Why do girls have long hair?

[Frédérique]

I was at the local market yesterday, and I saw a little girl with her father, looking at the display of candy bars. Naturally, the girl had LONG hair, signifying to all present that she was indeed a girl, female, and future lady woman person. For some reason I began to ponder a question that is at the very heart of gender separation: “How come girls have long hair?”

Perhaps I should be asking “How come girls get to wear long hair?” but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? Nearly every day, at this time of year, I watch the MLB channel with my sister. She’s a baseball fan, and I come along for the ride, keeping her company as I catch a not-so-healthy glimpse of (pretty much) this male-only world. Anyway, every day they gather the highlights of all the games together and present them for viewing. There is a woman “host” for the show, and she always looks a certain way – long hair, usually blonde, cascading around her face in front of her shoulders, a living, breathing, “girl-next-door” type. Hmmm...

Now, why is this? Why does she have to look that way? For ratings? My sister and I are usually on the same wavelength, and we ASSUME that the woman’s appearance, in this case, is not her decision. It’s obvious. Her clothes are nearly always an uncomfortable-looking short skirt and a form-fitting top, heels, plenty of leg and arm showing, plus the aforementioned Li’l Abner “Daisy Mae” look. Oh, the woman would look so elegant with her hair tied back, or coiffed in a sophisticated manner, but no, she has to look like a country girl, fresh off the farm (in heels, no less). Normally I wouldn’t mention this, but I see it over and over on sports channels, a repository of entrenched male ideas about gender...

Men are repeatedly encouraged to “man up,” which may involve apologizing for past mistakes, but you must do it in a manly way, often with manly facial hair on display, and move on, i.e. never retreat. Men inevitably have short hair, in this day and age, or shaved off entirely, or at least groomed, with some appropriate product, announcing to all that they are indeed males, with attendant attitudes and serious ideas about things. Boys in these here parts (Kansas) ALL have short hair – any hint of long hair denotes something, like a hint of anarchy, or an unwillingness to be part of the “team” of men, or something that inspires a certain 6-letter “F” word to enter the minds of their peers. A boy must not descend to a level where he is at ONE with a female, for this is a tragedy of epic proportions...

All this may explain why a little girl has long hair – she is carrying on the tradition of deference, namely she is NOT in the company of men, she knows her place (or soon will), and she wears the hairstyle assigned to her gender by society. But, I wonder. Would the girl like to have short hair, like the boys, or is this even possible? I’m talking about the status quo in this part of the country. Short hair on a girl, or a woman, means something sinister, or dangerous, and it apparently does not jibe with the overall view of things. In other words, they let you see what THEY want you to see, and they start them young. Short hair (like a crew cut, for instance) on a woman would effectively bring the house down, at least in terms of the separation between the genders. Moan!

Ditto a boy with LONG hair, something you rarely see these days. Even my sister, steeped in all things cultural and liberal, will be heard to say, “That boy needs a haircut!” if a cherub with flowing locks homes into view. I just sigh, knowing that my little excursion into things girls are allowed to do (like display long hair) will never be accepted consistently, if ever. I get the feeling that males are calling the shots, and adult women must resemble girls, at least on TV, in front of a largely male audience. This is deference in action, married with boyish memories of a childhood long since past. But, why does the little girl have long hair? Is she expected to? Is she supposed to? Does she have long hair, and enjoy it, because she is allowed to do so? I would do the same, of course, but, being a boy, I’m not supposed to...

If I asked a girl why her hair was long, she would probably just shrug her shoulders. You can’t really ask questions like this, so established are the outward appearances of females vs. males. I’m sure if I asked the female TV host (notice I don’t write “hostess”) why she looks like that, she will, I’m sure, say something like, “This is how they tell me to look.” We all know who “they” are, namely the purveyors of social correctness, the constructors of the gender divide, and the maintenance MEN that keep the machinery well-oiled, geared towards business/procreation. Off camera, our TV host, our heroine, stuffs her blonde locks under a baseball cap, ditches the skirt for jeans, and slips into something A LOT more comfortable (I have proof). It all makes you wonder what reality is, but, despite the best laid intentions, you really aren’t supposed to question everything...

I, a boy, cannot wear my hair long, not if I’m to be taken seriously out in the real world. Men make fun of any preponderance of hair on the heads of other men, either long, voluminous, or shaped to some fashionable degree, as if it’s completely ridiculous. Why then, are females expected to have the very thing that men find ridiculous if it is found on the heads of their own kind? Is it the overall message that women are not to be taken seriously, and their hair is just the official icing on the cake that supports that notion? If your hair is long, you, M or F, are instantly placed apart from the serious goings-on of the male-dominated world, here in the early 21st century. If you are female, you can finally insert yourself into the proceedings and perhaps feel some long overdue pride, but “they” expect you to have long hair, little girl...

I wish I could fully encapsulate this interesting idea, but it would involve a lot MORE writing...:doh:

Do you ever wonder WHY girls have long hair? :thinking:

[SophieKitty]

Maybe some kind of evolution thing. Like guys cut their hair when hunting to streamline themselves while chasing down prey? Where women had no practical reason to do so. Also long, strong hair is a sign of healthy genes so when mr caveman chose a mate, he'd choose one with the longest, strongest and healthiest hair. Maybe since then it's just become so ingrained into our culture that it is how it is *shrugs*

[Kate Simmons]

The answer is obvious Freddy. Little boys are made of slugs and snails and puppy dog tails. Little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Boys are supposed to be rough and tumble. Girls are supposed to be prim and proper. Long hair is an obvious charm for sugar and spice. Slugs and snails only need to be practical and don't need charm. I rest my case.:battingeyelashes::)

[Tracii G]

You pose the question then answer it several times and still you wonder?

[Persephone]

Maybe some kind of evolution thing. Like guys cut their hair when hunting to streamline themselves while chasing down prey? Where women had no practical reason to do so. Also long, strong hair is a sign of healthy genes so when mr caveman chose a mate, he'd choose one with the longest, strongest and healthiest hair. Maybe since then it's just become so ingrained into our culture that it is how it is *shrugs*

Very likely. I think someone once theorized that women's hair evolved thicker and was kept longer so that infants could hang on to Mommy when she swam across rivers.


All this may explain why a little girl has long hair – she is carrying on the tradition of deference, namely she is NOT in the company of men, she knows her place (or soon will), and she wears the hairstyle assigned to her gender by society.

Oh Barf, Frédérique! Please don't tell me that you are going all feminoid political on us! Too shallow a philosophy for you to descend into.

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Lorileah]

Did you watch the little league World series last weekend? There were several boys on the California team with golden locks down to their shoulders...maybe I am wrong here but they were very much boys and one hit a home run...long hair and all (they also won the game by the 10 run rule in the 4th). As far as hunting et al goes...Tarzan has long hair except when Johnny Weissmuller plays him. Evidently there was a monkey barber then. In my office I see a lot of young children when they come in with their mothers, very few girls have hair beyond their shoulders. There is also a school near the office, high school. Most the girls have shorter hair...but then again maybe they are streamlined for sports?

[Cheryl Ann Owens]

Somewhere I read awhile back that from the beginning of time men who would do battle had to keep their hair short so any enemy could not grab it and subdue the man. Evolutionary and traditional?

Cheryl

[Sarah Beth]

In my part of the world its a mixed bag for both sexs. Although it seems in the grade school kids the girls generally have longer hair than the boys do but I do see a lot of longer hair on boys too. The same for grownups but it seems the older the women are the more likely they are to wear their hair shorter. As for me I wear my shorter althouugh I only get it cut about four times a year, because of my work. Long hair just gets hotter and if its too long it gets in the way and could tangle up in equipment or what have and be dangerous. As a side not the few women I have seen working construction wore their hair short.

[DonnaT]

As noted by Lorileah if you had seen the California Little League play this year, you'd have noticed two of the boys (12 or younger) have long blond hair. The girls in attendance voted for which one they deemed had the best hair.

[miss_jessie]

My hair is down to my shoulders (probably quite a bit past it actually). I like it, and would wear it like that even if I did not crossdress. Sure, I get comments, but only as jokes amoung friends. In fact, some of my best friends have hair longer than me. (They are male too by the way). The trend you point out is something I've noticed but has kinda slipped away in my mind. Sure, typically women have longer hair but no single person is a typical archetype (especially not us :D) and I don't think society expects us to wear our hair in the typical archetype fashion anymore either.

I will say, when I first started growing it out it was something I noticed a lot, but I was just paranoid as to what people think. I just don't mind anymore.

Also, perhaps as I am younger I think there are more men my age with longer hair (and yes, they 'tend' to be people who enjoy metal and heavy rock - myself included) and I think that younger generations tend to be more accepting of style variations - such as long hair (I may be wrong, that's just my perception).

[LilSissyStevie]

My hair is almost to my waist. My wife just got hers trimmed so now mine is longer. It's longer than any of my four daughters'. Nobody says anything about it but that's probably because I'm sort of a recluse. If they want to come here and say something, I'll be happy to sic the dogs on them.

In '69, my high school principal told me my hair violated the dress code and I had to cut it or be suspended. I went home and shaved my head. I got suspended anyway. In '72 a judge told me if I got my long hair cut off during lunch break, he would extend my probation rather than give me jail time. I got a haircut but didn't clean up my act until '78.

I think the short hair only on men "rule" died about that time. It wasn't long after that that the judge probably had a ponytail.

[Vickie_CDTV]

Men have had their hair short partially due to the jobs they were traditionally expected to do. Long hair can be used as a handhold in hand to hand combat. It is also more likely to get infested with lice and parasites when fighting wars where there is a lack of available hygiene (like in trenches.) Long hair can also get caught in machinery and be a hazard in an industrial workplace.

[shayleetv]

Today I went to my friends school to take a picture of her and her new class. As I was waiting for her to get her class organized and go through the morning routine a young boy approached me and said "I'm a boy, most people think I'm a girl." I could see why. He had really blond hair, almost white, laying on his shoulders and had the finest features that were quite feminine. I think he also has the longest lashes on anyone in the class. I could see why he wanted to let me know he was a boy. The hair length is not his choice but his mothers'. I wonder what other choices his mother has for him, I better keep that thought to myself.

[PaulaQ]

@Frederique - plenty of women over 50 have short, short, short, almost butch haircuts. Plenty of women under 50 also have short hair. There are plenty of guys with long hair. As for what they show on TV - like do you even BELIEVE what they show on TV? :)

If you were asking instead "how come a guy can't have a beehive hairdo", you'd be on to something.

[NicoleScott]

Anything goes nowadays. Guys can have buzz cuts or long hair. Girls, too, short (well, maybe not buzzed) or long. Skirts can be mini or long. Earrings in one or both ears for males or females. Tatoos, too.
Lorileah, my observation is just the opposite of yours: as I waited in the parking lot at school for my child to come out, I noticed that nearly all the girls (high school) wore their hair long and straight. When I was in school (long ago), most of the girls had short hair.
I once worked in a fast food joint where the girls had to wear hair nets. They hired a guy with shoulder-length hair and said "cut it or wear a net". That's fair. He chose the net. I've heard similar stories about public swimming pools that required females to wear caps. When boys with long hair weren't required to wear caps, the females complained, and won. Also fair.
I worked in Florida at a call center, very laid back, and we almost never saw the public. Casual Friday expanded to Casual-All-Week. The boss didn't like it when I wore shorts, but reluctantly gave in when I pointed out that the women were allowed to wear shorts.
It's pretty hard nowadays to impose a dress code that doesn't treat males and females equally.
Frederique, maybe you need to get out of Kansas more. Out here, anything goes.

[Ineke Vashon]

At one time men would not be seen in society without their elaborate powdered wigs. My late father was pictured as a girl when he was five years old, fashion of the day. When the Beatles invaded the US all of a sudden longish shaggy hair on males became de rigeur. And so on. Little girls still wear long hair because, well, they're little girls.

If you don't like the current styles, wait ten minutes :devil:.

Ineke

[Frédérique]

Oh Barf, Frédérique! Please don't tell me that you are going all feminoid political on us! Too shallow a philosophy for you to descend into.

THAT made me laugh! Thanks, Persephone… :heehee:

I will descend anywhere, anytime, anyhow, if the proverbial shoe seems to fit. Shallow? You bet! There’s no time to be deep on this site, is there? Can't you see the cages? I can...


As noted by Lorileah if you had seen the California Little League play this year, you'd have noticed two of the boys (12 or younger) have long blond hair.

Key word: CALIFORNIA. In the OP I mentioned that I was referring, primarily, to my little neck of the woods, where a boy wouldn’t be caught dead with long hair…


Frederique - plenty of women over 50 have short, short, short, almost butch haircuts. Plenty of women under 50 also have short hair.

But you don’t see them on what passes for “mainstream” TV, do you? Check it out if you don't believe me...


When the Beatles invaded the US all of a sudden longish shaggy hair on males became de rigeur. And so on. Little girls still wear long hair because, well, they're little girls.

And they’re supposed to remain little girls, forever, which is the point I'm trying to make. Speaking of The Beatles, I saw a young girl in a TV commercial the other day who was the spitting image of Ringo, circa 1964, albeit with longer hair…

[regina young]

Shaylee hit on what I was kind of thinking, "it was his Mothers idea." I think with girls the mothers like to make little dolls out of them, style them so to speak. And the long hair, like "My Little Pony" is a big part of that. And on a related note, I have long hair past the shoulders. I even had about 8 or 9 inches cut off some weeks back. Sometimes around here it seems I am back in the 60's or early seventies, so many men have an almost disdain for anyone who does not conform to their imagined standards. Luckily playing in a band and being a musician I can get a pass on the hair usually; funny how that works. and it obviously come in handy for other ventures .

[julia marie]

Gee, wish I could have long hair again. Nature screwed me on this one. Sun shines on me and people put on sun glasses. Wish I could go long hair again.

[PaulaQ]

Key word: CALIFORNIA. In the OP I mentioned that I was referring, primarily, to my little neck of the woods, where a boy wouldn’t be caught dead with long hair…

But you don’t see them on what passes for “mainstream” TV, do you? Check it out if you don't believe me...


Your post was TLDR, feels like you just change the question though when you don't get the answer you want. I'll say it again - there are a TON of women's hairstyles that guys can't get away with. If you were talking about them - I'd say you had a point. But plain 'ol long hair has been OK for dudes since the 70's. You apparently live in a conservative area. I don't know about your area, but the conservative area I lived in - in rural Oklahoma, most, but not all, of the guys had short hair. Look - some places in the US, folks still want it to be the 1950's - even the lesbians - although quite clearly it is not, and can never be again.

BTW, one of the stars of the TV show "Lost" a few years ago had long hair in the series.

[heatherdress]

No longer need to wonder about hair length any longer, Wikipedia has a lengthy history about long hair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_hair

[Tina B.]

Freddie, that's why I'm a Californian, and not a Kansan. In America choice is allowed. In the computer business in California, if you don't have a pony tail you just don't fit in. I always wore one until so much hair fell off the top I started to look like Ben Franklin, so I saved it all off. And in my Granddaughters school, I see plenty of short haired girls. Sorry, I think your theory only works in the Bible Belt, The rest of us do have a lot more freedom to express ourselves than you do in some parts of the country.

[Sallee]

I just wish I could have more hair, long or short would be fine. Evolution screwed men on this one Maybe that is why we cut it since we know we are going to loose it we might as well get use to it. LOL

[Loni]

long or short hair.

i just wish i could still grow hair on my head.

to have pretty locks down past my shoulders again 🎀

[Lynn Marie]

Girls with long hair? Old stereotype. In high school boys took Wood shop, Metal shop, and Auto shop. Girls took Typing and Home Ec. The very first thing I learned in shop was to avoid wearing anything that could get caught in the rotating parts of machinery. Pretty simple, really.

[Veronica27]

About 5 years ago, I decided to let my hair grow and tie it back in a pony tail. I did this for several reasons, namely 1) I disliked spending time in my local barber shop where all the old geysers gathered to talk about guns, hunting and fishing, 2) as I aged it was getting harder to cut it myself, 3) I am essentially lazy when it comes to my appearance and the long hair suits my usual two or three weeks growth of beard, and 4) I can use my own locks when I crossdress instead of a hot wig. I live in a bit of a red neck area, but my pony tail fits right in with a lot of the older guys. Gray tails are quite common in these parts. The younger guys mostly have very short or shaved heads, which is a lot more work to maintain than I care to do.

My hair reaches well below my armpits, but unfortunately it seems to be thinning out on the top and at the temples. Whether this is due to the pony tail or simply the aging process I don't know. I had noticed it beginning to recede a little at the temples about 12 years ago in my early sixties, but it is accelerating now. I will likely cut it shorter so that I don't need to tie it back, but I don't want to return to the short hair I had for over 60 years. Most of the older women in my area have very short hair, and a suprising number of them are borderline balding. Their curls and waves are the female equivalent of the male comb over.

Veronica

[Beverley Sims]

Girls have long hair so as you can tell them from the boys.

[Ally 2112]

I have had long hair since highschool which means about almost 30 yrs (showing my age ) and have heard everthing to get it cut ,you look like a girl (really !!lol) to girls that were jealous
But i get what your saying my opin is that it is more femine and it is ingrained in society that long hair is for girls .Just like dresses and skirts :)

[Zylia]

You know what I think? I think that you need to leave that bum**** town of yours. It's not the "real world", only a very small part of it, and you'll probably find way more open-minded people elsewhere that don't ridicule everything that's 'different'.

Do we really need to discuss (the merits of) a social construct relating to gender on a forum dedicated to transgenderism? Yes it's there, yes it may not make sense nowadays.

[Deedee Skyblue]

Why do girls have long hair, why do they have long hair?
Why do birds sing, so gay, and lovers await the break of day,
Why do they have long hair?

[jennyscott]

I wear my hair SHORT as to avoid the ever-unacceptable comb-over. :(-

[sometimes_miss]

Do you ever wonder WHY girls have long hair?
Long, healthy appearing hair is a 'tell' that the woman has been healthy for a significant time, something you want if you're going to have offspring. It became genetically linked because men that prefer women who appear to have been sick would have gradually had their dna die off out of the gene pool. Same with clear, unwrinkled skin, good teeth, good eyes, no cellulite. All indications of a young, healthy female. The figure that most men are attracted to is also most commonly seen in females who have gone through puberty, but not yet had children fathered by other males. Ask any woman how their body changes after they have children.
And that's why looks seem to be so important to men. We're wired that way. If we weren't, our dna would die out. Yes, there will always be mutations, and during development there will be influences that alter what we're wired to be attracted to. But the majority finds the same general things sexually attractive.

[Swottie]

Bit of an aside. When my kids were 3 or 4, they thought the way to tell if someone is a girl is that they have long hair, and that boys have short hair. :)

[Frédérique]

Long, healthy appearing hair is a 'tell' that the woman has been healthy for a significant time, something you want if you're going to have offspring.

And yet SHORT hair on boys can be seen as another sign of health, correct? Or perhaps it shows the female that he is engaged in practical activities (work), is strong, he’s accepted by his peers (which means he’s NOT queer), so therefore he is a good candidate for a mate. I would think that, from the woman’s point of view, thinking long term, long hair on a male would be undesirable, at least here in the early 21st century...

I must say that if I see very short hair on a woman these days, it also denotes health, both mental and physical, and she probably isn’t interested in the “offspring” business...
:doh:


When my kids were 3 or 4, they thought the way to tell if someone is a girl is that they have long hair, and that boys have short hair.

Makes sense, since boys and girls can look somewhat alike. I saw several kids a few days ago, when I went out shopping with my sister, and every boy had neatly cut very short hair, while the girls all had long hair, at least shoulder length. There is no problem distinguishing between boy and girl in my little home on the prairie, that’s for sure...
:sad:

[Connie.Marie]

Freddie,
IMO
I think it goes back to the Judea-Christian heritage of our country.

From the wikipedia article mentioned earlier:
The New Testament says, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering," KJV 1 Corinthians 11:14–15

Television is just catering to the audience it has that still believe in the Bible. Probably a lot of them in Kansas.

Hugs, Connie Marie

[sometimes_miss]

And yet SHORT hair on boys can be seen as another sign of health, correct?

This debate has been done to death in other forums, plenty of fish, for one. men started cutting their hair short because it was one thing to be grabbed in battle. Even today, there are rules against grabbing hair in sports. But you don't see soldiers who might be in close combat with long hair unless they're nuts. Besides, women aren't looking at hair as a 'long term health' indicator. They're looking for alpha males, and hair length has nothing to do with that. Alpha male traits and behavior is what inspire interest from women.

Women 'these days' wear their hair short for a couple of reasons; they no longer care about attracting men, or think beauty isn't important, or they see young women with really hot bodies with short hair, so they think it's part of what men find attractive. And yes, if you have a '10' body, there will still be men that find that woman 'hot', but lesser bodied females just look more like men. They get fooled by their peers because lots of women will tell each other that they look good even if they don't, because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. So you get lots of women who look ridiculous because no one will tell them how bad they look. It's inspired a whole 'makeover' industry. We could debate women's hair length attractiveness forever, but if you look at one thing we'll pay for: go to any gogo bar and see. 90% of the girls have long hair. Same with our magazines; long hair sells. We like to look at it. Long, silky, soft shiny hair. Some will say it's media influenced, but I don't think that's it, personally.

[lynnef]

I believe it is due (as has been stated before) society's outmoded, outdated gender role expectations, where men are men and rip down trees with their bare hands and chew on raw steaks & whisky ( with a pack of cigars/cigarettes as a chaser) for breakfast (and eat the rest of the cow for dinner), and the women are to be meek, pretty, perfectly coiffed , have the raw steak and whisky sandwiches made, and the TV tuned to the football channel as soon as the man gets home. (if not sooner)

in the 70s that changed, and the change began to accelerate, thus here we are in 2013, in some cases the gender roles have almost been reversed (the women are eating the steak and whisky sandwiches that men have made),

as for myself, I have what would be considered very long hair in many social circles (past my waist/almost to my hips), because *I* like it (and not just for the thermal insulation/instant scarf in the winter :D), I have also gotten a fair amount of pressure to cut it, from family (after the job incident),wife (sometimes), and others; even to the point of not being hired for a job, because of that *one* reason :angry:.

But, I really don't care, because those who would insist I change my outside for them, would not like the way I am on the inside either.


so TL;DR - Outdated gender roles suck, Society Doesn't (yet) really accept long hair on guys, $%&!'em & be yourself, it weeds out the people you wouldn't like/get along with anyway :)