new thread
I've seen quite a few posts here related to hair acceptance. Some are positive, and some are negative. I think it would be interesting to see what the overall statistics would show if everyone posted their town/city/state and whether strangers in public are generally accepting or rejecting of your hair length, and maybe some background. I'll start:
Myersville, MD - Accepting; it's a somewhat mixed town in terms of liberal/conservative, the people are generally nice to each other.
Berlin, Germany: VERY accepting.
Smaller cities in Germany: Usually still very accepting.
Small towns / villages: I think there's a North-South gradient. I don't seem to have problems in the North at all. In the rural South, there may be more people with reservations - but I'd like to hear from people from the rural South. (I know that one "former longhair" who lives in Bavaria didn't consider growing his hair back for that reason - but that was 15 years ago.)
I live in St.Louis...but am not sure if my hair is accepted or not,because I don't get any comments at all.
I'm in Asheville, NC, and I've received no negative comments whatsoever, only positive.
Tarnaveni, Romania (lived there till I was 12 then moved to Canada, based on my visit in 2005 when I had just started growing it) - neutral leaning towards negative, btu that's because it's a smaller city
Richmond Hill, ON - just north of Toronto - neutral.
Hi Mihnea,
is Tarnaveni anywhere near Cluj-Napoca? I'm asking this because I was wondering how you would know German, and I'm aware of a German-speaking minority around Cluj (also called Klausenburg).
As you know, Romania is now a proud member of the European Union.
All the best!
Hans-Uwe
It's about an hour and a half drive from Cluj Napoca, and yeah there are quite a few German speaking people there! And I only know 3 or 4 expressions in German because my father went there a lot in the 90's, and I also have an aunt that lives in Germany, in Blaufelden. And yes, it was a double celebration on New Year's Eve due to the EU joining!:)
-Mihnea
Montréal,
Long hair is a common sight in Montreal, and you may even see people working with the public sporting ponytails.
Reactions from strangers are neutral, and at work, neutral to positive.
With four major universities, and a few community colleges, there are lots of younger folks in this city. Despite the winter cold, I feel the atmosphere of Montreal is very much like San Francisco, Berkeley, very bohemian.
On a crowded bus or subway car, I usually see between one and three other longhairs (shoulder-length, ponytail or longer).
Have a nice day,
Georges
My hometown was Starks, Louisiana. There wasn't very much acceptance there at all, but I know a few factors that probably contribute to that. First of all it is a very small town. It's actually considered a village, because we have no governor or elected officials. Secondly, it is a VERY religious/conservative town. In the center of town there are actually three different churches in one square mile, not to mention a few more that are scattered in other parts of town. Considering we only have about 600 people, 5 or 6 churches is a lot. I would estimate that about half of the town goes to one of the churches in town, and I have yet to know of a longhaired guy who went to any of them. Furthermore, I have went to school with a few longhaired guys who cut their hair shortly after they started attending one of the churches. So, yes, it's definitely a very ultra-conservative place to grow up. I got a few comments on my hair when I was there, but nothing too bad. It's mostly the older people that seem to not like long hair on guys. The younger people are much more accepting and actually seem to be quite liberal. I've gotten many nice comments from people in my age group.
These days I live in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Since I live on a college campus, I see longhaired dudes just about everyday, especially in the science building =P Last semester there was an attractive blonde who sat behind me in psychology class and played with my hair. So, it would seem that LC gets two thumbs up as far as longhair acceptance.
Noble
Religion has a lot to answer for.
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Not many longhairs here, but there seem to be more and more as time goes on. Today was a good "longhair day", saw lots of them in the mall. I don't get comments from total strangers in general except for a guy visiting our lab today from out of town who wanted long hair himself and was envious of mine.
I´d say very accepting in all of sweden. Swedes are generally reserved and mind our own business. Maybe if you know someone well you´ll coment on their hair.
If swedes get drunk though, which we are quite often ;), we get ruder. :D
Your town is near Uppsala, isn't it? Is it true that everyone screams on their balconies at 22:00 each night (flogstaskriket) in Uppsala?
Vi ses, Bragi
Yeah, Uppsala isn´t very far from Västerås.
I´ve actually never heard of flogstvrålet before. I used wikipedia and found out that all the students yell out their frustration over their exams at 22:00.
So the entire city doesn´t yell at the same time. ;) (Would´ve been really fun though)
Just like my fellow European Hans-Ewe there are no issues with having longhair in the UK and it's accepted and I've seen very little discrimination here.
John.B
Sounds great, John. That's nice to know. I'll be in Europe in April on vacation and will be spending a few days in London. Where, in the UK, do you live? Would like to do a face-to-face meeting if possible.
--Rick
Here in Kiruna there's many long-haired men, it's most common by younger boys in the school here, almost everyday i see at least one guy with long hair, i've also seen older men sporting grey ponytails, hehe:D
So if any of you ever come visit Kiruna you probably shouldn't get any negative comments about you hair:)
Simon
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Well, it all depends on where you are. Of course, since madison is one of the most liberal cities in the United States, almost anything is accepted in the downtown/college campus area. However, in suburban areas it is open to more scrutiny. It is not, however, negative. Most of the comments i get in my neighborhood are of misunderstanding, due to the fact that my neighborhood is filled with middle aged people with younger children. They simply CANNOT understand why someone would want long hair, but they do not criticize (with the exception of the ever popular Austin-related jokes, because everyone knew me before with short hair) the hair itself. In the outskirts of the city where there are many "clean cut" farmers and their children, you receive much flak. However, this is very tolerable, considering their lack the capacity to insult you effectively due to their poor vocabulary. (plus the rural accent is just funny. XD) Finally, i receive the most trouble from my church and its members. My parents are die-hard catholics, and associate my long hair with rebellious, godless people who worship satan. what a terrible misunderstanding!
I just hope that one day everyone (or at least a good percentage) will be open to other people's individuality and won't feel the need to insult someone for their unique traits that make people who they are. = /
so was Jesus a rebellious, godless person who worshipped Satan? Joking:P.
-Mihnea
lol, that is a great point. i should bring that up.
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Face_of_Jesus.htm
Well I've visited Madison a few times and seen quite a few people with longhair along State Street and the Uni. A nice place to visit and a lovely winery at Prarie-Du-Sec and worth flying 4000 miles to taste the vintage.
John.B
South Florida is about as ethnically deverse as you could find in this country, so pretty much anything goes. However, on the employment scene long hair on males is still looked at very negatively. Interesting,with large Jamaican/afro-american population here, long dreads on males are fully accepted INCLUDING most employment setting where long hair on non-blacks are not. My supervisor at work asked what tribe I belonged too ( he knew I was part native american). I told him,and that was the last time the subject about my hair really came up!
Yeah Florida sounds like a cool place, so many great death metal bands are from Florida
-Mihnea
Lots of creative types here, so long hair is common, and seems accepted fairly well. I work for the city bus system, and many of the drivers, administrators, and support personnel are longhairs, so I wasn't worried about growing it out. So far, no negative comments at all.
Lexington Park, MD:
I get the occasional positive comment, nothing really negative at all.
Jim
Clinton, Connecticut
Neutral, I think. I have never received a negative comment. I see a few older guys with ponytails almost every day, but mostly young guys with long/shaggy hair. I think being a small New England town, people tend to mind thier own buisness.
Bruce
San Jose, California here... This area seems to be quite accepting of guys with long hair. I've had no negative comments, a few positive, and a bunch of mindless stares. :)
--Rick
I split my time between New Orleans and a small town just south of Houston near the Johnson Space Center.
New Orleans: Very accepting
Friendswood: Very conservative, mostly neutral