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Well, OP, have you heard of an old guy named Paul McCartney?
Once upon a time he was in a little band that did pretty well for themselves. When they came to the US on their first US tour they got to be pretty popular. The fellows in that band tended to wear their hair longish, and it was pretty influential.
You might have heard of that band McCartney was in, before he started "Wings". Or maybe not.
Times and trends change. Long hair on men is not a new thing.
Yeah, historically, it would be better to ask "When did men all start cutting their hair short" - it became a thing in the late 19th century I think. I mean, look at General George Custer, for crying out loud. Look at George Washington. Or Peter the Great.
For most of recorded history, at least some societies have had some men with longer hair than you can get away with in today's US Military.
Of course, the young want to do something different from their parents, so you get alternative waves of short and long hair on men, as each new "rebel" rebels against his parents, by copying his grandparents, effectively.
Statement, comfort level & simple preference, like most fashion choices.
As a former hairdresser & a former 20-something, I've seen styles in hair, makeup, clothing to be a bit of rebellion against the norm or conforming to it. Those older often return to styles once held in their prime of life when faced with major changes (divorce, for example) or when confronting older age. That's never changed.
Some just fall into a preferred style (or don't care about it at all) & remain there throughout life, others change their styles on a whim, others change a bit as they age (lowering hemlines, wearing smaller heels, etc).
I've also seen that when those younger go against the grain & wear styles different from most at the time, it begins filtering upwards through varying age groups.
And, we can't dismiss advertising & celebrity. You can read how Clark Gable brought the undershirt industry to a screaming halt in the 30s, when he took off his shirt in a movie & wasn't wearing one. How many mini-Madonnas can you see in the 80s from old clips, with ragtag hair with dark roots, bits of lace wrapped into the hair & Flashdance-esque clothing? I'd suspect longer hair on some men now has to do with Jared Leto, Keanu Reeves & Chris Hemsworth wearing longer hair styles from time to time. When I was a hairdresser, most (not some, but most) people ask for styles just like a celeb of the hour.
Lastly, profession affects our styles, too. Whether a lawyer likes to wear suits or not, it's part of the job & his long, pink hair wouldn't be welcome in the courtroom. Wearing a suit to an IT job would only make everyone think you're interviewing.
We all have our own preferences. I personally don't like long hair on men, then again, I don't like short hair on women... never have for either. But, it's just preference, I don't judge... it's your look. When I was a hairdresser & a young girl with long, natural blonde hair wanted a blue Mohawk, I cringed that she'd be cutting off hair that was what most came into a salon looking for... but, it's what she chose as her statement of < whatever > .
"there is nothing new under the sun" - every fashion trend cycles through but usually the cycles are shorter for women's fashions and "looks" so men have it a little easier. Long hair is nothing new and certainly not shocking. If anything, fashion has become much broader in terms of what's okay to wear or how to look at any point in time.
My youngest had long hair, past his shoulders when he graduated from high school in 2002. I encouraged him to let it grow if that's what he wanted. He had thick, gorgeous black hair.
I'm a product of the 70's. I like long hair on guys.
Huh? My Dad made the comment about me/my generation that we generally had a much shorter/tighter hair look than his generation did. I'm a millennial snowflake, He's a Boomer.
For most of recorded history, at least some societies have had some men with longer hair than you can get away with in today's US Military.
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I did mention that men had long hair compared to today until we had wars once every few decades or so.
Interestingly many older parents will still frown upon longer hair on their sons. This particularly include Christian parents, ironically despite how men in the bible era had hair much longer than most men today even the one with longer hairstyles. Yet they believe the bible require men to get almost military style cuts that is uncommon until recent history.
I do know that long hair did make a comeback in the 1960s-1970s but there was a strong stagma on it back then as they were associated with hippy rebellious, anti social countercultures. It was mostly worn by those who rebelled against being drafted to the Vietnam war.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silibran
Rock stars. Check out pics of Metallica band members circa 1995.
Rock stars might have been the major influencers. That’s my guess.
But some men did sport long hair. I think they might have styled themselves as outlaw types, but they were out there.
While its true that in the 1990s and parts of the 1980s longer hairstyles on men were popular on some TV and movie actors and rock musicians it wasn't nearly as popular as today in the general public. Probably one out of 30 kids in school on average. And back when I was in school its not uncommon for kids particularly girls to pick on such boys for being girly. Or for boys to be mistaken for a girl by other boys. i.e "We won't let "her" climb the castle its boys only", Today it seems to be going the same way tattoos are going. Back then tattoos until the 2000s were already popular on rock musicans and other counter culture groups but severely frowned upon by the mainstream world. And that girls of similar age at least accept and even adore longer hair on guys rather than view them with disdain, and guys no longer exclude or make fun of their friends due to longer hair. In other words it seems far less socially acceptable today either as a guy or girl to make the remark on the Youtube video I posted, towards guys with longer hair.
Edit: Many guys do try to make their hairstyle look distinguished from ladies with similar length hair, ie they style their hair in more a thick layered and somewhat rougher style compared with most ladies hair.
Last edited by citizensadvocate; 11-27-2018 at 03:04 PM..
Forget long hair, what's with the guys with the super long and unkempt beards? Many of them look awful.
I'll agree to that! Lots of guys let their beards grow to the point it looks like steel wool on their faces. I know they're not doing it for the ladies. LOL
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