I wish I had hair! On my head, I would have it as long as possible.
I wish I had hair! On my head, I would have it as long as possible.
Last edited by Bobbi Lynn; 11-14-2010 at 12:05 PM.
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Mandatory short hair was less about boys being feminine than the imposition of authority over the young men and the need to make them think they are not individuals. Regardless of how the individuality plays out, as feminine or as a 'stoner' or as a rebel, it made it difficult to standardize the training and experience.
The only thing we ever told our boys was if they were going to grow their hair out long, they needed to keep it clean and not let it become a distraction.
Sarah
Being transgender isn't a lifestyle choice. How you deal with it is.
I could be wrong yet I always thought short hair in the military primarily came about because of sanitation reasons and because long hair is a possible hindrance in hand to hand combat. Orderlyness and de-individualisation may have been concerns but I don't like the idea that you're a man if you're in vitalis,brylcream or crewcuts and you're a nogoodnik if you've got long hair.
Rhonda, It looks like the old double standard applies to hair as well as a persons choice of clothes. I think most schools nowadays have more important issues then dictating the length of ones hair. But I still question why it's ok for girls to wear thier hair as short as a boy's. Shouldn't they be called to task for that as well?
When I was in school, the hair issue was about sideburns, the school administrators didn't want the boys looking like Elvis Presley, James Dean, or Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones. Back then even facial hair was taboo. When my brother (who is eight years younger) was in school he sported a moustache and many of his classmates wore their hair Beatle length or longer. When my own kids were in school many of the boys wore hair shoulder length or longer.
In the workplace hair length was treated as a safety issue for both male and female employees and I believe it was a legitemate issue. The main safety concern was that long hair could get caught up in moving machinery. We were all required to wear hardhats but long hair had to be tucked into the hardhat or worn in a pony tail. Welders were especially at risk of fire from sparks.
Back to the issue of hair length in school, I don't see how the length of a boy's hair affects his education and education should be the primary focus of any school.
Luv andJill
Straight, into Fantasy Land
The long hair lice thing is a load of bull. It doesn't matter how long your hair is in a primary school your bound to get nits/lice at least once. We have an epidemic at least twice a year where I work. Long hair on children shouldn't be an issue at all. Boys girls, it doesn't matter. If some kid is a hair puller then he/she needs to be dealt with, not the victim with the long hair. Same applies for verbal bulling.
As you reach adulthood I can understand why it would become more of an issue. There are lots of jobs that require hair to be short or at least pulled back. Sadly there are also levels of professionalism which needs to be upheld. I for one would adore bright pink hair but my boss would go postal.
As for long hair on men? I adore it. Long and well kept hair is sexy as hell. Sadly the majority of men who wear it long don't keep it as well as they could. Thankfully long hair in my generation hasn't been as frowned on as it was in the past. Times are changing. I now see lots of men around with long hair. That being said I do live in a surfing community and seaside resort so that may be why it is more accepted around here.
I may not be perfect, but parts of me are pretty awesome!
Complete Geek and Girl gamer.
As I've read these responses and thought about my original post (along with some Googling of the subject) I guess it's not that there hasn't been any progress, it's spotty existence/enforcement of the "boy's hair" dress code that is surprising. It may in fact be that because it is so much more accepted than it used to be that makes these incidents where kids were expelled/disciplined stand out. I know that in my own smallish town there is no enfjorcement of such a thing. There are a lot of boys with long hair around here. Even the emo kids with the long black hair, makeup, and black nailpolish don't make a big splash. Girl's jeans are common. There's a high schoole age boy in my neighborhood who (the few times I've seen him) always wears very girly clothes. I saw him last year walking from school wearing a sweater dress over jeans. I thought at the time that we've really come a long way, then at the salon the other day it remined me that we really haven't, at least not everywhere. And it doesn't seem like it's the smallerm more rural towns that are the biggest offenders.
40 years ago it wouldn't have made news that a boy was kicked out of school for having long hair. Maybe the progress is exemplified now by the fact that it is. It sure is a slow moving process, though.
I think the reason the media jumps on these occasional stories of school administration discrimination regarding boy's hair length is because it is not the norm. I live in Texas and I see boys with below-shoulders hair around here all the time. I think long hair is really fairly widely accepted these days. No one ever seems to take notice about mine, for sure (even when presenting as male). I've worn long hair on and off since the '70s and I've see a steady change in public attitude. Back then I got lots of looks (though my andro dressing often allowed me pass for female from a distance).
The only real problem I think boys have is in the grooming department. Not enough males with long hair seem to go to the trouble of getting a good cut/trim and doing the conditioning/styling thing as well as women do. Surprising as it sounds, I've always found that people are much more accepting of a male with long hair if it's in good condition and he wears it in a commonly accepted style-- even if it's a style normally worn by women.
Lyric
[SIZE="2"]OK – I have a simple question. Why would anyone willingly surrender their individuality? What is to be gained by this? I mean, in the long run. It seems to me that every advance, every welcome discovery in human history has been the result of some individual blazing a new trail on his or her own, going against societal norms. Personally, I feel that individuality needs to be encouraged and cultivated, and long hair on boys (in this era of short hair) is a small step, announcing this ongoing process to the world at large…[/SIZE]Originally Posted by Sarah Charles
Men and boys are expected to keep their hair short in order to conform to the dictates of society.
And that reason alone is enough for me to never cut mine.
Polarizing? Damn, I hope so!
Kind of reminds me of some men in SkirtCafe.org who wear skirts all the time, even when the weather is cold, unless there is some rare occasion that they must wear pants!
John (Legal name)
Preferred pronouns: he, his, him
I...cut my hair after about ten months, i never before ignored the haircut ritual.....reached one of life's road forks which made short hair no longer a requirement. It required a
a lot more time to manage...but, the reactions....friends and family.. just became...way too much, astonishing...our lives seem to be the property of others.
Freddy, I agree with you. Most of us find more comfort in being individuals than totally conforming, but there are a lot of exceptions none-the-less. Back when rocks were soft, we watched TV by candlelight and I was in High School, the DRESS CODE had the same status as the Law. All the students complained, boys about having to get hair cuts and girls about having to wear skirts or dresses even in the coldest part of winter. We all wanted to be individuals, but we were up against a long tradition. It was an easy transition from there into either the military, corporate America or to start raising a family. It was all falling apart outside school, but the institution had a lot of inertia.
And it's not just long hair on boys. Dress codes are still in place, particularly where there are standard packets of information or skills that need to be delivered as part of training. The military is the best example. If the team is to succeed, all members need to be an interchangable part of the team, no questions. Individuals in that environment slow the machinery and can be as dangerous as hostile opposition. It was similar, though not as deadly in other areas. I can remember when IBM required their male employees to wear a white dress shirt and tie, never any color allowed for 'Big Blue'. Uniforms are still out there where standardized delivery of a product or service is expected. Honestly, I'd hate to look through a milling crowd guessing who to ask if I was trying to find a cop when I needed one. But why is it necessary for office workers who never come in contact with the public to meet a rigid dress and grooming code? Other than to provide the manager one more seemingly random tool to use in controlling their staff, I'm not sure. Those are still out there as well. I don't know if it's polarizing, but it's expected and causes distress when violated.
Sarah
Being transgender isn't a lifestyle choice. How you deal with it is.
[SIZE="2"]Thanks, Sarah! It’s exactly as you say – a dress code exists to get children ready for the adult world. I often think of the Japanese model, which has been successful, and Americans have been forced to adopt group-thinking practices to compete. Enter (or re-enter) the dress code, and this trickles down to the schools – I’m amazed to see school uniforms these days, ditto short hair on boys, and even the maverick performers of the recent past wear dress shirts and ties in a transparent display of corporate conformity. Of course, certain things look good to certain people at certain times, and that’s how trends are born. How long will we have to wait before long hair on boys is “trending now?”
I think that people who give away their individuality, and don’t learn to compartmentalize, run into a wall later in life and seek to regain what they’ve lost. It’s not easy, especially with time at a premium and expectations still defining one’s day-to-day existence. Life can be a series of sacrifices, be they necessary or not, but it would be wonderful if true individuality received more than just lip service from the media, or teachers, or anyone who has a hand in shaping young minds (and hairstyles)…
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