new thread
As some of you may already know, view long hair on younger men as something experimental, or worse yet, rebellious [this is not true in most cases].
On the other hand, most older longhairs are rarely treated in this way. Since they have already "lived life," the choices that they
make are more likely to be respected--even admired, since most older males end up with hardly any hair to speak of.
IMHO: This situation is not likely to change any time soon.
Your opinion or comments on this topic?
Thanks for reading.
I'm a younger guy (21) and when I started growing my hair longer than the usual (the first time) I was seen as just being rebellious in a sense. As if it was just a phase that I would grow out of once I realized it was silly.
I'm on my second and last attempt (I will stay a longhair) and I can say that people seem to be taking me more seriously as this is what I want because it makes me happy-not as a result of a rebellious nature or just trying to be different...or lazy haha
Thanks for your sharing your personal experience with the Board.
As a younger longhair your first time growing matches
fairly closely with the negative experiences most younger
longhaired men encounter and have to deal with.
But I am also glad to learn that your second attempt is getting a better, more respectful response. Congratulations then!
If your second time around should begin to begin to
encounter any of those previously experienced waves of negative
energies, please do try to keep us updated and informed as true life
experiences (IMO) are superior to information gathered by polling.
Thanks so much, good luck and best wishes on getting to the place you want to be in Life.
You're welcome and thank you. I most definitely will share my experiences related to my hair both positive and negative. After all, it was after seeing the users here share their experiences and advice that inspired me to grow my hair as I have for a long time and secretly wanted to.
Take Care
I was hit with the "lazy" comments at first too. Surprising, when you consider how much work it is to maintain long hair. You would think people would realize that when they see all the commercials on TV about hair care products for long hair, even if the models are almost always women.
Perspective form an older long hair:
I am nearing 60 and just passed the one year mark in growing out my hair long again. In my youth,the late 60s and through the 70s my hair was quite long. nearing my waist at times. It was a form of rebellion. but like all things, was co-opted by madison avenue and similar to other elements of the counterculture, was assimilated into mainstream society. In the 80s fewer male longhairs were seen. I am not talking about the big hair bands, or mullets, etc, but the long flowing locks that are regularly seen on this site. I also started trimming my hair shorter. It was my decision and was done for business sense as well as personal decisions. I never had it truly short again, though. Through the 80s. 90s and into the 21st century ,my hair was "business" long. One year ago, I stopped having my hair trimmed, a decision I am happy I made as I realize I am truly a lo-ong hair at heart & mind. It was just about a century ago that super short hair became the accepted norm for males. It was the military influence of WWI that cemented this in the societal collective. Hair length strictures were beginning to relax a bit in the 30s, but the onset of WWII brough on strong the ideal of a short haired male. Once again, by ther late 50s. male hair styles were getting longer, incrementally, what with D.A.s, the "surfer' look and other styles in the early 60s. Then came the "British Invasion" lead by the Beatles and the race for longer hair came back strong. It took a decade, but even police and other "conservative" guys were sporting longer hair and even moustaches. (the "Cop Stache" became a well known icon.)
There will always be males of every age, who prefer longer hair and will act upon it. Be it personal revolution or resolution.
I had long hair as a student in the 70s but had to cut it due to work in my 20s and 30s but I began growing it long from 39 and have not cut or trimmed it since and it remains at a fairly short terminal lenght - i.e. down to my shoulder blades. I'm nearly 57 now.
With regards the original question raised, my interest is whether having long hair means something different for younger long hairs than to people of the 60s and 70s generation, for whom long hair represented an identification with a liberal, pacifist, racially tolerant, humane, non-acquisitive, alternative ethos and culture. Call that rebellious if you may but it was an seen as an alternative to the establishment and a kind of badge of a brotherhood of sorts.
I find that kind of spirit missing among today's youth, including young longhairs, perhaps because long hair means something else to them?
I wear long hair because I am, a longhair. It's part of who I am that would not be affected by whatever else the world perceives long hair to mean. However, having said that, the fact that longhairs still in some circles are "for whom long hair represented an identification with a liberal, pacifist, racially tolerant, humane, non-acquisitive, alternative ethos and culture. Call that rebellious if you may but it was an seen as an alternative to the establishment and a kind of badge of a brotherhood of sorts is a huge plus as I largely support those causes and views.
Thank you for sharing your comments and congratulations
for being a longhair who has a positive longhair attitude
that is strong enough to remain unaffected by what
others may happen think of you.
But I still would be very interested what kind or responses
you get (negative or positive) from the people you encounter
as you go about living your life in your own way. ( By the way
it's the only way to live life if your expectations of
experiencing genuine happiness. Unfortunate, life sometimes
forces us to travel in directions that are not of our own choosing).
Thank you again. Wishing you the best of luck in achieving
your dreams and goals!
Thank you for offering comments from an older longhair's perspective. I especially like the your statement quoted below:
"There will always be males of every age, who prefer
longer hair and will act upon it. Be it personal revolution or resolution.
Personally I have long hair simply because I like the look, not just on myself but for other men as well.True, some may not look good with long hair for a variety of reasons,but for the majority I feel it adds positively to their appearance.It is a shame when a guy wants a long mane but can't due to dreaded hair loss.There actually would be more older male longhairs if MPB wasn't a factor.Women are so fortunate not having that problem.I know for a fact that I'm a lifetime longhair as I've never had one brief thought of cutting my hair..perish the thought!LOL.Anyway my two cents:)Cheers
Mark
Excellent comments. There is another factor the researches may not have taken into account: in which part of the country the
longhair is currently residing.
For example, my state is ranked: so "EXTREMELY liberal" that
it might not be much of a stretch to describe it as socialism.
Consequently, long hair on men at ANY age, scarcely draws any attention, nor have I personally ever witnessed even the slightest hint of any longhaired male. (Probably there are far stranger things around here to grab attention away from "mere"
longhaired men--who, by the way, appear to be growing in number
by the day!
Thanks again for your contribution. Much appreciated!
You're from Vermont, aren't you? ;-)
See you in Khyberspace!
Yadgar
Glad to know you are living life with long hair because like the look and are happy with it in spite of whatever opinions others may have.
[By the way, your hair seems to be so naturally a part
of you that (IMO) it compliments your features.
Consider yourself lucky because such a complimentary
combination is not always the case for other longhairs.
Thank you once again, Mark, for sharing your personal opinions on
this topic.
Thank you for the kind words Luckskind as I really appreciate what you said about me:) Personally I could never imagine myself any other way but as a longhair.You know I started growing it long for the very first time in my life a couple years out of High School and never looked back ever since! So let's say that was over 25 years ago and I never went short in between.That thought would never cross my mind.I love my hair and am grateful to still have all of it:)As far as I can see I'll live the rest of my life with my mop!lol.Thank you again for what you said to me.Cheers
Mark
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Speaking from my own perspective; I think that the basic premise as Luckskind has stated it in his title is true.
It seems that more men are choosing to grow their hair longer. I perceive that more younger men are choosing to grow their hair longer. Granted that we Longhairs are a minority and we are likely to remain such. However, it seems to me that people of the younger generation have a "live and let live" attitude about many things including hair length choices among adult males. While we Longhairs will probably remain a numerical minority incidents of prejudice and slurs toward us will diminish, hopefully into non-existance. This is because the growing attitude among the people of the younger generation is that such incidents of prejudice and slurs will be looked down upon.
This is how I see it.
This is how I hope it will develop in our society and culture.
Raymond
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I get treated well, regarding my hair, but I am in my late 50s. All who know me well know that I have decided to keep my hair long. My hair has been long for a very long time. (I started growing it in 1992.)
Scott
I disagree.
At least in my country long hair on young men is far more accepted than on older men - exactly for the reasons you mentioned: longhair being a sign of "rebellion" or "experimental phase". For a male youth its "natural" to get into a phase of rebellion or experimental self-expression. thats a natural part of growing-up, so wearing long hair (at least for some years) is considered as a normal phenomenon.
On older men on the other hand its being considered as un-natural (or gay). A grown-up man should have proceeded over the phase of rebellion or experimental self-expression and found his place in society and conformity. Wearing long hair as a older man may be a sign of very low social status (homeless) or mental instability or trying to be a "wanna-be-youth". Its more accepted on older men in groups which are known for being "social outsiders" like hippes, biker, heavy metal fans and so on.
Thats NOT my opinion but its my impression how the majority thinks about wearing long hair as an younger/older man. But all in all its handled liberal.
regards
Probably only with the most backward and ignorant conservatives - after forty years of gay liberation, Christopher Street Day pageants and metrosexualism also mainstream people should have gotten the notion that at least since the late 1980s, long hair is a definitive no-no for typical "scene gays" (the only ones visible as gays for the broad public!)... and when it comes to "unnatural" - even among conservative Christians, here in Germany only a minority insists on 1 Cor 11:14 ("does not teach nature itself that it is shameful for a man to have long hair?").
...which is compounded by having also a substantial beard! I as a "longbeard" for years also seem to have found out that even short-haired men with big beards are frowned upon here - either as homeless drifters, Islamists or completely out-of-date 1970s eco freaks!
A longish beard obviously seems to hide the real age of a face, as I'm addressed frequently as "young man" e. g. when passing through a supermarket counter, although I'm 41...
See you in Khyberspace!
Yadgar
Thank you for your comment and for offering information that
in some countries at least, it's the older longhairs who are
experiencing the negative reactions. I must admit that I never
considered that!
Thanks again for reminding us that things are NOT the same everywhere!
Whilst I agree with much of what is said, and especially Jason's comments about 'being a long hair' what I find irritating is that many of those who now complain about young men being long hairs were themselves long hairs in the 1960s and 1970s. It would have been good to believe that they could have risen above this prejudice they doubtless suffered and given place to the basic concept of being a long hair. Surely they felt this too and took their CHOICE above taunts of being a rebel who will grow up.
Life has not improved with the passage of time in this respect sadly.