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Other than aesthetic choices. I mean like, a biological or purposeful point. I have mid back length hair, but I don't know if it is worth all of the trouble to maintain it. It gets in the way, it gets greasy, it has to be dried, it tangles in the wind, it curls up and looks ugly when it gets humid, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like being a longhair, but it really doesn't look like long hair has a purpose other than aesthetic preference.
For me- because I can! And because I had short hair most of my life, it's fun!
Hey Dick,
Great to see you back here, --- it's been awhile! And I agree fully with your reasoning, too!!
- Ken
Exactly my feelings! I'm having fun growing it 'cause I can. As well as recovering from decades of my compulsion to have short hair.
Don
The longhair journey seems to be a self exploration of values, individuality and inner strength. We have seen some folks here go through enormous personal growth while lengthening their hair and changing their appearance.
Nature provides the ability, it protects the head, it adorns the body, it allows an expression of individuality, etc. The greasy problem will exist, regardless of length, same with having to dry it. The getting in the way, curling in humidity, tangling in the wind, can all be controlled by braids, segmented tails, buns, etc. Things women have been doing for years.
Carol
I've wondered the same thing, that is, why did humans evolve in this way with this hair stuff growing out of their heads. Firstly, to get this far you have to be able to accept evolution as a fact. Okay, why the hair? I've guessed that we needed it (I'm going way back to cave days) because it was warm, kept the rain off, and maybe even protected our necks from blows. My hair, while fairly thin, still traps a surprising amount of heat. I find it comfortable for that reason in the winter time.
It may have also played a role in reproduction, i.e. people with long hair were taken to be superior for mating. Some people still find a sexual component to long hair today.
Why do men still go bald? Why hasn't that evolved out of the gene pool?
Because A. men usually go bald later on in life long after mating has taken place and B. it happens at an age that humans usually didn't reach hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Biologically, because people like it. Genes which exhibit traits that people find attractive get selected. Not all animals have long hair.
There's good reason people like it. People tend to find attractive traits which are evidence of good health (height, symmetry, strength, and so on), because a healthy mate is one who will help your genes to propagate.
Long hair, because it takes so long to grow, is evidence not just of good health today, but of a history of years of good health.
It soothes the mind.
Bruce
For me, it's more personality and kind of a protest than anything else. I've always liked long hair but I'd grow it to almost shoulder length and then cut it due to windy days, tangles, etc. Generally, my 'once-a-year-haircut.' In February and March of '04 I was taking a personal 'improvement' course in which they wanted you to change something about your physical appearance to symbolically show the 'new you.' So, it was about time for my 'once-a-year-haircut' anyway so I went ahead and did that. Then, a little while afterwards, I disagreed with their methods and dropped out. It was at that point, that I decided to never cut my hair again. The 'change in my physical appearance?' My wallet got a little thinner... ;)
--Rick
Aaah, Azure Night, what a perfect query you posit. Excellent, really. Azure Night, as in the azure seas. What a seque! Well, here goes. We're descend'd fr. aquatic apes. That's right. Aquatic apes. Brilliant female evolutionist, Elaine Morgan, was the toast of the book tour circuit when her continuation of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution came out in the 1970's in the guise of her title, "The Descent of Woman", hitting the book stores with much fanfare and more accolades.
According to Dr. Morgan, the reason we HAVE hair distributed where and how long on our persons is exactly because we came fr. aquatic apes. Ya gotta read it. I'm sure you can still find her tome on Al Libris, Amazon, and other online book concerns.
Other 'an at, it's an interesting "purposeful", as in biologically purposeful, point that she conveys. I, however, am a Creationist, a Pagan, albeit a Pagan Creationist, so (if you'll excuse the pun), her theory duzzint hold much water with me.
Look at organic chemistry. If you were to add a molecule of ferrous oxide, common iron, to chlorophyll, presto, change-o, a la kazzam! You'd instantaneously get hemoglobin.
The Norse Creation myth says man and woman were created from the ash and the elm tree, respectively. I'm with that. My people descend'd fr. trees, literally as WELL as figuratively. And that, Azure Night, is the biologically purposeful reason for hair; it is our carry-over fr. foliage. Jus' "leaf" it to an elf to come forth with this perspective! Good night, Azure Night.
Yours in life-long long-hair'd camaraderie,
Quenyan
This is my second attempt to post a reply. The first one isn't visible on the board, so the mods may want to look into what happened to it.
I think the aquatic ape theory is at least more plausible than the older savannah theory that many are still clinging to, but I'm still not sure if I'm convinced by it. Some other aquatic and partially aquatic mammals are also functionally hairless, but they don't have more fur on their heads like we do. I mentionned pigs and hippos to my son just now as examples of the latter, and he said he was trying to imagine pigs with wigs! Of course, there's always Miss Piggy from the Muppets! At the same time, the closest modern example of a monkey (not an ape, so not quite as close to humans) that lives aquatically, is not hairless.
There may be some kind of an explanation in that baby apes cling to their mother's fur, so that aquatic apes may have retained fur on their heads for their babies to hold on by, and I think that Elaine Morgan may have suggested this explanation. I can personally verify that human babies have a built-in instinct to hold onto long hair. Many women hack their hair off when they have babies to deliberately frustrate this instinct, which is doubly a shame both because it makes them look frumpy and because if it is there for this purpose they should keep it. I let our kids hold onto my hair when they were small, and let a baby tug my hair not long ago, so I'm not talking about something I wouldn't do myself.
Even so, this doesn't explain why our hair grows as long as it does. I think this really is a mystery.
Apparently Mother Nature thinks so, elsewise we wouldn't have it, or suppose to have it as deemed necessary by her. Most likely a protection measure for survival in our natural state on her part as to help hold in body heat which is very much lost without it and would put our species at severe risk of possible extinction.
Two main points:
1) Aesthetics: I look crap with short hair. Whereas I love the look of my hair down or in a tail. Also, I'm a big fan of elves and vikings, and having long hair brings me closer to that :P
2) Acts as a prejudiced idiot filter. You can immediately find out everything you need about someone if they come up and offer unwanted advice about cutting your hair. Even some of my friends changed my attitude to me, while some didn't.
3) The third point isn't really major, but I like being part of minorities :P
The biological purpose of hair is to keep the head warm, but of course, human hair grows much longer than is necessary for that purpose. Surely having long hair on one's head is not the most straightforward way to keep the shoulders, back, and legs warm.
Ed (who has reached calf-length)
And long nails :)
But yes, all of this points to the fact that "the process", which to me is Evolution, still has a lot of work to do :P Hopefully in our lifetime we'll have sufficient genetic engineering advances to rectify problems like MPB, though super-strength, speed and intelligence would also be welcome :P
It is great that that you decided to let it grow to full length, Ed. You have lovely hair. Please post a photo, I would love to see just how long your hair is now.
From a fellow longhair with hair that is knee length.
Scott
I've stopped posting hair photos because they attract unwanted attention.
I can describe what my hair looks like. It's not at all like the classic-length blunt cut that I had a few years ago. I now have a very apparent taper - only a few strands reach my calves; most give out somewhere between there and my hips. My hair is nowhere near as full as say Dave Decker's or Danny Cecati's.
The conventional wisdom would be to trim one's hair at the point where it gets too thin, but that would put me back at classic length (which is probably why it is considered "classic length"). I've been ignoring that "wisdom" and instead growing it as long as possible (even with the taper)!
Super-long hairs like us are a very small group. Take care.
Ed
Hi Ed, I know how that feels. I have gotten unwanted attention too, and it is annoying. (I have gotten e-mails from fetishists.) Probably fewer than one in ten thousand men have classic length or longer hair. It is unusual enough to attract some attention.
I met Dave Decker at a recent long hair meet. He is 6 feet tall. His hair is amazingly long, and has a rather extreme taper to it as well. A few strands reach his ankles. It really thins out past the middle of his thighs.
I have thought about trimming it back a bit but dedcided to let it grow to maximum length instead.
Super longhairs are an elite group for sure, and I am glad to belong to that group. Maybe I will get to meet you at a Bay Area longhair get together.
Scott
Far out! Pictures please!
Carol
Well if it's too much maintenance for your then cut it!
Cheers,
John.B
It sounds like you don't really like long hair that much. Are you on the right board?
Obviously not, considering my hair is longer than yours. It's been growing for a bit over 4 years.
Well, aesthetics are rather important, if taken to another level. For most people, feeling good about their image plays a very important role on their happyness, which is way more than just aesthetics.
This doesn't mean I see vanity as being important, I think people should like themselves and work their best to reach the image they want to have. Long hair plays a really important role in this matter.
If I didn't have my long hair, I wouldn't feel complete. Long hair to me is more than just long hair that I think that looks good. To me , long hair represents my love for the medieval feel of things. It also represents my childhood, since I was raised along a long haired girl (really long haired). It represents a bound with my sister (altough it would be the same if we were bald), it represents myself, my will to be diferent, my will to reach a higher point of being human. In the person I am, long hair is one part, and complements everything, like everything else complements the rest.
It's just about how you face it. I've been trough some hard things to reach where I am (altough not as hard as other stories I've heard), and I am so proud.
Most people, tough, face hair in a very cold point of view. Everyone has their own ideas about thing and I just come to have this idea that long hair can make you happy. Just feel it and look in the mirror... You have it! ^^
"It also represents my childhood, since I was raised along a long haired girl (really long haired)."
what exactly do you mean by this? i would love to see you elaborate.
Well in my humble opinion, and I only speak for myself, in spite of all those negitives you mentioned there is one and only one positive for me and that is I love how I look with longhair as it makes my feel good about myself:) Yes there are the bad hair days that drive you crazy but I deal with them as its not like everyday I have to battle with my hair.Also during work or exercise I just tie and cover it so it doesn't get all tangled and when all is said and done at the end of the day I remove my hat and my hair is perfectly untangled for a relaxing evening.Anyway just an opinion from a guy with waist length hair:))Mark
Why don't you post an update picture so we can see and perhaps give you some better advice!
Cheers,
John.B
Like Ed said I think it's to keep us warm but I think there must be something else too. Anyway, I'm sure there is a biological reason, nature doesn't create something that's useless.
Also, I think long hair is used to attract partners from the opposite sex. If you think primitively for one sec (lol), really long hair represents good health and species want healthy partners to reproduce. I'm sure it has some role in that sex chain.
To stick out from the sheep ;D
Of course there is point. It makes you feel good.
It's mostly because of its aestethic and artistic values that people discourage us having long hair; they say long hair has no any material worth. Well, who says we only need stuff in life which will bring us material worth? I mean, prehistoric man could do well enough without literature and music, while his average modern descendant would be pissed off at anyone who forbade him to listen to the tune and read the books he likes.
Long hair has solely aesthetic value as you mentioned and you enjoy it, no matter what effort you have to put up with. No truly enjoyable goal can be achieved without a lot of endeavour and commitment,can it? (which is, afterall, the test whether you really want your hair long or not)