new thread
Here is why I think alot of people, especially conservatives, reject long hair. I have read an article about why is America homophobic (attached below), and I think the same is said about why people dont accept longhairs either. I think it has to do with the fact that since first grade every men is afraid of being called lady or sissy or something and they think since many girls have longhair they think the less they look like women the better. Unfortunatly people who choose to have longhair they become scapegoats, much like gays, lesbians, and bi/transexuals. I do not believe that it has anything to do with religion. Oftentimes religion becomes an excuse for people to do bad things like killing people in the name of God and things like that, and it is really human's sinful nature. Its like when there are only 6 verses that has anything to do with homosexuality in the Bible, to many church it seems to be a mortal sin compared to others even though it is clear from a biblical perspective that all sins are equally bad, and everyone is a sinner regardless of social status/mojo/whatever. However to argue this to a religious conservative is like saying "death to muhammad" in front of fundementalist muslims (you know the one that shoots you for being longhair/not wearing veils/ things like that) therefore its sometimes best not to reason with them, because you can't. Therefore best thing to do is stay away from people like this because chances are, it's not religious issue, it's really some personal issue they have had that makes them like this. It's going to take some serious whack with a stick to get them back on the right path.
If you live in a conservative state/country best thing is move (if possible) or else hunt around and hope there's a boss that is not so conservative.
Real reason Straights cant accept gays.
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could it also be jealousy?
I worked for a company beside a guy who had beautiful red hair which he'd grown below his shoulders and kept in a pony tail. An American company took it over (its in the UK) and his new american boss told him to cut it, which he did. He decided to sponsor it for charity and, on the day of the haircut the boss turned around and said 'I used to have really long hair when i was a student, but i cant now'. The thing is he could have left this man alone, but instead it seemed to be a case of 'if i cant, he cant'. The guy didnt wasnt to lose his job, he had a wife, kids, mortgage so he was bullied into losing his hair. I still think to this day, the american boss did it out of spite and jealousy.
I have to agree that religious fervor or manipulations of biblical and other religious texts, added to people's blind adherence to said principles in many places in the world.
I'm certainly grateful that here, religion takes a backseat to almost everything. It came out of favor in the 60s in the province of Quebec. People also are generally more accepting.
Horror stories I would read or hear about from other places and many from the US are the kind of thing I was awaiting. I was really taken aback when most-everyone was accepting of me as a trans-girl.
A lot of people have shown their support or offered to help me in any ways they could. What's generally said about coming out as trans is that you should be prepared for the worst and losing friends and family and even career. No such thing happened, although I don't work currently by choice (well rather a forced choice), I had no friends and was distanced from family. Coming out made me come closer to people, and I made a lot of friends since. My family's also most accepting.
I can only hope that strict religious dogma falls out of favor for a more accepting view of people. I have no doubt that it would contribute to lessen hate crimes and discrimination against all those that don't fit the norm.
Sara
Do you know Jesus himself didn't like religion very much either. When he was here there were also many religious leaders like the pharisees and sadusees. They are both high ranking jewish scholer that knows the law inside and out, yet Jesus called them "white washed tombstone, looks good on the outside and full of dead men's bone on the inside". Even John the Baptist tells them "You brood of vipers, who hath warned you of the wrath to come". It is apprant that God does not approve of religion because it creates division, it makes people worship idols like laws or statues. It makes people unaware of the one living God who loves people enough to die for everyone. So therefore I think religion is an evil tool used by the higher ups (like pharisees) to maniuplate people into their control.
You knew him? wow, and there's me thinking it was just fantasy.
Hi Sara:
It's good to hear that you've had mostly positive experiences in your journey. Many people, as you know, aren't quite so lucky.
With a little (no, make that a lot) of love, kindness and rational thinking, maybe the world can slowly become a better place.
peace,
dino
Hi
Tai Fu
That is there policy NOT mine me myself take everyone as I find them weither they are Gay , Bio or straight it is there choice and their choice alone so I accepted all so that dont mean nothing to me whats printed in papers or posted on the internet like them I myself am entitled to my opinion ive read theirs and do not agree in the slightest and Im a Straight guy at that !!
Axel
That article isn't really relevant. Long hair on men isn't feminine - it's the opposite. How do all the romanticized heros or barbarian warlords always look? Long haired. Heroic men who get the beautiful women in the end? Long haired. Wrestlers who bodybuild and such? Long haired. Long hair is more masculine than short hair in my opinion - what's the gay stereotype? Short, gelled hair. I would go as far as to say a short haired man is repressed and emasculated. Short hair shows "discipline" (not in the good way, as in, the man has been pussy whipped). Look at the army, the shaving of hair signifies a man being identical to the others and completely taken of his free will.
Maybe both views are correct. From my experiences as a gay man (who, at one time, was a gay adolescent, and can attest to the difficulty of the coming-out process), I really feel and believe that many points in the article are true, or at least make a lot of sense. At the same time, you're right about images of long haired men representing something very masculine, or hypermasculine. Maybe what it is is fantasy. To use your word, our romanticized vision is that those men who are truly ultra-masculine and powerful are the only ones who are entitled to have long hair, but such archetypes don't exist among ordinary humanity, so to show respect, our males submit to the scissors.
I'm obviously just spouting off with (probably misguided) thoughts, but perhaps something in our subconscious acknowledges this to be the case. It would be interesting to know whether there is anything in the literature of psychoanalysis that deals specifically with the issue of long hair on men. My guess is that there probably is. Freud, anyone?
http://www.choisser.com/longhair/rajsing3.html
This is a lawyer data case (a pretty long one at that), about the reasons raised for prison officials, and it also touches the army, to want men to have short hair and shaved facial hair.
Near the top it states two rules:
From the more cynical perspective, there are two classes of justifications for prison hair regulations: the real reasons, and the reasons that will more likely be offered in a court of law. The real reasons are grounded in the following two rules:
RULE #1: A man's reasons for refraining from hair-cutting practices all relate to his assertion, intended consciously or subconsciously, that he is not the servant of other men. RULE #2: When people in authority demand that a man cut his hair or shave his face, their purpose in doing so is to require the clipped man to openly demonstrate his obedience and subservience to them through emasculation.
This data case dates back a few years, but I found it pretty interesting to counter arguments prisons/army have raised against long hair. It's less applicable to real life (since it's more specific to prisons), but I'm sure it can be adapted too.
Sara
I read something about the mention of gays in the bible. In the same book (Deuteronomy? I dunno, I'm an atheist), it is stated that it is also a grave sin to grow more than one type of crop in a field. Plus, slavery is permitted!
We have a saying in our family that you can prove any point of view by quoting from the bible.
