new thread
I was curious what the feelings were of the men on this site towards women making posts. I can appreciate the need of men to have a place to call their own since the other hair sites are predominately female oriented, but therein lies the problem. I have questions that only a long haired man can answer, like how can I encourage a male child to refrain from cutting his hair? I feel strongly about long hair on both genders but the issue can be much more complex for a man. Anyway, please be honest about your wishes, thankyou.
I think if the post is topical "men's long hair" then it does not matter if the post is from a man or woman. Human hair is human hair, and I'll take information from anyone. About talking a male child into having long hair.. I think thats a mistake. I think long hair on a child is great, but if it is not his own choice.. something he wants, he will never like it. I think the reason we are all here is to "enjoy" our long hair =)
Mac
Women are very welcome to post here :). Though it is the mens long hair board, we often get contributions from posters such as Sherri, Elizabeth Regina etc.
You can't force a male child into having long hair if it is not something he wants. The peer pressure he may receive from it may well turn him strongly against it anyway. When he grows up the first thing he might do to rebel is cut it all off. On this board we often show our disgust at parents who force their boys to have short hair, so you're situation is the same but in reverse unfortunately.
Hi Catia
Your more than welcome to post, we welcome input from all genders and your question is very relevant so your perfectly entitled to post. Please don't feel your intruding.
Your Question: "How can I encourage a male child to refrain from cutting his hair?"
Well you can emphasise the positive, long hair is relatively unique, if the kid is so inclined, he may like the idea of looking different from his peers, (though thats not very common in kids.)
The real question is why does the child want to cut his hair? Is it because of peer pressure or does he just not like long hair? In the latter case there's not a lot you can do, but tell the kid you like his hair long, your oppinion might carry some weight. If its peer pressure and the kid doesn't really want to cut his hair, then you need to equip him with the tools to handle his peers and be as supportive as you possibly can.
Kids often think that if they change a certain aspect of their appearance to conform with their peers that taunts and bullying with stop. It doesn't, it just reenforces the bully's position because he/she has now exercised control over the other. The taunts will continue, just in other ways.
Hope that helps.
Sorted
Welcome Catia;
Several women post on this board and their comments are very welcome and supportive. This is one of the most well maintained, open and supportive boards around, so join in.
You might want to show your (son?) the "Dirctory of Users" at the top of the page for photos of men of all ages with long hair which he may find appealing. but to pressure him to growing his hair would be like trying to make a "lefty" write, right-handed.
Good Luck and keep in touch.
Even though the main topic is men's long hair, that does not dictate that the participants all be men, so welcome to the board.
As for your question with your son, I think we need more information to give you a fair answer. Does he really want to cut it, is it because of peer pressure, or something practical like difficulty in finding a job?
I have questions that only a long haired man can answer, like how can I encourage a male child to refrain from cutting his hair? I feel strongly about long hair on both genders...
you say you feel strongly about the issue but didn't say how it weighs on the child. i think it's his opinion about long hair that is more important in this case
it sounds to me like it's you who wants to see the boy with long hair that he doesn't necessarily want. to me, my choice of hair length is an expression of who i am and not a reflection of what others' want me to be. it may well be that encouraging the child to grow out his hair is no different than encouraging me to cut mine. if that's the case my advice is to drop the subject or risk it being a bone of contention between you and the boy.
Hi, you're very welcome at the board, we need more women to give us compliments and encouragment, as well as sharing tips with us. Your post is very relevant, don't feel like you're intruding!
Ask your child how does he feel about men with long hair. You could try reinforcing long hair positively. Does he see a lot of longhaired men in his community. Maybe he's not against long hair, just never thought about having it, all he knows is he must go to the barbers and that is purely out of habbit. I would advise you not to force long hair role models too much on him , because if the model decides to cut his hair short, your son might do the same too.
Welcome Catia, contrary to what you may think, women are welcome here, you not intruding. I noticed you have an issue with getting a boy (I am assuming your son.) to refrain from cutting his hair. Here is what I would do. Offer him a reward. If you are now paying out 15 dollars per month for him to get his hair cut, just add that onto his allowance instead. Tell him he will only get that bonus as long as he does not cut his hair. The rules are very simple, cut it and the deal is off. You might give him an additional 100 dollars or some other reward at the 1 year mark, 2 year mark, as an additional challenge to continue growing it. You may want to increase the annual reward for each successive year he goes without a cut. In the end he will grow in wisdom (and hair length) and learn to be patient. Absalom
That's very nice to hear and welcome to the board. Well, right now the issue of encouraging a kid to start growing his hair would depend on many variables"
1) How old is he?
He could be younger than 12, and most longhair boys I know are 16-17 like me. So, maybe entering the teens would be an appropriate time.
2) Reasons to grow his hair.
I started growing my hair to be able to be recognised easier, and because I used to have the same cut as long as I could remember. You could say that chicks go nuts for guys with long hair, look at Johnny Depp. Tough guys look good with long hair too like Hollywood Hogan.
That's all I can come up with, but there's definately lots of other good reasons I didn't mention that are out there.
Remember, this is entirely the kid's decision. Nobody should be deliberately firced into an action they don't want to participate in. Try bringing it up at the dinner table as an open window to get his view on this situation, since his opinion is the one that actually matters.
I can't believe I forgot to put this on.
