new thread
I had suggested a topic for us to toss around maybe 3 weeks ago but no one took it up so I am reposting it.
I've seen several little girls with long hair that have grown up only to discard their long hair when the become teens or into their twenties saying that they were sick of the long hair they grew up with.
Since most boys are brought up with short hair and continue to wear short hair after they have grown up, do you think that boys who are brought up with long hair would be different from the girls and tend to keep their longer hair as a teen or adult? And why?
Firsthand knowledge would be great but go ahead an speculate too. Any input from the women reading this would be helpful too.
Rev. Erik
I think adolescence plays a huge part in the way people see themselves. Some people expect to see physical changes happen overnight (whether it be bigger breasts, a more muscular torso etc.) but, as is often the case, things seem to stay the same. Due to this, I think that some teenagers may do drastic things to visually change themselves - such as cutting away long locks of hair that have been with them all their life, or starting to grow hair that's been closely-cropped since the day they were born. Obviously other people may choose to do this by having piercings/tattoos but I still think it's a valid point.
I'm 18 now and began to grow my hair out from a shaved head on my 16th birthday. Everyone has an awareness of their appearance, and while some people choose to solely change their behaviour as they approach adulthood, an equal portion choose to completely alter their image as well. As for men that choose to grow their hair, particularly in the judgemental Western culture, I think it's a sign of a positive personality - one that has the capacity for patience, the courage to look how they want to, and a great degree of tolerance. All good virtues!
Matt: you sound like a very mature and bright 18 yr. old. The world needs people like you.
The strange thing is that a LOT of people my age (18 or so) seem very mature. On a message board I frequent, there's a 13-year-old girl who I could have sworn was 25 until she told us about the fun she had at her Bat Mitzvah. Sometimes us 'young'uns' don't get the credit we deserve and are tarred with the same brush, no?
Sounds pretty great Matt. How long is your hair now? Got any pics of yourself.
well i was raised with the pigshave.. if you dono what sorta cut that is, take a closer look at the word..
and ever since i had a choice, it has been pretty long, and im going even longer.. one of my friends has always had long hair, still does..
its a personal thing, but i am seeing more and more girls with short hair
Who had long hair from when he was a small child. When he was a junior in high school, he decided to cut it. Why? "He was tired of having to maintain his long hair."
I was a little girl that grew up with short hair( not allowed to have long as it was too much work), I grew up and grew my hair and never looked back, I hate short hair! confused for a boy too many times to mention as a child and still my grandmother never clued in to growing my hair.
Father of three children here, ages ranging from 15 to 7, two girls and a boy. I am also a teacher--teaching and working with teenagers for the last 20 years. I have only had long hair for the better part of two years now, but I would speculate that what you are observing is simply young people growing up and needing to experiment in order to find out who they are under all the expectations that have been laid on them by the adults in their world. Hair would just be one way of doing that. My sense is that boys and girls would do the same--have the same need to find themselves. I also observe that some human beings are more or less self-aware as they begin this process.
Rather than hair length being the issue, I think that if adults as parents and as those who interact with children could learn not to lay their expectations and fears on kids, we would see less dramatic acting out on the part of kids trying to get rid of the stuff laid on them by the adults in their world. If somebody determines that Johnny or Janie must have hair a certain way, then as a teen and young adult undoing that hairstyle as a way of getting that adult off their backs is almost required.
I grew up the first born of parents who were convinced that the Beetles were the communist, atheistic threat against all good Americans (which, for them, synonymously meant Christian as well). Hence, I wore a "flat top" hair cut until I was 15! And that was during the early 70's. Still trying to get rid of that flat top!
Robert
Agree 100% with Robert. I think we grow up with our parents perceptions cast on us from birth and we spend years trying to get them off our backs. I always had to have the flat top till I was a about 8 then I had to have it cut and parted every 8 weeks or so. I then made the mistake of getting into banking and had to continue the conservative "look". Thank God I am now out of that career. Always wanted it long and now I can finally do that. Funny thing is now my Mom dosent seem to care now.
My dad cut my hair under my protest until I was in high school. My dad was ex-military, and a buzz cut was simple, cheap and easy. I hated it. I finally got him to relent when I offered to pay a barber for a trim.
Once I left home, I let my hair grow to my shoulders. Had that for about four years, and had a great beard. My pictures from that time show me looking kind of like Charles Manson. It was great! I did used to get hassled by the cops a lot.
For me, my hair style is just and simply what I want to do. It is a way to look different, too.