new thread
Are there any regions in the U.S. that are more tolerant towards long hair on men.
I mean I'm not asking for a place where everyone has long hair, but where people don't try to talk you into getting a buzz/fade/flattop every week. >-(
the usual "dude, when ya gonna get your hair cut off?" and
"you should try a number 2/fade/buzz blah blah blah"
Florida is so proshort hair and when I mean Short I stipulate military cuts. there's hardly any guys with hair over their ears around here. only a few and with shoulder length there seems to be a severe shortage.
how about Texas? I thought of moving to Austin once. how is DFW?
any other areas that are more tolerant than Florida? less tolerant?
I'm not sure how it is up in St.Petersburg but down here in Miami I haven't received any flak yet regarding my hair. There are few long hairs down here though, thats for sure. Most of the people around these parts sport buzz cuts or really short styles which is completely understandable as the weather isn't long hair friendly at all.
Portland, OR. Close to half of us have medium-length or long hair. We are the hidden secret of the NW.
What part of Florida are you in? I've seen lots of long hair in Jacksonville and Volusia County, down in that area.
I'm in Georgia, right up the road from you. I'm only about 70 miles from Florida actually. I used to work at a bank, and I had lots of trouble there trying to have longer hair. Aside from that very situation, I've never gotten any true negativity from long hair. It seems that around here a lot of younger guys have shaggy type hair and a fair amount of older guys have hair that would be considered long. On the whole, I would guess it is about the usual 3% of men that have long hair. It might be higher actually just because the population around here is "red-necky" enough, and long hair is not frowned upon in that social setting.
I don't think here is where you probably want to relocate to however. Not that it's all that bad, but it's not the cultural hub of the universe or anything like that.
Maybe since Florida's so hot, guys keep their hair short moreso than other places?
Tampa Bay area and Pinellas to be precise. I've had friends who moved here from Tallahassee, who didn't have a problem with their long hair there working, but did here in this area.
this area seems to be predominately PRO-shorthair, at least on Men. lots of buzzcuts and flattops around here.
the only jobs guys with long hair seem to be able to get is construction type jobs and some factory jobs, but even some manufacturing places seem to have a lack of long hairs. I was told by some that "if you want to work at such and such you'd better have short hair when you apply" and these aren't resorts or customer service jobs either. it isn't stipulated in the requirements, it's sort of a "hidden fact" about the mindset of the management of certain corporations in the area.
I do see some "longish" hair on highschool age kids on occassion, but these aren't guys in the workforce yet. either they'll have to comply when they start seeking employment or relocate unless they have some really special skill that is in demand and most of the jobs here outside of medical are entry level on average, if that. other than that it's work in some dirty warehouse with no AC or construction which I wouldn't recommend in this climate.
I don't know if it's the Pro-Republican climate of this particular region that has anything to do with it, but others have suggested that. I tend to steer clear of politics in general.
Celebration of diversity very nearly describes San Francisco, and parts of the surrounding Bay Area. Long hair too, but in general, tolerance of all things.
Excellently siad, Trolleypup, --- I couldn't agree more!
It also doesn't hurt to consider the fact that cool-summer climates, such as foggy coastal Northern CA, is a helpful factor in this equation, too. Longhairs feel less tempted to cut where the weather is not oppressively hot & humid most of the year. The same could be said of the Pacific NW states of Oregon and Washington (and my guess would be Alaska, too), as well as any of the regions near the Canadian border, the Rocky Mountain states, and the upper Great Lakes region. And when I visited the UK in the Spring of '06, I was pleasantly shocked to see how many longhairs were walking around Edinburg, Scotland, with their flowing manes blowing in the breeze, --- another area of the world with a Maritime climate that has cooler, more comfortable summers.
- Ken
Why is California more long hair friendly than the rest of the country?
Do you think the entertainment industry have anything to do with it?
Is it the educational system?
What makes one area more tolerant than another?
The South West is casual in all dress aspects, including hair length/style. I am impressed with the number of men in all age groups who are letting their hair grow out....seems like more in the 30+ group.
Austin would be the best bet; Austin is the most progressive city in Texas, is the seat of the state government, and the home of the University of Texas.
DFW is much more of a standard Texas city.
Houston has areas of great diversity in the downtown area, but some of the fringe areas are pretty conservative (such as the NASA area)
I'm from Chicago, and I'm noticing more men with long hair. No-one has said anything negative to me so far about me growing my own hair. In fact, there are two other guys that work at the same building that have longer hair than I do. Mine is about 7-8 inches long.
I can only speak for the West Coast in generalities. But here we seem to have little trouble that I am aware of. CA,OR, and WA States. Also the San Jaun Islands that divide the US from Canada in upper Wa.
This is always an interesting topic. It seems that younger guys tend to face more objections from people than guys my age. I travel to Florida, Texas and many other states on a regular basis and I have never had any problems in any state. The most long hair that I have ever seen was in Colorado Springs, CO. I have seen more long hair there than on the West Coast and certainly more than in Texas. Also, I do see a lot of long hair in St. Petersburg, FL. I go to St. Petersburg every other week, however, the intense heat and humidity is a real problem for me there.
jeffrey.
I visited Colorado Springs a few years back when I was still in the resort business and HAD to have short hair and I was in shock to see so many guys with long hair and I mean mid-back length. with my really short hair at the time I stuck out and there didn't seem to be any guys around with buzzcuts either. perhaps there are some in the area, but I was only there for two weeks. gets cold at night even in August.
Austin is very longhair friendly, after all our motto is "keep Austin Weird"...
I just want to have the right to wear my hair long regardless of what I do for a living.
The Washington DC metro area (including the surrounding largely urban areas of VIrginia and Maryland) is very liberal and here long hair is not a big deal. It is not ubiquitous but neither does it get you many negative comments either.
Also, the DC Human Rights Act bans discrimination based on hair style, amongst a list of other things as long as your arm, so employers in the nation's capital _cannot_ tell you to get a haircut.
OTOH, the weather is freezing in winter and boiling in summer (humid too), pretty much the worst of both worlds. You get used to it, sort of.
I live in Orlando, FL, but I go to school in Baton Rouge, LA, and let me tell you - Florida isn't bad at all when it comes to long hair on guys. Florida is almost a world all it's own - it's kind of hard to explain to someone not from the U.S.
Have you ever heard of the South? And I'm not talking pure geography. The South is its own culture, has its own heritage, and for the most part is EXTREMELY conservative, and while Florida is America's southernmost state (besides Hawaii), it is not considered to be part of "the South." I could explain it to you, but it would take a little while.
The point is, Florida, or at least in the cities in Florida (can't vouch for the rural areas, but do you really want to live in those parts??), is very tolerable. For the three years I had long hair, I was never picked on or anything. Just don't try to get a job at Disney - they are probably the strictest company in the world when it comes to long hair.
Give Florida a shot, don't write it off so quickly. Anywhere you go you'll probably get some sort of whatever about your long hair (except California), but keep in mind that California is the most expensive place in the entire country to live.
Anyone wanna help me out with explaining the South? And when you call an American a Yankee, don't call a Southerner a Yankee - that'd be like calling an Englishman an Irishman, I think...
Larger cities in Texas, especially Austin, are pretty accepting of long hair. Many of the computer-related businesses in Austin are accepting of long hair.
San Antonio, where I live, is fairly accepting of long hair, especially in the Hispanic community. However, S.A. is also a military town. You see a lot of buzz-cuts here, too.
I think the most liberal cities are those in the Northwest: Seattle and Portland. You are going to find narrow-minded people where ever you live. I would have thought Florida was pretty accepting of long hair.
TLH
The problem with your question is that you're asking about entire states, which are generally pretty darn huge. Saying "Florida" doesn't like long hair is pretty much absurd, as I doubt you've been to every town in the state and measured the number of longhairs. At any rate, even if you had, there's no guarantee that anywhere will be more pro- or more anti-long hair than anywhere else; there will always be individuals who break the norm, whether you run into them or not.
Besides...I go to school in Florida, I have long hair, and nobody from the U.S. has told me to cut it. If anything, girls want to play in it, straighten it (yikes lol), etc. And lots of males in my area, both on- and off-campus, have longish to genuinely long hair. Sure, there are more short-hairs overall, but long hair is far from being a needle in a haystack. (Considering how developed the area around my school is, that's an apt comparison, lol....)
Peace
I've lived in other regions. if you're up in Tallahassee it's a bit different. so is Orlando just like Austin is different from Waco or Abilene.
I live near Boston, and long hair is no problem at all here. While Boston may not have the same reputation as San Francisco, it's quite a liberal city. In general, I'd say that like the northwest, the northeast is also a good area for longhairs.
So, I just walked about 5 blocks, and out of about 20 guys I passed on the street, I saw 3 guys with long (>1ft) hair, and at least 4 guys with medium-length (touching shoulders) hair. (If the guy in the gray suit with the ponytail is reading this: you're not my type -- I was only checking out your hair, honest.)
I've never heard anybody in the city make a crack about somebody's appearance; we're just too mellow. (Everybody here looks strange in some way or other -- long hair is about the least you can do. I see piercings, tattoos, guys in skirts ... I think the alien from Predator could walk around and we'd just say "so, you want whip on your mocha?".) Besides, we're smart enough to know that long hair is sexy.
Our winters are cool, putting hair to good use, but not insanely cold like some places I could mention (and have lived). Our summers are warm but not uncomfortably hot for us hairy people. We're not very windy (no offense, SF, you're an awesome city, but sometimes the wind can get pretty crazy there!). We have really good coffee, and no income tax.
Truly, Seattle is the perfect city for longhairs.
Hi Jack,
I can tell you the upper midwest is a mixed bag. In Wisconsin where I live Madison, Milwaukee, and Lacrosse are three islands
of openmindedness in a see of narrow minds. I used to live in Madison and as it's the state capitol and a big university town
it's very prosperous and laid back. Also there were guys with long hair all over the place. I now live in Fond du lac and it's much more conservative here although there a few longhairs around. I don't get negative comments just a few compliments and the usual questions.
Like Jeffrey said people don't tend to hassle us older guys so much. I might add I used to live in Northern Indiana and longhairs were more abundant there but it is what I would call a low rent area and so I left for greener pasteurs. Attitudes there are indifferent to longhair for the most part but the further south you go the worse it gets.
So are the ways of the world I guess
Kevin
In New York a male white longhair isn't that much of a minority. Considering you got a mix of the whole world in New York City. A black guy with long dreads sued the city for telling him to cut it and the courts sided with him. In New York you can sue for just about anything, so most employers would rather not face a bias suit.
I have heard Austin described as an "island" in the middle of Texas. There certainly seemed to be plenty of longhairs during the week I spent there in the mid 1990s; I doubt it's changed. Another area like that you might not have heard of: Asheville, NC.
Of course, what others have said of the Bay Area and Pac. NW bears repeating.
I live in Tucson AZ, and long haired men are EVERYWHERE! I almost never hear rude comments. It's GREAT!!! And when I'm out and about in my kilt, I get positive comments, looks, and even hit on (much to my wife's chagrin). Anybody looking for a place with an open-minded attitude who's willing to move to get it, this is your place!
Lon
I think that any area with a high American Indian population will automatically be long-hair accepting. When I can, I'm moving to NM.
There are several businesses (and restaurants) where guys have at least shoulder length hair...some have hair all the way down their backs.
Austin is VERY liberal. We have a place called Hippie Hollow a County owned Park on the water where it is LEGAL to be nekkid. Does that say anything about our town???
G-O