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Grex > Femme > #86: Why do Women have Long Hair? | |
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janc
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Why do Women have Long Hair?
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Feb 1 17:04 UTC 1998 |
I was just thinking of gender and hair length.
In the fifties, if you had asked a kid what the main difference between boys
and girls are, "girls have long hair" would certainly been one of the first
things mentioned.
But looking around, in the world, it still seems like a surprisingly good
rule. Yes, there have been a lot of cultures where men wore long hair, but
mostly they stopped. Sailors and chinese men both used to wear pigtails, but
neither does today. I think that in cultures where men wore turbans, they
often had long hair underneath, but I think that is less common.
I can't think of any culture, current or historical, where women typically
wore their hair short.
So why is the hair/gender correlation so strong?
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| 67 responses total. |
scott
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response 1 of 67:
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Feb 1 17:58 UTC 1998 |
Men working with machinery, long hair gets caught easily... That can be a
source for why men no longer have long hair. Look at a picture of george
Washington (in you wallet you might have some bills)... long hair!
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clees
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response 2 of 67:
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Feb 2 15:32 UTC 1998 |
South american indians in the amazones, I think have rather short hair.
In fact, I tend to remember from pictures the length is abou tthe same is with
men.
Do I remember correctly?
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keesan
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response 3 of 67:
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Feb 2 21:34 UTC 1998 |
Roman soldiers cut their hair and beards off so they would not have them
grabbed during battle. Fewer woman go to battle. Short hair has been around
longer than machinery. I think women's hair will also grow longer before it
falls off (about waist length or more, men's maybe shoulder length?).
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aruba
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response 4 of 67:
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Feb 2 22:26 UTC 1998 |
I believe Guiness lists a man as the person with the longest hair, though.
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orinoco
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response 5 of 67:
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Feb 3 04:05 UTC 1998 |
Re#3: At least one man I know had hair down to his waist at one point.
Didn't long hair used to be a sign of luxury?
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garima
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response 6 of 67:
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Feb 3 04:28 UTC 1998 |
Maybe it's because long hair is viewed as sensual.
And for some reason, in our species, the woman tries to look sexy
(instead of the male for lions, peacocks, pheasants etc.)
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i
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response 7 of 67:
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Feb 3 05:19 UTC 1998 |
Basically what #6 said. Long hair is a bother, and isn't good for a
whole lot beyond looks. "Willing to put up with the bother for the
sake of the looks" is far more a feminine than a masculine trait.
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valerie
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response 8 of 67:
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Feb 3 14:54 UTC 1998 |
This response has been erased.
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i
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response 9 of 67:
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Feb 4 03:29 UTC 1998 |
How often do they think that short hair needs cutting, and how often do
they seem to wash their hair? :)
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orinoco
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response 10 of 67:
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Feb 4 03:37 UTC 1998 |
I don't really remember how often I had to cut my hair back when I kept it
short, but I do recall that I could get away without washing it very often.
It looked horrid, though, even when I had just washed, dried, and brushed it.
My hair is midway between wavy and curly, and it would stick straight up in
the air in at least one spot no matter how hard I worked on it. Finally, I
decided that wrestling it wasn't worth the bother.
So, now I have hair down a bit below my shoulders. I haven't even trimmed
it in a few months, at least, but if I go more than a day without shampoo and
conditioner it gets hideously tangled. It's still worth it. I like being
able to just stick it back in a ponytail when I don't feel like dealing with
it; I like not having to worry about having cowlicks or putting my part in
the right place; I like the way long hair _feels_.
So, it's not so much that it's less of a bother, it's that I prefer this kind
of bother :)
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scg
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response 11 of 67:
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Feb 4 07:11 UTC 1998 |
re 3:
My hair is almost down my waist. It certainly didn't fall out at
shoulder length. The length it's at now does seem to be its maximum length.
I didn't really decide to have long hair. I went through a period about seven
years ago of being very careful about keeping my hair short, getting it cut
every two or three weeks, and then I just stopped bothering with it.
Eventually I had long hair, and I haven't been particularly motivated to have
short hair so it's still long. When it was short it was in a sense easier
to deal with it, since combing took about 10 seconds. On the other hand,
getting it cut was a drag.
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clees
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response 12 of 67:
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Feb 4 15:10 UTC 1998 |
Holy hindu men in India let their hair grow as a sign of ascetism, I have
taken a picture of a men sleeping (sitting on some stairs of a temple) whose
hair reaches the ground. I guess standing up his hair would've reached at
least his knees.
The picture can be found at the personal pages/files of my homepage, the url
should be:
http://huizen.nhkanaal.nl/~rickdos/india10.htm
(or else leave the India10 out and follow the links from my index page.)
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scott
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response 13 of 67:
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Feb 4 17:31 UTC 1998 |
Well, my hair is up to 2 inches long, but that is growing out from my last
1/8" buzz cut (I had it "neatened" since then). I liked having a buzz cut,
since I didn't need a comb, and it dried in seconds. I sort of like having
my hair longer now, but it's a toss up. I hate sweating into my hair when
working out (itchy).
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orinoco
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response 14 of 67:
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Feb 4 19:47 UTC 1998 |
Yeah, that's another downside.
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aruba
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response 15 of 67:
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Feb 4 21:44 UTC 1998 |
I believe that very religious Sikhs do not cut any of their body hair, and
that's the reason they wear turbans.
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birdlady
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response 16 of 67:
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Feb 5 00:29 UTC 1998 |
I think that some men look better with long hair because it compliments their
face. The same for women who choose to have short hair. For example, (for
those who know Meg Heberlein), when she had very short hair a couple summers
ago, it looked great. I can't picture her with long hair. OTOH, I can't
picture Jeremy Weiss with short hair because his hair is long, red, and
gorgeous. It's all a matter of looks, IMHO. I think it's great that men and
women can choose their hair length now. (This, of course, excludes jobs that
require short hair for men).
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garima
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response 17 of 67:
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Feb 7 07:17 UTC 1998 |
re #15 - Yes. And the newer the generation, the fewer the Sikhs who want
to keep their hair long.
Yeah, they tie up their hair in the turban.
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otter
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response 18 of 67:
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May 9 18:56 UTC 1998 |
i wore my hair short for several years, and found it to be much more work and
bother than just letting it grow. It's back down to waist length, and a
wash-comb-go operation. It's also much easier to tie it back and get it out
of the way than when it was short.
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keesan
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response 19 of 67:
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May 9 22:30 UTC 1998 |
But short hair dries much faster, I should cut mine soon.
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iggy
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response 20 of 67:
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May 12 15:09 UTC 1998 |
i like myself with long hair. i had experimented ith short hair
now and then.
for some reason, with my body-type, i think i look like a man
with short hair. actually, i had been mistaken several times..
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mta
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response 21 of 67:
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May 13 21:49 UTC 1998 |
I like to have long hair for several reasons --
1) I think it's attractive
2) It's far easier to care for -- just wash and go.
3) I've mostly had long hair for 28 years so it feels like a part of who
I am.
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keesan
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response 22 of 67:
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May 14 01:41 UTC 1998 |
I find short hair easier to care for, it dries much faster and I don't have
to comb it (it is curly). Jim promised to cut mine very soon. When my hair
is long it sticks out sideways up to 8". My brother has always had long hair,
his is frizzy and he ties it into a ponytail and then ties down the other end
of the ponytail (and maybe also the middle).
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iggy
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response 23 of 67:
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May 14 15:53 UTC 1998 |
maybe he could braid the ponytail?
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orinoco
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response 24 of 67:
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May 16 02:28 UTC 1998 |
Pursuing the "it's easier to care for" line...
I've been thinking of late about putting my hair up in dreadlocks. It seems
like it would be much easier to care for, considering my long har is _far_
from trouble-free, needing quite a bit of conditioner and brushing and
whatnot.
So, has anyone here had or known someone who had their hair like that? Any
comments on it?
For that matter, where would be someplace around A2 where I could get them
done professionally, rather than trying to fake 'em myself and probably
botching the job?...
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