new thread
This sounds silly, but is highly annoying!
I have a rather unusual problem I haven't seen come up yet on this board. I have long, straight blond hair that reaches down to about the center of my back. I am a rather in shape guy, who runs a few miles daily and enjoys swimming during the summer, I do some weightlifiting too. But anyways, I am skinny, and in shape, and have long hair.
Now the problem comes when I am out on the water swimming long distances offshore, or on my catamaran sailboat. At distances, I appear to be a young girl i guess, especially if I am wearing a lifejacket on board my sailboat, with my "speedo" swim trunks on. I don't want to give up either the long hair, or the speedos, as both of these are most confortable on hot days and while swimming (long hair soaks up water & keeps me cool), but I am tired of gettin "hit on" by another male picking me out from afar, and coming up to me on my boat. I've even had this problem once while laying stomach-down on a beach towel on a crowed beach!
Any hint on what could I guess make me more "boyish" looking when I'm in the water. Gaining weight has been attemped, but my metabolism is too high, maybe a change in my workout regimen? or a suggestion for a style that is unique to men?
How about growing a full beard or a moustache?
I can say from first-hand experience that this does not always work. I've seen some funny flustered faces on guys who had just whistled at me while passing me (them driving - me walking) after they realized I was not a girl. Girls have also mistaken me for a girl. I remember one time I had ordered a meal at Sonic. When the waitress served me my food, she addressed me as ma'm. When I turned my head to look at her, she realized her mistake after taking a look at my beard and was very embarrassed.
I just take it all in stride and look at the humor if it all. You can also take it as a lesson in empathy. Just think, if you were a girl, such advances may be just as unwelcome. They have to deal with this all the time.
I 've got a moustache, which helps out if I look at you, but I am thinking about growing out my sideburns a little more too. Facial hair doesn't do too much good on board a sailboat, because you're typically facing the sails up on the side rail. Another trick I was thinking about is if I work on my upper back, pec, and chest muscles a little more so I get a more broader upper body.
I also noticed when I was at the gym working on the above, another man got into the pool with a full-cut bathing suit that had slight legs, just to the top of the inseam. Kinda like the cut the surfer dudes from the early 60's had, but tight, like speedos. I was wondering where I could get something like this, never seen any at the local sports stores.
I am 5 ft. 10 in., 140 lbs.--not exactly Mr. Incredible Hulk. :-)
Am a participant in Master's swimming--regular pool swimming for
fitness with other adults. Have long, straight, black hair that
reaches to my shoulder blades. I use a small rubber band (you can
get a package of them in the hair accessories section at Wal-Mart)
to keep my hair in a pony tail. I tuck the pony tail into a
Speedo silicone rubber cap (almost all the female competitive
swimmers with longish/long hair use this method), and tuck any
other hair on both sides of my head into the cap. This keeps the
hair in place, and prevents loose hairs from clogging the pool
drains.
I do have a mustache and goatee--those, added to the male
Speedo swimsuit that I wear are enough to identify me as a male.
Good luck, and keep on swimming!
--Loren