Length/Style double standard

Please help me to understand the thinking behind hairstyles and lengths as they pertain to men and women. Time and time again I see posts where women are wanting short hair, even buzzcuts and flattops. Most times these women are encouraged to go for it. In efect these girls are getting haircuts that are shorter and shorter and according to traditional thinking more masculine. Also, as I look around each day for beautiful women I see many of them with really short hair. It seems that women can have any length or style of hair that they want. Men on the other hand seem to be forced to adhere to short cuts with no options of going long or trying different styles to see what best suites their face and features. Why is it that women have the freedom to do whatever they want with their hair but men do not? I am a guy and truthfully I look like a dork with short hair. Therefore I chose to let it grow and in consulting with a stylist determined that a nice bob below my ears with bangs would be the best style for me. I now have my hair cut in that below the ear bob with bangs and I love it. The problem is that I can tell that other people give me strange looks and no doubt talk about me behind my back. I really don't care about that but what is the big deal here? Each person looks good with their own style and men should have the right to have a longer style and the right to choose a style that fits their features just like women. This isn't true now. So why the double standard?

Seeing that no one is posting it must mean that everyone agrees that there is a huge double standard. It is wrong and we need to do something to change this and overcome it. As a guy I want more options for my hair and more freedom to be me.

I had to resurect this thread (many of you might be tired of me but) because the other day it happened again. My hair is still cut in the one length bob below my ears with bangs and a clippered nape. Well I pulled up beside two girls in a car at a traffic light. I glanced over and me and the girl in the passenger seat made eye contact. Then a few seconds later I glanced back and both girls were looking at me giggling. Why? I guess the double standard lives on when it comes to hairstyles and length as it pertains to men and women. Women can do anything with their hair but guys are expected by society to have short hair. Go figure.

Who says that they were giggling about your hair. Maybe they thought you were cute. Girls giggle at all kinds of things.

I don`t take care anymore what society thinks about my hair, now it reaches down to my shoulder blades. Sometimes people look friendly at me, sometimes not, but I get no negative comments about my hair (also no positive ones).

Society is composed of individuals with different opinions, I can not take care what everyone may think. I have to fullfill my job and I get friends through my personality.

My problem is quite different from yours. I appreciate the long hair on women and I can not find much in society which matches my sight of view. Maybe the internet will help to clear my thoughts.

wolfgang

Well, let`s see what I`m going to say here. Well many guys to look better with longer hair, I mean for those of you who may be familiar with the band Hanson, they all had longer hair and looked great. Now hat 2 of them cut it looks eh so-so. So my point is that some guys do look better with longer hair but some styles are still meant for girls. I do not think that women should have short hair... ear length bob @ the absolute shortest.

Mckee, I don`t understand why you think that some styles are still meant for girls. I mean probably the majority of women these days (if not the majority then pretty close) have these short shag cuts and boy cuts. Some girl look very attractive with those styles to me. And some guys look better with longer styles as in my case. I guess what I am driving at is who is to say what styles and lengths a guy or girl should wear? If the girls can have boy haircuts (and some women do have very short to even crew cuts) then why can`t guys wear longer cuts/styles that were traditionally girls styles? I really don`t care if people think that I have a girls hairstyle because it is my hair and I wear it the way that I like it and that is this one length bob below my ears with bangs. I just don`t understand how and where the lines get drawn as to length and styles for guys and girls. I also don`t understand why any style or length should be reserved for a guy or a girl. Can anyone help me here?

A certain length or style shouldn`t be reserved for a guy or girl. However, that is the way it is. I`m not sure why. Personally I think the shorter a guy`s hair is the better. I cut my boyfriend`s hair once a week with a #1 on the sides and back and a #2 on the top. I leave a small thin section of "bangs" that are cut short and I chop into them so they aren`t straight across. I guess I don`t have issues with "bangs" like this. If one would even consider them bangs, which I do not, but since they are slightly on his forehead I guess some might consider them bangs.
I do think it looks a bit silly when guys have bangs that they style with a round brush type of thing. I guess if a guy has pretty short hair ( doesn`t have to be buzzed) and bangs it would be ok. But sorry, the long hair and bangs, YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the end, it`s your hair. Do whatever makes YOU happy!
If someone laughs, smile, they`ll wonder what you are thinking....

David Justin Lynch,

When I come home tonight, I`ll check the schedule for shuttle flights and see when the next one leaves for the planet of the apes. Maybe they can teach you something. :)

I don`t really see anything wrong with having long hair and being a guy as long as its taken care off and doesn`t look greasy or anything like that. I knew a man who had long hair and always kepted it back in a braid, to me it looked fine and one day he cut it all off and he looked totally differnt I never thought anything bad about him just because he had long hair.

Bobbedguy:Just a question: Don`t you go to the chickclick message boards as well as other hair forums or websites for girls and women?

I think it fine for a guy to have long hair as long as there take care of it and it not really long . but if i guy has very soft facial features then long hair uusally makes them look more like they have a womens hairstyle but this is just my opion .

I do take very good care of my hair. I wash it and condition it every day and then use a round brush and blow dryer to style it. I just love the versatility and swing that my hair has. I must say that I probably don`t have the most masculine facial features but then I think that is one reason that my stylist suggested this style because it fits my facial features. That is something that most guys aren`t afforded I think. I mean they get a haircut that is "proper" for a guy or a cut that is "in style" whether it looks good on them or not. Personally I think that most guys allow society to strip them of their personality and self expression because they feel that they MUST have a short haircut. I`m not letting them do that to me. Besides, who has been nominated to say what is feminine and what is masculine? I mean more and more girls and women are getting these really short boy cuts and crew cuts so why isn`t it acceptable for guys to get longer styles even if it is usually considered as a girls style if it suits the guys features?

Hi bobbedguy,

You`ve been posting essentially the same message for months and months and months..... Quite honestly, I`ve never known a guy so obsessed with his hair!

If you`ve firmly convinced of your masculinity, then why do you care what other people think?

Do you have any inclinations of wearing a dress? Wearing make-up?

Why are you so obsessed with your hair?

Personally, I prefer short hair on men. But if a guy prefers longer hair, then I don`t have a problem with it. But it seems you desire full societal approval of your long hair. Don`t think you`ll find it.

With all due respect, I personally feel that hair dryers and curling irons are very effeminate. Why do they appeal to you? Do you ever feel like putting curlers in your hair?

Do you think men and women are different, except for their plumbing?

Why do you want a girls` hairstyle?

Jennifer

Again, I agree wholeheartedly with you. I posted a message on the same lines on Dec 9, 2000 under General Hair Talk. The guy is an effeminate narcissist and while he has every right to be so, why bore the rest of us every month? Give us a break, Jamie.

I must chime in with agreement here too....bobbedguy, Jamie, whatever, I`m really very very bored with this topic...and ultimately it is of zero interest to just about anyone but you.

I have waist length hair - do I seek society`s wholehearted approval? No. Do I care if some of society doesn`t approve? Not in the least. Be happy, don`t be happy...but let it go, man!!!!!
:o)
Chris

Of course there is a double standard - but it`s not a law - do what you want - but don`t bitch about people noticing if it`s unusual. That applies to a lot of things...wags

I`ve always liked guys with longer hair. I`ve never understood why most guys feel they need to keep their hair short. And I don`t understand why they all feel the need to cake their hair with product, either...

And, if you guys are sick of this guy posting the same topic over and over...then STOP READING IT. Don`t whine about it because *you* came to read it, even when you probably already knew what it was about.

Maybe that hairstyle doesn`t suit you Bobbeguy. I happen to know some guys that have that look and it never even occured to me that they had something different nor I consider that long. I don`t think that every hairstyle suits us and when we do find one that suits us it blends in. Long hair on some people look awful as some short hair styles on some people look awful.

For example the shave look looks fabulous on a few people I know but the same look on the lady that I happen to know that did it a few months ago to raise money for the Cancer society didn`t suit her and she didn`t like it neither. I have seen long hair on guys and they look awful and others look great. NOt every man can wear a crew cut but when that style is on the right male, man that looks sharp.

Years ago I never thought curls would look good on guys but i have seen hairstyles that includes curls for men and again it looked sexy.

The problem is not only that some people find it weird, but that there is some discrimination, for example,
in certain workplaces. If you don`t like a person of the opposite sex with a "non-traditional" length of
hair, that`s your own aesthetic opinion, and should have no bearing on what you think of a person`s character or whether or not you should be employed. In the Netherlands, soldiers are allowed to have long hair, and
I say, make it that way in Canada and the US too.

Weird? Double standard? Discrimination? How about basic human nature. Birds of a feather do flock together. I would suggest that you understand people in general are most at home around people like themselves. That leaves you 2 options, you can either look down at people for not excepting you as you are or you can put forth a little more effort and show people that men with chin lenth bobs and bangs really are ok. As they say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" but if you chose to be unroman... don`t ask why you don`t get treated as other Romans!

Hey, does anybody think that bobbedguy is finally gone? I haven`t seen him around posting in a while... do you think we scared him off?