new thread
My wife and I finally got to see the third installment of the Lord of the Rings movies this past Monday. We were seated near the top of a great theater complex near our home that has stadium seating. From where we sat we could see the back of the heads of nearly the whole audience. After about 30 minutes, the theater was full and the movie began--we got there early to stake out good seats. During the time we had to just visit, relax, and watch the audience arrive, several guys with long hair came in, some with their wives, some alone.
Two observations: the other longhairs in the audience watched with interest the guys with long hair that were entering. (Everyone enters near the front of the theater then climbs stairs to the rows of seats.) If any of the guys in the audience caught the eye of the guy entering, there was a nodding of heads, some kind of acknowledgement. Seeing this just validated somewhat what I've been discovering the past few months--I get nods from other longhairs at the mall, Wal-Mart, things like that, to where I am believing we have a silent kind of loose-knit brotherhood.
Second, I noticed that longhaired guys were more apt to be watched by the audience members generally than any others entering before the movie. Sitting near the top, I could see collective heads turn in the direction of a longhaired dude whenever one entered the theater, and then follow him to his seat.
Conclusion: there's no way guys with long hair can hide, and I think, just a gut feeling, there are more people out there who at least accept men with longer hair than maybe we imagine. I think the buzz cut generation look has begun to wear thin with more and more people today. Maybe some of that is due to the extremes associated with buzzed hair like multiple piercings, multiple tattoos, violence, etc. (Sorry, no slam intended against piercings, tats.) Here in Denver, I'm seeing more dudes with longer hair than ever before. Yeah, we're a curiousity, of course, but maybe we're a most settled alternative to the shaved or buzzed heads so many men are wearing now.
What do you think?
I think the same thing! And I have noticed the same kind of silent acknowledgments between me and other longhaired men. From time to time people ask me how I perceive others' take on my hair (I think they ask because I am a teacher and education is a fairly conservative institution). The question usually surprises me even though I am asked it often enough. I am not self-conscious about my hair any more, or at least not to the extent as when I began growing it out. The questions usually remind me that others are still trying to "figure it out". It also makes me think that others might look at us with some admiration in addition to curiosity--if for no other reason than that we dare be different.
Robert
Yes, I too have noticed the "loose-knit brotherhood" of which you speak. With my hair, I never have to worry about blending in with the clones. Instead, I am a member of an elite group of individuals. The few, the proud, THE COURAGEOUS, the Longhairs!
As far as more people being accepting of longhair than we may realize. Yes, I believe that's true. Not only are many people quite accepting of it. But there are many short haired guys out there, that when they see a longhair, think to themselves "I wish I had the guts to wear my hair like that!" I know, because I used to be one of those guys. And i'll bet that you used to be one of them also. :-)
So, the community of "visible longhairs" are really just a small subset of a much larger group of longhair sympathizers and longhair wannabes. We're just the tip of the iceberg, if you will. Whenever I see a "shorthair" stare, or give me a longer than casual glance, I think to myself, "longhair wannabe, don't be afraid, you can do it to!"
In the immortal words of Dr. Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, "Don't dream it, BE IT!"
I never really noticed this until I went to a convention at Urbana-Champaign Illinois. With 20,000 people in attendance there was a great number of longhaired guys. Not only did I notice longhairs nodding to each other, but that many of them would nod at me! Hehehe, more recognition. . . ..