Society and long hair length pondering (long and with pictures)

[beez1717]

I think it's a shame that people are taught at a young age that guys should have hair that doesn't touch their neck unless they want to be "different", and that if you are a woman over 25-30 then you can't have longer then APL hair. It really frustrates me. Why can't people learn to love hair in all shapes and forms? I mean take a look:

This haircut is quite cool looking on this man:

http://naani.com/Articles/content_images/1/dreadlocksindian.jpg


This woman is rocking the long hair style quite well:

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/Crystal-Gayle-Hair.jpg

We all know and love The Beatles and their bowl cuts:

http://www.menshairstylesonline.com/Hair/Medium-Length-Mens-Hairstyles/beatles-bowl-cut.jpg

And I still think rihanna looks amazing with her pixie cut:

http://saylula.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/rihanna-pixie-cut.jpg

So why is it that people seem to get all bent out of shape if like I said above guys have hair that falls to their neck or if women have long hair past their late 20s that people get bent out of shape? I think society should stop categorizing people by their hair. It really makes me frustrated. Especially since one of the first things that is taught in our teaching (in my opinion) on gender roles, is that girls get to wear soft clothing, pastel colors such as pink and light purple, can have super long hair, wear skirts and wear form fitting clothing, and guys are taught that they need to have a short neat haircut, wear bright bold colors, and must wear sturdy clothing that hides the body. It really just in my opinion is not right. I mean (back to the hair topic), shouldn't guys be able to have long hair too?

Although I am attracted to the long hair women (it's my number one feature in looking for cute girls....) and I value long hair so much, I do respect people who have chosen to have shorter hair.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Longhair.JPG

I wanted to start a discussion on peoples thoughts about this topic, and what they have to say. I just had to get this topic off my chest.

Thanks for reading :)

-Beez1717

[DragonLady]

Yes, guys should be able to have long hair too. :D

[Dragon]

I also think it's a shame. Where did these rules come from anyway. I don't think your are ever to old for long hair and long hair on guys looks great.

[UltraBella]

I am soon to be 35 and no one has ever given me a hard time about having long hair.

[TinaDenali]

I am soon to be 35 and no one has ever given me a hard time about having long hair.

Probably because you look like you're 25!! You're so gorgeous :D

[Tia2010]

I agree. But I feel the stereo type is directed more towards men than women. In most cases a woman over 40 ( me included) can have long hair and no one really makes a big deal out of it. Some might make remarks like "It's time for a haircut" , but for the most part long hair on a woman at any age is still accepted alot more than long hair on a man . Which is sad because I love long haired men :D

Society feels more comfortable when it can categorize men and women easily into specific roles . I think alot of people are scared not to fit into" the mold" . It's ashame really :(

[AnnaJamila]

Yeah... I'm guilty of preferring the traditional gender stylings! :o But I would never force my beliefs on anyone else!!!

[Roseate]

My brother got the memo, then threw it right out. He started refusing haircuts at 6 years old, and is enjoying his long mane to this day! It fluctuates between hip and tailbone length, which is quite long on him given that he's over 6 feet. Lucky for him, my parents always let us wear our hair however we liked.

Other than the hair, he's always been pretty "masculine", and has now grown large and burly enough that no-one dares gives him much guff about it anymore.

[leslissocool]

I think that it depends the way you dress to. My husband's hair is waist lenght now (about 3 inches shorter than mine) and he listens to Metal... and wears only metal shirts.... so people just accept his long hair. The only person who gives him crap about it is his mother!!!

I do love man with long hair. I personally love long hair in general :cheese:

[beez1717]

Yah, but what about the women who think that they have to cut their hair as they get older because of what society says?

[getoffmyskittle]

Yah, but what about the women who think that they have to cut their hair as they get older because of what society says?

Everyone has a choice. Nobody has to do anything because of what society says. When violence is inflicted because someone chooses differently, then I'll start getting upset. But I think that feeling sorry for adults because they make a certain decision is infantilizing -- they're adults, they can figure these things out for themselves.

[Angeletti]

I ask myself questions like that all the time Beez1717 and what I've came to conclude is that society sucks : ) I try to ignore it and do what pleases me whether that be wearing "weird" clothes or wearing my hair to the floor because there are always going to be people out there that look down upon it so I might as well be happy with myself.

[May]

Honestly, I see tons of women over 35 and even 40 with longer hair. I don't think it's an issue personally. The media is constantly reporting celebrities over 40 with long hair these days. In fact I think it's become pretty trendy and mainstream to have long hair. Ultra long (past waist) is uncommon for many reasons i my opinion and I don't see anything wrong with that per se. I think long hair can look great on women at every age really, it's a matter of taking care of it and having a shape or style to go with it. I personally don't agree with bunning it back everyday. For me that would be no fun and I'd prefer more of a style.

I think for men long hair depends on the length. I see lots of guys with a shaggy look but not too many with ultra long hair. I think because the ponytail look has been associated with bikers and hippies or something. Also, a lot of men have thinning hair as they get older and I guess they just don't like the look of that and opt to get a shorter cut. There are some guys who don't take care of their hair and 'just stop cutting it' and it looks terrible. I totally get that. Groomed people look better than unkempt people to the majority of the world.

[Avital88]

Well i think its different in Europe, a lot of guys have longer hairstyles here and my mum wears her hear at BSL lenght what is like a common thing here and she is 46.
Too bad its different overseas.

[Dana]

I think people look much younger with long hair. After seeing a lot of people my grandmother's age with short hair, I swore that I will not do that with my hair at that age.

Maybe they did something similar which started that trend for a couple of generations? Maybe they thought that long hair made them look too young or they weren't taken seriously at a time when women were entering the workforce more often. I never did get to ask my grandmother why she cut her hair short after age 65, but I'm certainly not going to. :)

[jenwexler]

I honestly think people should just love the hair they are born with. I know I'm a hypocrite because I use to dye it and stuff but I do not approve of hair extensions and bleach jobs just to satisfy an image society wants. The girls in my college have try thirsty long hair and it's a shame they don't like their natural beautiful dark hair. I have learned to love my hair and it's texture. If I can do it, anyone can. And a boy should be allowed to have long hair. I have a friend who is a guy who grew it long and donated it to locks of love. He's care free and just let's it grow. My grandma is in her 80s and has long black and gray hair. She's all natural. She loves her texture and cover and doesn't cover her grays. I'm not trying to put people down for not thinking the way I do, I just find it a shame they don't appreciate their hair in a natural state.

[aenflex]

Thanks for sharing the links. Not to be devil's advocate or anything, but me personally - I was never pressured one way or the other towards how I should keep my hair. I'm sorry to hear that others have been. I think as time goes on the standards or people's ideas of what is 'proper' are changing so much that this old ideal that men should have short hair, young women should have long, and older women should have short, that's all sort of going out the window isn't it?
Maybe not...I've never been one to do as others told me anyway :)

[GoddesJourney]

I honestly think that people who write articles telling other people how to look are just out to make some noise. They need to write something to fill their magazines and a lot of people read them. I think that many people will always enjoy being told how to live and how to dress and where the hot, trendy places are to eat, etc. Those people will always read into what other people do based off that veiwpoint. Then, there really are people who like to go against the grain just to be different. I see these people as really no different than the aforementioned, really. They're still governed by the same trends and opinions only they oh so rebeliously go against them for whatever reason. That said, if you are not such a person and you just do whatever you feel like doing because that's what you like, that first group will more than likely place you in that second group. This may be irritating, but there's nothing you can do about it. I kind of feel bad for the people who base all of their opinions on life on articles they read in magazines, but I can't help them either. It was difficult enough to convince my own mom that she looks beautiful with long hair (and should never cut it short) and that all of the expert advice she got from parenting articles were what ruined our relationship when I was younger, which we have since for the most part fixed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a lot of people don't believe in all the garbage they read (or choose not to read) but you will likely never hear from them. The loud ones are usually the ones who believe in the "expert fashion advice". Don't get me wrong, there are some people who have an artistic eye and a gift for dressing someone to make them look good for their face and bodytype. Then there are "artistes" who believe in all of those stupid rules like "you can never do ___" and "you should always mix ____ with ___". Ah, well, not my problem... :D

[DreadfulWoman]

I think it is a lot more complicated than just ignoring some arbitrary cultural rules if you choose to do so. Ignoring those rules can have very real repercussions for people. DBF, for example, has been told that he will not be promoted at work if he doesn't cut his shoulder length hair. And lots of people face some serious pressure from friends, family, and SOs to wear their hair a certain way.

I think that it is really a shame too, because to me hair is such a personal thing. I don't mind (as much) being told how to dress or how to behave, because at the end of the day I still feel like me. But because hair is something that stays with you day and night, no matter where you are or what you're doing, to me it seems like it ought to be an outer manifestation of the inner self. And when (in the past) I've had my hair cut/ styled to suit other people I have felt like my inner self was being silenced, and that I had gone altogether too far in changing myself to please others.

Anyway, just my :twocents: on the matter.

[brunetka]

It is a shame. I saw a man on the train the other day with the most gorgeous thick, red, wavy hair nearly to his waist. (My dream hair!) It looked great on him!

[Madora]

Frankly, I couldn't care less about what society said about my long hair. As long as it was healthy and well groomed, so what if I'm 64 and it's past my waist?

Ditto for men. As long as it looks healthy and not all straggly and crummy looking, then go for it!