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Hey guys, I was recently asked why I wanted my hair to be long by somebody and I had to think back real far to remember why in the first place I wanted longhair. I realized my reasoning then was a lot different then it is now. So I guess the question is...
WHY DID YOU WANT YOUR HAIR LONG IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Was it a person? An event? A movie? Whatever it was, let us know!
As for me, in the beginning I was just tired of my hair style and wanted something new, but as I went on I found new reasons to fuel my desire and here I am today, well on my way to becoming a full fledged longhair! ;)
Aho. About 10 years ago, in a fit of rage, I put my arm thru a window. It was a very hot July eve. After a trip to the hospital, I self shaved my hair completely off. Those 2 events and the days looking at my bald head & cast holding my arm in a position as to not disconnect my repaired tendons dawned the beginning of my long hair .
Historically speaking, I'm sure I have caught onto some glamorous reason for letting my hair grow. There are all sorts of images of famous and sexy men. My wife of 20 years could'nt care less if I cut it tomorrow. She loved me with a perfect flat top.
My ties with Native American beliefs offer a reason to some of my friends. My hair grows downwards to honor Earth. I wear my white,grey, and blonde hair twisted in a knot behind my head.....a constant reminder that I will never get that angry again.
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Wow...you must have been damned mad about something!!!
When I was a child, I was fascinated by women with long hair (not sexually, I was too young for that). When I was about 11, I saw (or just realized) that my best friend had long hair (think Beatles hair style, it was in the early 60's). At that point I thought, "you can do that?". Translated into adult talk "you mean that's acceptable?". From then on, I've had different degrees of long hair.
Fortunately (in my early 40s) I still have my hair and it is as long as it has ever been. I don't know why I feel so strongly about it ... genetics, past life, insanity, obsession ...? I just know that it is right and that it is me.
I got into long hair reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. The Vampires, some of them thousands of years old, all have long hair. The books gave long hair a kind of mysterious, timeless quality that really fits my spiritualistic character.
The Rev
Ahhhh! I love Anne Rice! I have to agree you with you there as part of the reason I just want long hair even more.
As well as the movie "Interview with the Vampire." Very cool hair. I am obsessed with vampires.
Wasn't that movie awesome?! It's not just the hair, it's everything about the characters...especially the clothes. There's a classy mystique to formal 18th century garb crossed with long hair and immortality. Very cool.
The Rev
No kidding! I love that movie, even the acting was great. That classy attire goes soo well with long hair. If only my hair was that long.
I've never really thought about growing my hair before.. I always thought it would grow out ugly and nappy. One day a friend of mine who has been growing his hair for two years bet me that I wouldn't be able to grow my hair for two years without cutting it. If he won, he would get to punch me in the stomach. Well, he's a huge guy, so the rest is pretty much history. It's 2.5 years later, and it took me only one try to grow my hair out. :)
Nice, friendly bet, huh? My hair's been inspired several times, by different things. But I've always given in to the "poof factor". (Wherein, thick, curly hair goes towards the ceiling instead of the floor.) Now that I've found this board, I'm learning to manage the poofiness. My latest growth was inspired by Viggo Mortenson, who played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies. But that's not to say that I won't have fun with the poof. I'm 6'3, so one plan is to have a giant afro, and go sit in front of short people at the movies. (Joking, of course. Actually, that's pretty much the reason I sit in back wherever I go.) But you really didn't want to hear all the intricate details of my life, and I think you've got what you intended, so I'm going byebye now.
That's good motivation! We should all do that.
For me, I had sorta longish hair when I was very young. I never felt right when I had short hair afterwards. So, growing it back out made me feel normal again. Guess you could call me a Born Longhair.
-J
Kilted longhair from Duvall, WA, USA.
i think i simply put off haircuts from pure negligence, decided i liked the way i looked with longer hair. tried for a long time to find cooperative stylists who would help keep it neatlty trimmed but encountered mostly scissors-happy clip artists who interpereted 'just get the ends and clean up the back' as 'cut several inches off'. last 'real haircut' in '96 and i've completely boycotted scissors since june '99 when i performed a trim on myself for a family wedding.
VERY STRANGE for me: It just happened one winter day...
a thought comes up to the surface of my mind
and tells me to GROW it!
At first I think...'well, ok...several inches then"
BUT as Time passed that same thought changed into:
GROW IT LONG!
I was in a state of shock
all through the awkward
phase but was powerless
to cut...
so here
I am...
I am just starting to grow it. I grew it to a length of about 6 inches last year. I have very thick, wavy, dark hair which is hard to control at times. I think I look better with long hair but trying to control it is hard. Also, am an addict of barbershops so I am trying to reform. Any former addicts with a good formula to solve the addiction are welcome to email me with advice.
This will probably be a unique addition to the reason list, but here goes... It was influenced a lot by a dream I had. I actually always remember wanting to let my hair grow longer since I was about 8 years old, but of course my parents would have nothing to do with it... I still had the desire for it, but between my parents and being just plain worried about how people I know would react, I held off. Then, maybe about 2 years ago, I had a very realistic dream where I had really long hair, and I woke up remembering it and thinking that it was just the coolest feeling having it. So a little time after that, I figured the heck with everyone else (my parents started to become ok with it then too) and I finally started to let it grow out. I'm coming up on 2 years overall now, the last full year without any kind of trims... doing good so far.
I could never imagine that the reasons would be so diverse. Everyone has a different first step, and they're all very interesting. Awesome, I hope we can get some more people to share.
I thinks I've wanted to have longhair all my life, partly because I never could growing up and for many years in my career. The other reson is because I'm a Heavy Metal Fan and have always been into the 80's glam/rock look.
- Prior to growing out, I've always tended to prefer it longish
- Versatility - I like having the ability to change my look a little be it parts, style, tied back, highlights, etc. - why should the girls have all the fun?
- It's a lot easier to maintain when it's longer
- Finally, now that it's getting to below shoulder blade length, I realize that I will never go back to short. Think I'll probably just keep it growing to whatever length it gets to. I am pretty anal about keeping it looking nice and I do get my ends trimmed frequently and deep condition at a minimum weekly.
I don’t usually take part in these polls, but this one takes me back…
Older than most of you, I saw some of the best years for long hair (or hair period) in recent history. As kid in the ‘60s, I was aware of the beginning of the modern male long hair movement with the emergence of the British rock groups, but I didn’t decide I wanted long hair until one day in 1964. My best bud, Tom and I rode the bus to into downtown (people let their 12 year old kids do that back then). At a skyscraper observation deck, I saw my first Guy With Long Hair. It was a guy (late teens or early ‘20s) with a dark chin-length page-style. His hair had obviously been set and combed into a neat, smooth, turned-under style—not unlike the one my friend’s mother wore. We both expressed shock and distain, but apparently both were secretly impressed. I think we both realized that day that men could enjoy something fun that previously only women could do.
Still, we were young and growing up conservative homes. In high school, Tom grew his to well below his shoulders (still rare in 1970). Yielding to family pressures, it was 1973 before I grew mine past the ear lobes. I started growing it out the day I moved into my first apartment. By early next year, I was wearing mine in pretty much the same turned-under style I’d been secretly impressed with a decade before. I’ve worn a number of styles since then—below shoulders, long layered, short layered, the mullet (only when it first started), curly, and almost to my waist.
Ever since the ‘60s, there’s been a place (if not a prominent one) in our society for men with long hair. I think I came along at a good time.