Hey ho.
I'm not long enough on the forums to know if this had been posted before, but this is something worth a read, and every long-hair here should know EVERYTHING written on this page. Might make your day :)
http://www.pg.com/science/haircare/hair_twh_toc.htm
I think a picture on page 22 is controversial and might imply that men can't have longer hair, plus the example given is too extreme, a 2x difference of length.
It also says:
"How long anagen lasts is determined genetically, and varies between the sexes and from one person to another."
While it's true with MPB, I also think it's not very correct to say that in general about the sexes. It's not that much different.
These things aside, it's a pretty good guide to hair.
Bear this in mind when you look at the site:
provided by the P&G Hair Care Research Center.
i.e. they are trying to sell you hair care products.
And as another poster mentioned see page 22.
How long is your hair? I am a hairdresser Lynne
i've seen that website several times before. i like the pictures and some of the info is helpful, but somewhat misguided where it concerns the hair types:
Caucasoid
The Caucasoid group is the most 'varied' of the three racial groups. Modern Caucasoids are very varied, even though they are descended from the same group of ancestors. They range from the fair-skinned people of north-west Europe to the widely varying peoples of the Indian subcontinent. Their hair may be either wavy or straight, and the diameter varies widely too. The color ranges from black to a pale blond that is almost white, including just about every possible shade in between.
this is somewhat accurate, although many people in the mediterranean and east africa can have kinky hair regardless of skin color :P
eg--the vast majority of somalis have loose curls and facial features to the point where they might be considered indians...however there are brown-skinned indians in indian who look like africans with straight hair.
African
African people originated in Africa. Their hair is black and tightly curled. It tends to be woolly and dry, and is extremely easily damaged by heat or chemicals.
this is not always true either. my sister and i both have somewhat tight curls. she has a very oily scalp and mine has become oily as well. her hair used to be all the way down her back but she cut off most of it in these last few months
I thought it was a little odd too, until you think of it as just hair types and not races. For example, North Africans have caucasian features and olive skin, but you could say they have African hair. I would also say that some Indians have asian hair, but others have more like caucasian hair, although it's still black.
I think the way to look at it is they don't care about the race of the person that the hair is attached to, just which of the three categories the hair falls in, which is fair enough. If they aren't completely accurate about who has what hair, they do describe the hair itself accurately so that the stylists can identfy it.
I've read it before. It's quite interesting, although there are a few inaccuracies too. I would guess that in the picture comparing the man and the woman her 'before' length was at least as long as his 'after' picture shows, for example.