new thread
Note: When I talk about “Sweden”, I am speaking from my experiences in Stockholm and the surrounding area. These observations are likely to hold true in most of urban Sweden, but the views in the rural parts of the country are presumably different.
I wanted to share some good news for those of you who feel all modern societies have it in for men with long hair: that’s not the case in Sweden. I travelled to Sweden over the summer and was amazed by how open the society is to hair of all lengths for both genders. In Stockholm it’s nearly as common to see men with shoulder-length hair as it is to see them with very short haircuts. This is especially true among teenage and early 20s age boys, due to the popularity among this age group of the “soss” style, which is characterised by long bleach-blond hair and brightly-coloured sporty clothes. Long hair on men is portrayed frequently in popular culture, and not usually in a negative light; many models in advertisements and even male mannequins have shoulder-length or slightly longer hair. I asked a native Swede at what point hair becomes so long that it is considered a feminine trait, and she told me it has to be past the shoulder blades for that to happen. But that doesn’t mean it’s unheard of for men to have hair that long; I saw several young men in Stockholm with waist-length hair. I believe the liberal Swedish attitude about hair is due to two factors: first, Swedish laws legally guarantee gender equality, so men are not subject to the extreme societal pressure to appear respectable that they must endure in societies which consider them the more privileged and/or powerful gender. Second, the Swedish people seem to judge the gender of others primarily by a person’s name and clothing, so a man would not be considered feminine no matter how long his hair was, as long as he had a masculine name and wore clothes intended for men.
The link at the bottom of the post leads to a photo of my hair (it’s very soss-like). While I was in Sweden, I was nearly always seen as a normal teenage boy. This was an astounding, though very refreshing, change. Where I live I'm almost never considered normal, and my long hair and hairless face cause the vast majority of people to view me as indisputably female, even if I remove my shirt to prove otherwise.
hair photo
Hi Soren,
Welcome to the mlhh as I assume your posting for the first time?You pic looks great as your hair style and color looks fantastic:)Obviously you are very young so I can see how your longhair and body type gives the impression that you are female.I wouldn't let it bother me as there are guys here who mention the same thing.lol.
I've never been to Sweden but would love to visit there if an opportunity rises.It would be cool to see an area where longhair is actually the norm:)Oh, I wanted to ask but what exactly is the soss-like style as your hair looks like a normal longhaired guy from what I can see.I always like to be enlightened of such things:)Cheers my friend.
Mark
I actually consider myself lucky to be seen as female because it spares me from the "gay", "get a haircut", etc. comments that long-haired men frequently have to deal with. I also think people who are considered male in society are under a much higher level of pressure to be socially acceptable, in order to maintain their priviledged position. I say with all that stress it's not worth the supposed privileges.
Long hair isn't really "the norm" in Sweden; it's just a lot more common than it is in most countries. Its popularity probably declines the further away you travel from Stockholm, because remote areas of the country tend to be more conservative.
Regarding the soss style, I've included a link to a cartoon which depicts the elements of the stereotypical soss. Basically, any young man with blond, straight, approximately shoulder-length hair can be said to have a soss look about him, although he's not completely true to the style unless he also wears colourful sporty clothes.
Sören
diagram of a soss
Many thanks for giving an insight into another culture. I gather the goth/metal subculture is quite big in Norway. Is it fairly common in Sweden?
Damon
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Norway and Finland are the countries with the largest goth and metal followings. Even though Sweden is located between those two, the goth and metal scenes appear to be less active in Sweden, or are at least less visible. But those subcultures are nevertheless much more popular in Sweden than in America.
Thanks, Sören. I don't know about America but they're fairly active here in the UK.
Damon
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Hi Sören,
Thanks for that interesting link of that soss style cartoon.Have to admit I never heard of it until you brought it up.I imagine that's due to the fact its not well known here in the US.Also I can understand more rural areas being conservative than the cities.If I were to wear some wild clothing or hairstyle I would be more comfortable doing it in a city than the countryside.
As for your mistaken identity I know being thought of as a woman can be a pain but please don't act like being thought of as gay is something terrible.Actually most gays are shorthaired so the longhair connection isn't really true.Cheers
Mark
Hi Sören,
Great hair! Is that natural colouring!? I'm jealous!
In my travels around Europe (including Sweden and Norway) I've found the same thing, it's quite accepted for a male to have long hair. Of those countries I would say it was most COMMON for men to have longer hair in Scandinavia, with many of the men wearing their hair medium to long in length.
Walking around Spain (where I live now) I see at least three longhairs a day, usually wearing a leather jacket and carrying the look with pride :)
To be honest I've never asked one if they wear it long for fashion or for themselves. When my Spanish improves I'll see if I can get a few answers.
Logan
Unfortunately, that's not my natural colour. My hair is naturally black. I was astounded to get this photo that made the blond look so natural, especially since I had over a centimetre of roots showing at the time.
I'm very surprised that you see so many long-haired men in Spain. When I was studying in Spain I got the impression that the people there are extremely preoccupied with appearing polite and socially acceptable, and I saw very few people with non-mainstream appearances. It was a nightmare to live with a host family there, because I never heard the end of how rude and abnormal I was. Maybe I should have studied in the area where you live.
Sören
Hi Sören
I didnt assume it was your natural colour, but you can pull off the look a lot better than I can. I dyed my hair blonde when I had short hair and it looked terrible.
I totally agree with what you're saying about Spaniards normally looking mainstream. However, I see about 3 men a day rocking a ponytail, even if it is accompanied by 'mainstream fashion'.
While, they seem to be more common in Sweden, I think longhairs are quite acceptable in Spain and Europe in general. It was when I got to Turkey that I was quite clearly different.
As for 'polite and socially acceptable' I'm not sure, to be honest. That's behaviour, rather than appearance.
Take a look at the Democracy index, a standard for ranking the most democratic countries in the world.
Norway is #1 and Sweden is #2. It's no coincidence that tolerance for all types of people is more prevalent there. The quality of life there is unrivaled.
I would love to live in a Scandinavian country. My roots go back to Norway, and having red hair would also make me look like a Scandinavian.
and to me, you do NOT look like a girl.
you look like Men should look, not shaved which does not look good imho.
Hej Sören,
I agree that Stockholm is more tolerant of long hair on men. However, they're very conformist and they'll do whatever is in style at that particular time. So one month you can see HEAPS of guys with their hair in a bun or a short ponytail, but if you return half a year later, you might find nearly all of them had buzz cuts, because all the recent commercials and movies happen to have guys with buzz cuts in them. It's like they invented the word "fad" over there :-)
Anyhow, with your Swedish name and experience... do you speak any Swedish? Cause I do, and I'm always looking for Swedes to chat with :-) So drop me a message if you want. I can't, cause you haven't indicated an e-mail address so your name's not clickable.
Ha det så bra!
Mick
