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Whatzzz up y'all? Something hit me this morning I wanted to share. I was at the coffee shop and "people watching" as usual. I was noticing men with short hair, esp. men my age and, to put it bluntly, they all looked alike. We all know that the "acceptable" norm for middle aged men is the conservative look: basically short hair, with tapered sides and back. Now take long haired men. Well, even if it's long it looks different, thick...thin...curly...wavy...dreaded etc, and is worn differently; loose, ponytailed, half-tail, braided, hanging on both sides of the neck in front, over the shoulders and down the back, etc. depending on the individuals taste, genetics, culture and style. My point is (I think) that even though we have longhair in common, it looks different on each one of us, whereas short hair looks pretty much the same nomatter who's "wearing" it. B-UR-SLF- Bruce'ster - You're thoughts?
Even when I had much shorter hair I never had good hair :( What I mean is that I always liked the look of short hair feathered back on the sides cause I thought it looked cooler. My hair was always stick straight and would never have that wave or feathered look or anything. But I did see plenty of people with some curl or wave that I thought looked much better than mine did, even though we all had short hair. So I kept mine pretty short, to the top of the ear on the sides and about to my eyebrows for bangs. Mainly I did this because I thought my hair so boring that the less of it there was the less stupid it would look (to me anyway since it had no interesting features). The best look I could pull off then was non-descript lol.
So there are great variances in people's short hair but they are all genetic and not a style choice mostly just like you said, all worn the same cause how much can you do with hair that short.
Unfortunately today with longer hair I still have the same problem, straight boring hair, just lots more of it! No waves, nothing much interesting going on. There is probably a length that suits me best but I am not sure what it is. I am thinking lately of looking at my hair progress pictures to see if there was a length I liked better than the current one.
So many people here seem to have a rock steady goal of what they want and I wish I felt the same but I really have no clue what I am doing that way :(
I kind of prefer my hair to hang behind me all at the back but it isn't long enough for me and invariably comes forward. I would like it if I could keep it at the back without doing a tail but that just isn't happening at my current length. I also would like to not have to tuck my hair behind my ears cause I think it looks better loose but if I do that it gets in my face too much. So what I look like isn't all by choice, even now lol, people might think I am expressing myself but physical reality trumps taste for me.
Hair is like that. It mostly does what it wants, rather than what you want. Beleive it or not, my ideal is straight hair, whereas mine is wavy. For me, at least the extra length prevents it sticking up or sticking out, but by the time I got over the idea that straightening was girly I realised that straightening would damage my hair, and you can't afford to do anything that may damage your hair if you want it longer than shoulders.
Part of growing out is accepting the hair type you have, and realising that there is always someone else who wishes their hair was like yours, when you may wish at the same time that yours was like theirs!
We all have different faces, and we all have different hair. That is part of nature's plan, a plan to make each of us a unique individual.
Bill
Bruce, I think you're on to something. I notice that where I work the skinhead look is popular for guys and looking from behind it is hard to tell the ones with shaved heads apart. Especially since everyone is wearing the same uniform. By the way I have noticed that longhair on men my age(mid 50s)generally makes them look younger.
peace, jonalbear
You may be true, but hair is just one thing amongst other that defines a person. Probably while you were watching other people, you were concentrating on their hair. But if you look at them as a whole(not sure of the word),
you would see that everybody is different, whatever their hair length.
I agree with you very much on this one. Long hair brings-out the individuality differently on ea. person. It also, (my opinion) gives the face a less harsh and more humane look to it. Good point you have made.
Hi Bruce,
It is GREAT to see you back with us again, and I just posted my 41 month update below. (Feel free to scroll down and leave a comment if you wish)
You have some EXCELLENT points about the variety with long hair on guys. There are a lot of varities of ways of wearing long hair, and one of the best examples is Jason, who has tried all variety of braids, half tails, and loose styles. With short hair, you cannot even tell if the hair will be curly or straight before it grows in. When growing long hair for the first time, it is almost like a gift being unwrapped, and almost everyone looks different.
I am really looking forward to an update from you,a nd hoping you are feeling better as well, I know you had some health issues earlier in the summer.
Take care,
David
I am in exactly the same frame of mind, everyone (no matter what age) has buzzed hair in my school, bar a few.
I bet a lot of my friends will go through life never knowing their own hair type, because it never gets long enough to tell.
one lad who i ahve always thought had staright hair when he had a constant buzzcut, now is known to have very curly hair since he let it grow a little, it was as much a shock to him as anyoen else...
I totally understand what you are talking about, as I didn't know I had wavey hair when I was a kid, because my dad forced me and my 4 brothers to all have military-style short haircuts. It wasn't until i left home at age 18, growing my hair out a bit then, that I discovered there were waves in my hair!
- Ken in San Francisco
I'd say you pretty much summed it up. Long hair enables people to style it in a number of ways, and the hair's texture obviously shows more with added length. Its simply not possible to differentiate to a great degree with really short hair, besides color and relative thickness/thinness.
Peace,
Ryan
Alright Bruce,
I really get your point. One of my favourite things about long hair is , (if your hair is not interfered with), nature dictates the look you get and everyone is different even with some close similarities - and it's genuinly interesting to me. Not that I have a problem with people who want to have short hair, but, having your hair cut to a well worn style would be like everyone having the same pattern and colour in your eyes if it could be changed by humans. That would be very boring.
Good post mate.
Neil
A longhair, once he gets past a certain point, starts to be able to use all those accesssories: hair cuffs, hair ties, hair sticks, barettes, clips, and such.
I agree with most of what you said Bruce. Long hair on men does make a person more individualistic looking. But I don't think anyone here should dis short haired men. After all, hair (long or short) doesn't make a person. It's what's inside that counts the most.
Interesting thoughts Bruce'ster. I completely agree and it saddens me to a degree. Hair is such a distinuishing feature of human beings and such a large percentage (mainly men) never get to fully appreciate it or even discover what type of hair they really have.
This is exactly how I feel.
It's not like I'm trying to be necessarily different than everybody else, but they all just look so...bland.
That's also how my girlfriend first noticed me. Not only does she love long hair in the first place, but, I do kind of stand out in a crowd of short haired/shaggy haired guys.
Bruce'ster ..
What's up man? I couldn't agree more .. Its much esier to identify a long haired man verses a short haired one. The characteristics of long hair are just much nicer than boring same ol short ...
Take care and keep it growin..
Tristan