BSL. I had no restrictions on how long or short it was, I was free to get it cut how I wanted.

[zombi]

No, I wasn't -- but not because my parents didn't like it, but because when I was little, I would never brush my hair. I mean NEVER.

My hair is very fine and tangles up like nobody's business, and I'm very tender-headed. My mother used to have to comb out the rats in my hair and I would scream and cry and so! They made me have short hair until I could care for it myself willingly.

[Igor]

Yes, I was. And I really shouldn’t have. Of course my mother would have known that if she had paid attention like a normal mother
I really didn’t know how to take care of it and she didn’t help me with it, so most of my childhood I had around waist length, severely tangled hair. Knots had to be cut out several times (Which should have told my mother that I obviously couldn’t take care of it myself…)

I’m not going to let my daughters have long hair until (before) they’re teens. I don’t believe little girls can build a routine to take care of these things on their own. Besides, I feel that little girls should be allowed to pretend to be princesses, not actually being little dolls like that. Little girls should be allowed to play in the mud and skin their knees, not worry about how tangly their hair will be

[Igor]

I wasn't allowed to have long air. That simple. In my family whenever I was to express a wish, I was told "Little miss has not wantings."

That is just plain old horrible

[chicky82]

I had really long hair when I was little. It was down to my bum and blonde and thick. My mom had to cut it all off one summer because I kept getting heat exhaustion from always being outside when it was really hot. I think she was more upset then I was.

[GRU]

I’m not going to let my daughters have long hair until (before) they’re teens. I don’t believe little girls can build a routine to take care of these things on their own. Besides, I feel that little girls should be allowed to pretend to be princesses, not actually being little dolls like that. Little girls should be allowed to play in the mud and skin their knees, not worry about how tangly their hair will be

So even if your daughters wanted long hair, you wouldn't let them? :confused:

I have friends whose daughters have long hair, and they play sports, ride bikes, climb trees, play in mud and skin their knees. They just wear ponytails or braids or pigtails when the activity warrants it.

I've taught my son how to do things for himself -- he showers and shampoos and combs his hair, brushes/flosses his teeth, washes/dries/folds his laundry, vacuums/sweeps the floors, takes out the trash, cooks meals, loads the dishwasher, etc. If he were female and if he had long hair, I'd still teach him (her) to take a shower and shampoo and brush/comb his (her) hair, along with all the other assorted activities of daily living.

I guess I just don't see why a child without a Y chromosome couldn't be taught to do things for herself that a child with a Y chromosome can be taught to do??? Or do you not plan on teaching your daughters to brush their own teeth or wipe their own butt just because they're girls? Am I missing something here?

:confused:

[Jenw777]

I wasn't allowed to cut my hair when I was little. I used to be able to sit on my hair. I cut it because a boy who sat behind me used to tie my hair in knots. It was TERRIBLE.

My daughter isn't allowed to cut her hair either, it's so beautiful

[fairystar32]

I’m not going to let my daughters have long hair until (before) they’re teens. I don’t believe little girls can build a routine to take care of these things on their own. Besides, I feel that little girls should be allowed to pretend to be princesses, not actually being little dolls like that. Little girls should be allowed to play in the mud and skin their knees, not worry about how tangly their hair will be
I dont agree
I myself had hair down to my bum as a kid and was a complete tomboy up in the trees with the boys, I certainly never worried how tangly my hair was LOL
also mY DD is a complete tomboy with waist length hair who plays football and has done for years, her knees are always muddy and legs bashed, she certainly never worries if her hair is tangled ;)

[MissManda]

When I was little, I had between waist and classic-length hair. My mother loved to keep my hair long and I remember that I also loved it. I always got compliments on how thick, healthy, and shiny it was. My mother and/or would style my hair for me when I was very little and they really enjoyed it. My mother would constantly argue with my paternal grandmother about my hair length. I remember my grandmother wanted it short because she hates straight hair. I didn't care and I kept it long until I was about 12 when I finally gave into my grandmother's pressuring and had it cut into an awful undercut bob. I regret that now and I am now regrowing my hair so it will be like it was when I was a child.

[Igor]

I've taught my son how to do things for himself -- he showers and shampoos and combs his hair, brushes/flosses his teeth, washes/dries/folds his laundry, vacuums/sweeps the floors, takes out the trash, cooks meals, loads the dishwasher, etc. If he were female and if he had long hair, I'd still teach him (her) to take a shower and shampoo and brush/comb his (her) hair, along with all the other assorted activities of daily living.

I guess I just don't see why a child without a Y chromosome couldn't be taught to do things for herself that a child with a Y chromosome can be taught to do??? Or do you not plan on teaching your daughters to brush their own teeth or wipe their own butt just because they're girls? Am I missing something here?

:confused:
I don’t see a boy vs. girl discussion in what I wrote? Sorry but I really don’t

[HikerTrash]

My mom gave me a pixie cut when I was really little and I remember fighting against it. At some point she let me grow it long and my 5th grade class picture shows me with gorgeous, long, wavy blond hair. I cut it in 6th grade and it came out horrible. By 11th grade it was long again and I got a perm and had awesome surfer hair for one summer.

[chipzahoy]

I was not allowed long hair. If my parents had their way, I'd still not be allowed long hair :rolleyes:

[Miriah]

I was allowed long hair as a child probably for a similar reason that your daughter gets to enjoy long hair now, vanity acefake. My mother was only allowed a choice of two styles as a child: very short in a tight frizzy perm, or if it was any longer, it was in two tight braids every day, non-negotiable. This was in the 60s and she was one of twelve kids. I guess my grandmother could handle styling a bunch of little heads on top of everything else. There are pictures of my mom with this perm at 14 years old and maybe a bit older. She hated it so much.
Mine got to grow down to around my hips but I never got the hang of styling it. Chopped it to jaw length when I was 11 because I was tired of how it caught in everything.

[GRU]

I don’t see a boy vs. girl discussion in what I wrote? Sorry but I really don’t

This was in response to this portion of your post:


I’m not going to let my daughters have long hair until (before) they’re teens. I don’t believe little girls can build a routine to take care of these things on their own


Your statement that you don't think a female child is capable of basic hygiene skills is the part I was challenging with my example. I used a boy vs girl example because I only have one child, and he happened to be born with "boy parts" so I can't give a "girl example" from my own parenting experience.

My point was that I simply taught my son the basic hygiene skills he needs for self-care, and I don't understand why one would think a girl couldn't be taught the same things. The presence or absence of a Y chromosome doesn't affect the brain's or body's ability to perform hygiene tasks.

[Igor]

This was in response to this portion of your post:




Your statement that you don't think a female child is capable of basic hygiene skills is the part I was challenging with my example. I used a boy vs girl example because I only have one child, and he happened to be born with "boy parts" so I can't give a "girl example" from my own parenting experience.

My point was that I simply taught my son the basic hygiene skills he needs for self-care, and I don't understand why one would think a girl couldn't be taught the same things. The presence or absence of a Y chromosome doesn't affect the brain's or body's ability to perform hygiene tasks.

Sicne the question was "were you allowed long hair as a child?" I used the term "girl" instead of the gender neutral "child", since I happen to be a girl and I wrote from my own perspective. I still don't see why this made you attack me

[rockkcor]

I guess everyone wanted long hair at some point of childhood... Being a boy I was not allowed or more precise - not expected to have it long. So it took some time to overcome it...

[Idun]

Thinking about this one more time I realized something. I have a sister that is just a little bit younger than me. Even though I was not allowed long hair, my sister was. Well, longish anyway. Her having long hair resulted in several hair accidents where she had to cut large bits, sometimes all of it, off. I can mention car polish, chewing gum, paint, tree resin, twigs and more. But she was blonde, and I guess my brown hair wasn´t worthy of growing out for display? On the other hand it is possible that she put up more of a fight than me.

Now I prefer my daughter to have short hair for practical reasons. She is not that kind of girl who likes to spend time in the bathroom caring for her hair. In fact she is more or less indifferent to washing it and now she is too old to let me do it. I don´t force her to cut it short, but I do infuence her. I sometimes wish she was more vain, because her red hair is stunning.

GRU, the interest and ability to care for your hair has more to do with personality than sex IMO. If your boy was easily trained to groom himself, good for you. (I´m assuming your boy has long hair, seeing as you use him as example?) But every child isn´t, boy or girl. You seem to think it is merely a question of "education".

[GRU]

*sigh*

Wow, this went way further than I thought it would or intended it to.

Nothing personal, no attacks intended, and if you felt personally attacked as a result of my comments, I offer my apology.


As for hygiene skills being merely a question of education -- absolutely!

If a child wants to have long hair, then they can be taught to take care of it. If the child's personality is not conducive to caring for long hair, then they shouldn't have it (unless the parents are willing to take on that responsibility themselves). It's really that simple.

My point was that little girls (and boys) *can* be taught to take care for their own hair hygiene, while the implication in the post that I quoted was that little girls are not capable of doing so and therefore should not be allowed to have long hair.

Kids are not imbeciles, and they are much more capable than most people are willing to give them credit for anymore. (The dumbing down of society is getting worse and worse... it's painful to see, quite honestly.) And there's not much that's more harmful to a child's self-esteem than having a parent who believes that they're too stupid / uncoordinated / unmotivated to do something pretty basic.

[issalynn]

I was only allowed long hair as a child. But I did have straight bangs that were unruly. From what I remember my parents liked to keep it really long, like past my hip bones long. And my hair texture was amazing as a kid. It was silky, smooth and never tangled if we kept up with the trims. But once I turned 10 my texture became coarse and wavy/curly! Now it's a daily fight to keep my hair together.

And for some stupid reason I cut a fauxhawk early on in highschool. Goodness, it was a terrible look for me.

[scottishsttr]

I was only allowed to wear it long until I got some bubble gum stuck in it! :)

[MathnSkating]

I wasn't, I, uh, got head lice when I was 6 and mom (surprisingly not me) developed a huge phobia of lice and consequently long hair. So I wasn't allowed long hair until I got to high school and she got over the phobia. It took a lot of convincing.

[zman]

No, but I didnt really care. When I got to high school I started thinking about it and finally did when I moved away for a couple years. Shock for them when I came home.

[swellmel]

i wouldn't say i wasn't allowed. it was more like my hair didn't look good long. my mom tried to grow my hair long but as a small child my hair was super duper fine and thin and white blonde and as my mom put it 'just looked stringy when it got too long.' so for many years it was short- usually around my chin or just a smidge longer. i always remember hating my hair when it was shorter. in 6th grade it was actually brushing my shoulders but i also had a poodle perm which is officially my worst haircut ever!! i have 2 girls now, 6 and 4. i would be thrilled if they wanted long hair. my 6 year old has the thickest hair and is an inch or 2 past her shoulders. mine is just a smidge away from waist and she talks about growing her as long as mine. :D my 4 year old has the hair i had as a little kid- very fine, very thin and light blonde. it's in between her chin and shoulders and unfortunately gets that stringy look. oh well.

[Elph]

Hummmm, how about the other way - I was never alloed to have short hair......for me I always had sholder blade or longer hair untill at 16 I convinced dad while mum was away to let me cut my hair (it went to inch short) never again will it be that short but still I understand your pain, long hair and braids (which I dreaded as a child) are the source of some very bad memories and now the way my hair lives.

[HairFaerie]

My hair was tailbone length until the seventh grade. My mom was very proud of it and I guess I was too. In elementary school, all of the girls loved to play with it and wished their hair was long. (Mine was always the longest in the class).
In the seventh grade, my mom allowed me to get it cut. i got it it cute fairly short and have been wearing it short most of my life.
About 5 years ago it was bra strap length. For some reason, I decided to cut it shoulder length. Every time I got a hair cut after that, I would get it shorter and shorter.
Now, I am longing for my tailbone length again!

[little_cherry]

My mother wanted me to have long hair, so I had almost tail-bone length medium ash blonde hair at the age of 3-4. She only washed it once a week, but decided to chop it off because it was such a hassle for her to brush it- apparently I made it very difficult for her to detangle it. It was chopped off at the age of 5 to just above my shoulders and heavy bangs. With the chop, I lost most of the ash blonde. It was now a a very ashy medium brown. I hated this colour all throughout primary school and high school. It had no depth at all. I missed my long hair and the blonde. When I was 8, my hair was about BSL and kept going back to the above shoulder cut until I was 11, where I got a pixie cut (1993). I let this grow out- Oh did it look awful! :( My bangs were long and I brushed them to the side. It looked awful! -I got teased a lot. From there on in, it remained mostly at shoulder, only peeking to APL. The bangs finally disappeared and I styled my hair parted down the center.. the part finally moved to the left.

Honestly, I wish there were detangling product my mother could have used back then...they only appeared when I was around 10 years old. I would have loved to have that blonde hair a little longer.

Now I'm going to break the shoulder length rut. Tail bone and beyond, here I come! :D

[Ruce]

As a male teenager I guess I'm still not allowed to have long hair. My whole family insists on having a style, but I'm not bothered about a style; I just want it to be long.

About four or five weeks ago I had hair just past my shoulders and I loved it. My parents took me to the hairdressers for a trim, little did I know they had told the stylist to cut it above my chin... she said it was so I could grow it out in a better style, but I was traumatized and cried for the rest of that night.

Now I'm not letting any stylist cut my hair unless they agree to do it how I want it, no matter how offended they may get (because sometimes it takes a lot of yelling for them to understand!). Ideally I would like my hair mid-back, but there's a few teachers at my school who keep telling me to cut it once it reaches shoulders. They expect me to be able to wear it in a ponytail when it's at shoulder length - no chance! I can only get in the back and half of the sides. I look like what half of the girls look like when they attempt to wear their hair up; a small ponytail and a huge side fringe loose at the front.

Slowly but surely I'm rising up against these people, with the help of my also long-haired male friend (who has managed to reach APL before! although his hair is considerably tangled as he doesn't use conditioner and rubs his hair with a towel when drying) so one day I will hopefully reach my dream of mid-back. :D

[becker]

I wasn't allowed to have short hair as a kid so I cut it as soon as I left home and kept it short for years. In my 30's now and growing it back out.

[LittleOrca]

I had long hair as a little girl, until first grade. My hair was "down to my butt!" as I would tell people then I cut it to shoulder length when I was in first grade. My mother was sooooo mad and she cried. My aunt (the one who does not like long hair) is the one who took me to cut it off.

Knowing how much my mother loves my long hair changes my plans on how to remember her when she passes. I had thought about cutting it (not completely though) for her, but that would make her sad if she were alive so I will just add another orca tattoo to my body to symbolize her. Thankfully she is still young and in good health and I don't have to worry about that for many many many many years!

ETA: Here is my hair about 1989.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/Little_Orca/Long&#37;20Hair%20Gallery/zHair%20Journal%20Private/LongHairChild.jpg

[BrightEyes7]

My mom always kept my hair short. Then I grew it to about APL when I was around 10 and kept it around there until the last few years... I guess I didn't have long hair until I was 19

ETA: I don't blame my mom... my hair tangles easy since it has so much volume but isn't course

[kikuko]

When I was little my dad was the one who stayed home and took care of me while my mom worked. I guess he kept it short because that was what he could take care of. When I got to preschool I saw that all the other girls had long hair so I rebelled and insisted on growing my hair long. When I was 8 my mom had my waist length hair chopped off to my cheekbones and permed. What kind of place perms an 8 year old's hair?! Most reputable places wait until someone is about 12 I think. I guess she was jealous or wanted me to look more like her. I was really sad.:(

[eamane]

I had long hair, down to my waist until I was about 7. Then I wouldn't let my mother comb and wash my hair anymore som she cut it off. But then it grew out again and when I had it cut next time, I was 12 or 13 and then it was my own decision.

[spitfire511]

I was NOT allowed long hair when I was young. :( The longest my mother's hair ever was (in her entire lifetime) was just above SL. She really wasn't in the mood to fool with my hair being long, not to mention she would have had no idea what to do with it. I wound up with a Dorothy Hammil style cut until I was in 3rd grade. Then she let me grow it out just past SL, but it looked terrible all the time because all she knew to do was put in barrettes. She couldn't braid or anything. :(

The one cool thing is that as I continued to have longer than SL hair, she learned more. Even though her hair was always short, she got pretty good at buns and such and wound up doing my hair for my wedding. :) Miss you mom!

[frost pattern]

When my mother was a girl, she had waist long braids she hated because of their heaviness. She always told me how happy I am by not beeing forced to have long hair and kept my hair very short. But I wasn't happy at all, I always cried on the way to the next cut. Aged at about 14 I was taken to the hairdresser and got some sort of modern haircut I hated. It needed to be styled with a brush, a blow dryer and styling products. That never worked, and I've been convinced all my live that my hair is awful and there is nothing I can do with it except for keeping it short (also I had sort of a hairdresser phobia) and using tons of styling products each day that made my hair dry and dull.

My hair is fine and curly. I wonder if it ever gets too heavy? My current hairdresser told me for years to grow it and to skip blow drying. Last year I had enough of that 'nonsense' and skipped an appointment at her shop. Instead of a cut a friend bought me a hair clamp - and suddenly I realised I'm better off and feel much better with longer hair :cheese:. I've never been happier with my hair!

[shyone]

I had the opposite issue.As a child I had thick hair and because of religious beliefs I was not permitted hair shorter than my chest.Of course when my hair thinned out a bit I grew to love my hair.I had a friend who has the weakest, shortest, frizziest hair ever and she adores my hair.She taught me to appreciate my hair.

[Pr0sperity]

I was never permitted long hair as a child. It was always very short and my mom told me I had a short hair face. I don't think she wanted to take care of it. I am loving it long.

[hermosamendoza]

due to a bad out break of lice at the elementary schools i attended my hair was always being chopped off. once i even got confused for a boy. every year i would cut it off to shoulder length. then once in tenth grade i cut it all off with two long pieces in the front. since then i have been growing it out.
So up until I was about 16 or 17 I didnt have long hair. now i have been growing it out. i just wish i would have found this site way back then. i chemically damaged my hair so much and had to cut my hair off and never got my dream hair for my wedding! luckily the hairstylist knew how to curl so it looked longer but she fried it with a curling iron. so i got that repaired and am going forward.

sorry that said childhood but ........the whole story goes together

[shyone]

due to a bad out break of lice at the elementary schools i attended my hair was always being chopped off. once i even got confused for a boy. every year i would cut it off to shoulder length. then once in tenth grade i cut it all off with two long pieces in the front. since then i have been growing it out.
So up until I was about 16 or 17 I didnt have long hair. now i have been growing it out. i just wish i would have found this site way back then. i chemically damaged my hair so much and had to cut my hair off and never got my dream hair for my wedding! luckily the hairstylist knew how to curl so it looked longer but she fried it with a curling iron. so i got that repaired and am going forward.

sorry that said childhood but ........the whole story goes together

Ahh! School headlice outbreaks!Today my scalp crawls at the very though of headlice.

[BlackVulture]

My folks generally let me do whatever I wanted with my hair. Even dye it unnatural funky colors when I was 10 or 11. I had an early start I suppose, LOL. I had it around BSL most of the early years.

[Alun]

As a male teenager I guess I'm still not allowed to have long hair. My whole family insists on having a style, but I'm not bothered about a style; I just want it to be long.

About four or five weeks ago I had hair just past my shoulders and I loved it. My parents took me to the hairdressers for a trim, little did I know they had told the stylist to cut it above my chin... she said it was so I could grow it out in a better style, but I was traumatized and cried for the rest of that night.

Now I'm not letting any stylist cut my hair unless they agree to do it how I want it, no matter how offended they may get (because sometimes it takes a lot of yelling for them to understand!). Ideally I would like my hair mid-back, but there's a few teachers at my school who keep telling me to cut it once it reaches shoulders. They expect me to be able to wear it in a ponytail when it's at shoulder length - no chance! I can only get in the back and half of the sides. I look like what half of the girls look like when they attempt to wear their hair up; a small ponytail and a huge side fringe loose at the front.

Slowly but surely I'm rising up against these people, with the help of my also long-haired male friend (who has managed to reach APL before! although his hair is considerably tangled as he doesn't use conditioner and rubs his hair with a towel when drying) so one day I will hopefully reach my dream of mid-back. :D

The secret instructions to the hair stylist. I remember that, and sympathise. The last time that happened to me I think I was about 20, and the person cutting my hair was a friend of my mum. Of course, never let your mother's friends cut your hair. That should be rule one. It wasn't exactly either long or short after that cut, but that's not the look I was going for.

I faced much the same problems as a teenager that you are experiencing, and so it took me much longer to grow out my hair than it should have.

School never said anything about my hair, but they had double standards. They complained about a boy we called Stocky, telling him he should get a haircut, but he was near the bottom of the class. I was near the top of the class, and they didn't complain about your hair if you were one of the smart kids.

Really there is just one person that has harrassed me about cutting my hair, and that's my mother. If it ever bothered my dad, he has never complained. My mum just doesn't like long hair, and there's no gender bias in that atall. She doesn't like long hair on anyone. OTOH, she would never dream of telling someone outside the family that they should get a haircut, which just leaves me.

She did once say that back when she was in school the kids teased girls with really long hair and called them names such as 'Nitty Nora', implying they had lice. This would have been circa World War Two, when the government was trying to convince women not to grow their hair longer than shoulder length, in a belief (mistaken, I think) that this would keep their hair out of the machinery in the munitions factories. I don't believe it, because cutting it too short stops you from securing it in place. Of course, I say girls and women, because there just weren't any boys or men with long hair at that time.

The only thing that has helped has been living in my own home. Even then, after about a week together she raises the subject, so visits lasting longer than that are inadvisable. I do love my mum, but on hair we just don't agree. Age alone won't help you. As you can see in the sidebar, I am ever so much older than you!

ETA: I don't think my mum has complained to my son about his long hair. There again, I've never asked him whether she has.

[Jezerellica]

My hair has always been tangly, so my Mom would hurt me on purpose combing to try to get me to want it cut. I cried while she yanked the comb through it , but no cutting. Noooooo.

Once before a picture when I was about 4 she cut it like a bowl and I sobbed. The picture is horrible with swollen eyes. She never pressured me to cut it again. She will still say things like, "oh, it would look so much sweeter if you would just let me cut it." YAK!! No chance now. LOL!!

[09robiha]

my dad hated hated hated short hair, so insisted me and my sister keep it long. It was waist length for many years, my mum would wash and blow dry it pin straight beacause she didnt know what to do with the curls. Now, you see, was and still am very stubborn and indepent...and rebelious :D. At about 8 or 9 I grabbed the ponytail I had in, and chopped it off...just because my dad was so insitent on it being long. It was liberating and to be quite honest..I just liked being naughty :p.

Through my early teen years, my hair was like a comfort blanket. It was dirty blonde, long and shapeless...but it covered my face and being the grungy, 'emo' and often dark person the I was, and occasionally still am, it was part of who I was and let me hide from the rest of the world. I think it was so, in my mind, no one else could see my problems. It was only when I start councilling and resolving my issues that I finally learned to accept my hair and I did what I wanted with it. Whatever made me happy.

Then I accepted my curls and...well here I am :cheese:

[09robiha]

they had double standards. They complained about a boy we called Stocky, telling him he should get a haircut, but he was near the bottom of the class. I was near the top of the class, and they didn't complain about your hair if you were one of the smart kids.



ahhh yes..this used to happen to me all the time! It still does at work

[Dragon]

I wasent aloud to till I was 12 but I had to have a fight with my pairents befor I was aloud. Befor than I had my hair just above my sholders and when it got just past sholder I was made to get it cut. I couldent stand looking ugly any more which is what led to the fight.

[Brianna]

I think the longest hair I ever had as a child was maybe a bit past shoulder length when I was four, or something like that. I always wanted long, princessy hair, but my mother thought I was cute with shorter hair and kept it chin-shoulder length most of my childhood.

When I got older I just ended up continuing the habit, really. It's not until recently that I started living out the old dream. :)

[leslissocool]

I had shoulder length hair, and the women in my house didn't even bought conditioner for their own since it was really short... so having thick, coarse hair with no CO was tragic...

They kept on chopping it off, and when I turned 10 I realized that the only way it was going to stay long was refusing to go to the hairdresser...

Dragonlady, I am so sorry you had to go through that... that is really sad.

Edit: Ruce and Alun my grandmother did the same thing, secret instructions to the hairdresser! even if I am a female, and didn't have other pressure than my grandmother, it really traumatized me, and not my stepson is going through the same thing too with his own mother. I support your cause, and I have already made plans of not cutting my babies' hair (A boy and a girl, and my husband who has long hair agrees fully) until he asks me for one. I don't think it's fair to play with people's self esteem the way it was done to you guys.

[DifferentLex]

Uh...i was always the pixie cut, bowl cut girl i hated it, my parents insisted i looked better with a pixie cut and bangs cut at home so you can imagine i had 1 inch bangs (always crooked) :(

[RitaPG]

It's not that I wasn't allowed, I just wasn't aware of my body and I let my mom cut it the way she thought was best.
I had the bowl cut until I was 10, maybe? But honestly, I was never forced to do anything.
My mom had long hair in her teen years, then had a pixie cut, then went back to longer-than-waist length during her adulthood. I think that, to a certain extent, she understands how hard it can be to maintain hair that long, especially because hers was very curly and back then conditioners weren't an option. She also had some sort of scalp issue (dandruff or SD) and the only thing they had to treat it was some petroleum based gel that was awful to rinse and comb out.
Now I understand she was giving us a practical choice, and I'm grateful for that, long hair on small children can be dangerous.
One day she asked me if I wanted to cut my hair and I said ''nah'' and that's it.
Both my sister and I have long hair now :)

[mommyowl]

I always wanted long hair but I was a tomboy. It would tangle then came the cut.

[paperwhite]

I had long hair through my childhood and wasn't allowed to do anything with it until I had it permed when I was 13 (never again!). After that disaster, I grew the damage out and eventually ended up with hair just below my chin. I grew it out from there and didn't have another big chop again until my early 20's.

I think part of my mother wanting to keep my hair long had a lot do with how her father felt about long hair on girls/women. My mom is one of four girls, and all of them kept their hair long until adulthood because he liked it. It was never forced on them, they just knew that he really preferred it long, and they kept it that way to make him happy. I don't think it was ever a big deal to them one way or the other, so it wasn't like they were constantly begging to have it cut, I don't think they really cared.

ETA: I never really wanted it cut too short, mostly I just wanted to color it and have long layers put in. My mom always talked me out of the layers and coloring wasn't allowed until I was a teenager. Even then no 'unnatural' colors were allowed. It was in partly my mom's rule and partly participation in school activities that kept me from having crazy colored hair.

[skaempfer]

Wow. Hair is emotionally loaded stuff.
My mother did everything she could to get rid of my hair. Her goal was for me to have hair like liz taylor in Father of the Bride (original version) and didn't care how I felt about it. The woman had issues, to say the least. Looking back, I'd say it was a weird combination of jealousy and vicarious living that lead her to consider my hair her property.

My goal now is to make sure I treat my girlies (three of them!) fairly, and listen to what they want. I don't see any point in continuing the trend of ignoring their wants, by forcing them to keep it long if they don't want it instead of short.

[apynip]

I always had to have it in a just above shoulder length page boy cut it developed to teh page boy around 5 before that it was a bowl cut.
Grew it out when i was 11 to almost BSL and cut it to avobe shoulder when i got lice at 13. grew it out again to almost BSL then hacked it off due to teen angst at 15 to 2 inches in back and longer in front then into a pixi a few months later. grew it out to shoulder. cut it off again so the story goes... at 17 i joined here and started my growth again. and no cutting this time. haha. and now i'm 18 with almost past shoulder length hair.

[luxepiggy]

I've always had it long - since my hair is relatively tangle-resistant, it wasn't a big deal until I hit high school, when my mom started getting after me to cut it because she thought it made me look short. I never did though . . . little piggies = bad at listening (^(oo)^)v

[babybabycat]

We we not allowed to cut our hair (the girls). We grew it out and oftentimes gave ourselves trims and bangs.

Around the time of the Princess Diana wedding, I begged my mother for a Princess Diana haircut. She loves Princess Diana and since I got up at 3:00am to watch the Royal Wedding, she allowed me to cut my hair, funny huh?

I ended up with a bowl cut, hairdryer and curling iron, too. Thus, the damage started, then came the 80's big hair and lots of bad hair accidents!

Growing up we used well water and my hair always had split ends and a slight greenish tone. Of course, we never tested the water, but I think that something's in the water....!

[Ferine]

Dragon lady your reply made me cry, I'm so sorry.

I had long hair, in fact I don't think it was ever trimmed! but I don't remember any hair brushing issues.
I would want my child to have long hair, but I would like to think that I would let them do as they wished with their hair.

[JamieLeigh]

My mom never really allowed room for individuality...I had what she wanted...just past shoulder and a thick fringe right across my eyebrows. :rolleyes:

All five of my kids get their own say in their hair styling. My three boys always prefer to have theirs buzzed short, which makes sense because they are all active little guys. :) And my oldest daughter recently cut from waist to just past shoulders, and it looks fantastic, mostly because she smiles about it. My youngest daughter had her hair cut in March of last year, VERY close to her head, by her brother who was NOT supposed to be near scissors! She went from armpit length to less-than-pixie, and she cried cried cried. Mommy did too. :( So she is growing hers back out because she wants a "Rapunzel braid" like me. :crush:

[DarkChocolate]

I always had between waist and tailbone length hair:)

[kitschy]

My mom kept my hair cut in a "pixie." I had curly hair and she didn't know what to do with it since hers was stick straight. She thought if she kept it short it would be easier, but I always looked like the little old lady perms.

It wasn't until a year ago, that I finally learned not to wash, brush and bleach my hair into a frizzy oblivion. Thank God, for the internet!

[Caldonia Sun]

My mom came from the era of "it must be curled" to be pretty. So when I was little, she painstakingly curled my shoulder length hair everyday in these little rubber curlers. Then she got tired of doing so and had it cut off and permed. I hated the perm. I think I was in third grade. When I was a teen, I grew it longer and she did not like it, always trying to get me to "do something with it." She was big on the pixie thing, too. I don't remember her ever saying it was pretty when it was longer, even when I curled it. She's gone now, but she would just hate my hair at this length, and silver to boot! Horror!

[PrincessBob]

I had long hair until I was six or seven, then my mom chopped it because she couldn't handle grooming my super-long thick hair and tender scalp.

[Spike]

Mom’s rule was always that long hair needed to be groomed and clean; and kept that way by the wearer. And if I have to get on your case about brushing and washing, then ipso facto, it is NOT groomed and clean, so then we’ll discuss a nice, easy to manage style.
So when I was five, I decided I wanted long long hair. I hated washing my hair. But since that was part of the price, I did it. (Gods help us, did it in the sink standing on a stepstool, did it leaning over the side of the tub—when I was twelve or so, started in the shower. What a difference!!)
When my younger brother wanted to grow his out to terminal, she added the caveat that it had to be in a recognizable style. However, ponytails were a recognizable style, so he wore his in a tail into his . . . early thirties, I think, when male pattern baldness changed his mind for him.

[shawty]

I didn't know the difference as a child. My mom took me to a hairdressor's for regular trims, so at least I didn't have any *terrible* cuts. Also, my parents NEVER brushed/combed my hair or put it up. Until I learned how myself, around age 9, NOTHING was done to my hair except washes and trims.
I never wanted long hair, though. I just wanted to be blonde!

[constantki]

I was not allowed long hair as a child; my mom cut my hair to shoulder length but it did not really bother me at the time. It was only when I got older when I decided to grow it out and by then my mom did not dictate what I wore and how I put my hair.

[enfys]

I always had long hair as a kid, always taken great care of by my mum. She would wash and condition it for me, towel dry, then blow dry it section by section with a comb and cool blow drier. She would plait it for me before school and it would stay all day. She could do rope braids and English plaits.
She'd trim it regularly but it was always the longest in the school; about tailbone.
Nothing hurt; never shampoo in my eyes, never pulled combing.
Once I was older I took care of my hair almost as diligently as my mum. :)

She was never allowed long hair growing up and her hair was coarse; mine was like she always wished for and no way should she have let me cut it, but it never occured to me to ask.

Reading all these awful, sad stories makes me wish my mum could have been everyone's mum; the world would be a much hairier place :grouphug:

[greyTraveler]

As a guy, I faced different sterotypes -- and add to that my Dad being in the military, and my mom knew how to do buzz cuts ...

I never had much hair at all until highschool; after I moved out I basically had a "bush" (my hair had quite a bit of random curl, so at about 4-5 inches it went every which way) until my wife suggested it might look better if I let it grow out further.

When I'm home I still get asked about when I'll cut my hair; my mom's given up, but a couple of my siblings still have a hard time for some reason.

[Alix]

I had hair to about my waist till I was maybe, 6 or 7 and then I decided I wanted to cut it into a bob. I cried. I kept it above APL until this year when I've decided to grow it out.

[unicornologist]

My evil ex-stepmother cut it into a mullet, but for the most part it was too curly to really get that long without tangling to the point of no return.

[prittykitty]

It was opposite for me. My mother wouldn't let me cut my very long thick hair. She use to always brush it and put it up in braids and pony tails and things. I didn't like when my mother brushed my hair because she was so rough and it hurt. This was also in the 1970's. I was not allowed to cut my hair until I was 14 years old! My mother tried to talk me out of it and told me that I would regret it someday when I don't have it anymore. My mother always had shorter, shoulder length hair and blamed her mother for making her wear hers short as a child.

It was the early 1980's, I was a teenager and I wanted my hair cut in full feathered layers. I got this done and loved it. As time went on, I ruined my hair with curling irons, blow dryers, mousse, gel and hairspray. My hair has never been the same since. My mother was right. I do regret ever cutting my hair and messing with it like I did. Today I am growing it out but I just recently started using hair extensions. I would be happier if the extensions were my real hair but for now extensions are the next best thing and I am happy to have them.

[punky]

I remember when I was a child around the age of 10 or 12 my mother would take me every summer to get my hair cut and permed into a short little do called a "poodle":o I really hated it.

[Immera]

My hair has almost always been long. One of my earliest memories, probably age 3, is sitting at my mother's knees as she pulled my hair into a tight ponytail. So tight when she was done I walked around with my shoulders raised bacause it hurt to put them down.

[leslissocool]

Kids are not imbeciles, and they are much more capable than most people are willing to give them credit for anymore. (The dumbing down of society is getting worse and worse... it's painful to see, quite honestly.) And there's not much that's more harmful to a child's self-esteem than having a parent who believes that they're too stupid / uncoordinated / unmotivated to do something pretty basic.

I totally agree with you here, in fact, that's what I try to promote on my own children :)

[Jean Stuart]

I did not have long hair until I was 10. My brother kept playing hair dresser and cutting it at the root, so to fix it I had to have very short "boy cuts". When I was 11 I had a hair cut for my grandma's wake and asked for a shoulder length and the stylist gave me a very very short cut I was so mad and my mom was thrilled. Once I hit middle school I did not let anyone touch it.

[Emerald88]

I had long hair until I was 8. I was a tomboy & begged my Mom to cut it. She cut it into the awful "Dorothy Hamil" when she was in beauty school and my whole family wanted to kill her. I never had it much past shoulder length again until my early 20's. The pics are before & after. I can't believe I didn't like it long then! It looked horrific after cutting.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j247/meowgoddess/Hairanthology010.jpg
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j247/meowgoddess/Hairanthology011.jpg

[veggielocks]

In 1st grade my mom cut my hair super super short and I looked like a boy, then in 3rd grade was given the "feathered look". 4th grade was given a perm. Junior High and High School were just horrible because it was the 90's with the crazy "wave" bangs.
I started to grow my hair long in college because I could and somehow it's been a way to be unique and maybe rebel against my mother's ideas of what is suitable hair.
My hair has been near waist length or below for almost 10 years.
My mom and my sister ask when I will cut it all the time.

[Bytebak]

I always wanted long hair as a child but school dress codes forbade it. Eventually got to waist length in college.

[sunrain]

My parents never really made a big deal about hair length, and I don't believe me or my sibs ever really had strong opinions about our hair when we were younger. It was just a constant cycle of shoulder to waist or hip, then cut back to shoulder and grow again for me and my sis. My brother just gets his cut whenever it starts getting into his eyes, but I don't think it's ever occurred to him to think about what length he wants his hair. Both me and my sis love having long, long hair. Though since the last time she had it cut, it's been growing abnormally slowly (for her) and we can't figure out why. As far as we know, she's completely healthy. It bugs her a lot that her hair isn't growing faster.

[mizsunshyne]

I wanted to grow my hair out long so my mom allowed me not to cut it. Well, in 2nd grade, my teacher held me after school, sat me on the desk, and trimmed my hair. Looking back, I don't know why we didn't press charges lol, but needless to say, my mother was a bit shocked when I came home.

[Sweet Beat]

I am, but my mom thinks I shouldn't grow my hair any longer than what it is now.