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I am growing hair for first time finally and very nervous. Because someone in a video online said you may get beat up for it and others calling you names. I even seen another video where someone knew someone who's hair was cut off by a woman in public and another hit with glass bottle. Do you think I should ignore all this or does this or can this really happen? Why do mostly people say hippie more to long hair guys? Also why can women have short hair and mostly nobody says tomboy or lesbian like I have seen before but not as much like it is with long hair guys? But as soon as they see long hair on guys they say hippie, feminine or gay. My uncle called me a hippie a couple years ago when i trying growing it once before and why can't you just have long hair because you like the look of it and not what others think your growing it for?
Hi Ryan,
Very good questions you ask as its very disturbing that a guy just can't present himself in a way that he is comfortable with.I have to admit never seeing or hearing such negativity as you describe but not saying it doesn't happen in some areas of the world.Your right in saying women are allowed to dress in a way that would be considered male and get no flak.Short hair,wearing pants, shirt and even a tie in some instances.Horrors that a guy grows his hair long and some can't deal with that.I would say do as you please with your hair but be prepared to defend yourself against negative comments.Hopefully your fears are overblown where you live and it won't be as bad as you think.Good luck and keep us posted my friend.Cheers
Mârk
Just let your hair grow long and enjoy it. I started growing my
hair long in 1964, I wss one of those original hippies from the
1960s. Fast forward to 2013 and my hair is still long, my hair
is now all grey, and i'm 59 years old.
And now even though i'm active in a civil war group I still relish the idea of being called a hippie. I love having long
hair and if that means someone is going to call me a hippie then
have at it. I have long hair and will have long hair until the day I die.
I've never gotten hit with a glass bottle, gotten beat up,
or had my hair cut off but then I lived in Massachusetts for
years and now live in New York. Both are very long hair friendly.
I also keep mentioning that most of the women around here
have hair that is far shorter than mine. My hair right now
is nipple length in the front, about 2/3 of the way down the back, but i've got long hair and it will remain long until the day I die.
Wow, those stories you mentioned seemed like horror stories. I have never met any guy who has been abused in any way for having long hair.
Of course, this will depend on where you live. I live in a big big town (it's probably as big as NYC) and most people dont care about others.
Probably for those who live in small towns is different.
People who call other guys "gay" just because they have long hair are ignorant. In fact, 95% of gays don't even wear their hair long because they want to look masculine to attract other guys and long hair is seen as something feminine among gays.
You are expected to receive negative feedback from others while you go through whats called "the awkward stage". This is the stage where your hair is pretty messy because its not long and its not short, its something weird in between, something poofy, not neat, messy. People will say you need a hair cut during this stage. Other than that, after your hair is definitely long, people will stop suggesting hair cuts. Of course there will be always people who prefer long hair, others who prefer short, and others who are neutral.
I would not worry if i were you. Just do whatever your heart feels. Life is too short and we only have one life to live as to give importance to what others think. Besides, they will always have something to say about you, about your weight, your clothes, your money, your hair. People will always find something to criticize.
So much depends on where you are. On one end, you have places like San Francisco, where I can wander around with calf length hair down in the breeze and expect no more than positive comments, on the other hand, there are small conservative cohesive communities (small towns in the South, for example) where you can expect harassment for being different (in ANY way, long hair just one of many triggers).
Sadly, those sorts of places would also label and harass a woman with short hair.
Where I am, someone with long hair simply has long hair...other indicators may point further towards metalhead, wannabee hippy, academic, rasta, republican (seriously, I was accused of this more than once!). However, tolerance, if not love of diversity is a trademark of SF...other areas may lean more towards blind prejudice (feminine, gay, hippie, etc.)
The worst time is the awkward stage...once you can make a ponytail or an updo or some contained style, you get away from the accusations of being shaggy or unkempt.
Good luck!
Wow! Where do they get THAT from??? Amazing what other people come up with when they stereotype! I've been stereotyped as a few things because of my long hair but never as a politically conservative person - usually the opposite! :D
Damon
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