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Why do women generally have long hair?

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    5 2127 2‚ 0
    Here's a question I've been thinking about for some time? Why do women generally have long hair?

    If it was just a fashion thing , like all fashions it would have been popular for a while and then disappeared. However, women have always traditionally had longer hair that their male counterparts.

    Many of them hate it too, regularly complaining that it goes in their eyes and gets in the way and is hard to manage. If that is the case then why do they bother?

    Is this a genetic thing that forces them to wear their hair long? Or is it down to society and parental infuences and peer pressure? If it's the latter, then why it it the same all over the world and even the same for the lost tribes of New Guninea who've been cut off from the rest of the world for thousands of years.

    I'm perplexed! Got any ideas? Over to you...

    Hugs, Katie x
    Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next without any loss of enthusiasm!
      September 10, 2010 11:11 AM BST
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  • Katie

    Can only assume it goes back to cave men times, when men would drag women off by their hair for a good seeing too or drag them back to the cooker. anyone got a time machine, lol.
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      September 10, 2010 12:11 PM BST
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  • Moderator
    5 2127 2‚ 0
    Perhaps that is so. But to be dragged off by their hair it would have to be long in the first place, so maybe the long hair thing pre-dates chauvinist pig cavemen (who by the way, still exist today).

    Anyone else got any bright ideas?

    Hugs, Katie x
    Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next without any loss of enthusiasm!
      September 10, 2010 12:21 PM BST
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  • Hi Katie.

    I have had long hair ever since i was a kid .

    To me personaly all through my life it has been a statement that i am female but i do have it cut and styled when it becomes a pain to manage . I don,t think it is a fashion thing it is a female thing , if you take a look in most hair mags today women have hair of every length and as far as a fashion statement i think that is shown by the colours more than the length .

    Nice one Crissie made me giggle but like Katie said they still exist .

    Julia xx .
      September 10, 2010 1:29 PM BST
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  • I'm not really sure but I think it could be for some distant religious reason.
    I've never had really long hair even when I was a girl (punks don't have long hair!)
    I've had the same bob for years.
    Although I have to admit to a few pangs of envy when I see another woman
    with long flowing locks.
      September 10, 2010 1:32 PM BST
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  • Hi Janis,

    I was a teenager in the mid to late 1960's and I wore my hair as long as I could, you can thank the Beatles for that. That it made it so much easier to be femme was a major plus!

    I think the main reason, other than fashion, that GG's wear their hair long is that it frames the face. Long, nicely styled, hair and a V-neck top really draw the eyes to the face.

    These days, sadly, I have to wear a wig. Almost no GG's wear the "Benjamin Franklin Look"....

    Best,
    Melody
    <p><span style="color: #800080;">Girls will be boys and boys will be girls It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola</span> - Ray Davies, The Kinks</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">(S)he's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction</span> - Kris Kristofferson</p>
      September 10, 2010 1:51 PM BST
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  • Yes framing the face would be a good reason for long hair,
    but there are some really beautiful looking girls with little
    or no hair. The Irish singer Sinead O'Connor springs to
    mind with her beautiful eyes and cheekbones.
      September 10, 2010 2:21 PM BST
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  • I think it is because it requires more care. If you have long, pretty hair, it gives a feminine look to your appearance. I think the same thing goes for long nails, it's a vanity thing. Women are "supposed" to look well kept, delicate and pretty.

    I have always had long blonde hair but dreamed of a short classical bob, it's so edgy. Everyone tried to convince me to keep my long hair for the simple boring reason "Long hair is sooo pretty". *yawn*

    Finally I decided to get my dream-hair-style! This is the style I have, mine is light blonde though:
    http://www.easy-hairstyle[...]air.jpg

    I am tired of the typical long hair everyone has.
      September 10, 2010 4:47 PM BST
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  • I think hair length originally was dealt with out of necessity. Meaning those working in hot climates, usually men doing the strenuous work, adjusted hair length for comfort versus appearance. You also need to factor in religious reasons as some religions believe there is some sort of power in hair and that is why they don't shave and keep their hair covered when out in public.

    I think as time has changed society has chosen styles to be more "professional", only to change again down the road. I think the younger people now see it more as a fashion issue because the magazines and other media now prevalent shape the current image and we don't want to be left behind.

    I know with the women I come in contact with, the more mature (middle aged), tend to where there hair in shorter styles for both comfort and ease of care. Sure there is a small population of elderly who continue to wear the styles of their generation, but the younger crowd is still ever changing.

    I know growing up I wished everyone was bald because my hair is so fine and takes a lot of work to maintain any given style. Other than having the ends trimmed, I have not had my hair cut in several years.

    Hugs,
    Marsha
      September 10, 2010 5:56 PM BST
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  • 252
    My two cents from the endless hours of "The History Channel" that I've watched when I've been especially anti-social. According to several experts, this might go back to early caveman times, as Cris said, however the reason is a bit different. According to these scientists, ancient man lived mainly near water, in fact, many think that early man spent a very large amount of time in the water. Women were expected to help too of course, no matter if your child was with you. From this, they surmise that women's long hair made for easy hand holds for children.

    But as far as why women wear long hair now.....because men like it that way, probably!!

    Z
    I am the itch, after it was scratched.
      September 12, 2010 5:59 AM BST
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  • I would guess that if we gather up stats on hair length worldwide, we would find that long hair is more cultural than developmental or evolutionary. If we follow Homo Sapians Sapians back, we can see that head-hair length reduced rapidly as we approach previous stages. Long hair is a luxury, not a survival trait. Any kind of handhold as you run is not good survival. Enough hair to stay warm has always been adaptive.

    IMO, the reason for long hair is as a demonstration of wealth and luxury. In ancient Europe (and many other places, such as Royal Polynesian Hawaii), plumpness was long considered a demonstration of wealth (oh God, please let that come again!).

    Of side-interest may be studies that show that males tend to grow out their hair before they make a major break with their social strata, whereas females tend to cut their hair off if they are leaving home, getting a divorce, or whatever.

    Anyway, I adore beautiful shorter haircuts, especially any of us who can sport a Lady Di look; wow! I myself need long hair to hide my fat face, lol.

    Smooches,
    Kelli
      September 13, 2010 2:02 PM BST
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  • Katie,
    I guess one has to figure out when the first gay caveman became a hairdresser so that women had somewhere to go to get it cut.


    I know that men of Native American plains tribes were quite proud of their long hair and took good care of it.
    "A live lived in fear is a life half-lived." - Native American proverb. "Inside every man is a woman who was drowned in testosterone before birth". - Wendy Jeanette Larsen "It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not." - Andre Gide (French writer)
      September 13, 2010 3:30 PM BST
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  • I have to go with the "Framing " aspect . Generaly a good hairstyle enhances ones facial features . Many times a woman using a long hairstyle can do this . ellen
    Liberalism , a desease - E Shaver
      September 14, 2010 7:31 PM BST
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  • Not all women have long hair. In fact I would say the majority of women have hair that is shorter than shoulder length and you can have lots of nice styles...

    http://www.google.co.uk/i[...]bih=631

    Unfortunately, for us ugly women, we need long hair to cover up our unsightly features lol

    Just an ordinary girl finding her way in this strange life. - What will it take to get everyone to realise that everyone else is also a human being that deserves just as much respect? - How does someone tell their doctor they have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia? - When I was a student I specialised in Alcopology. It always starts with Alco and always ends with pology. - Waiter! There's a hare in my rabbit pie!
      September 15, 2010 1:09 PM BST
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  • I'd agree with those who say it's a cultural/fashion thing. When I was young, the girls all wore their hair long, and for boys, anything much longer than a "boy's regular" as we called it was subject to problems. Long hair offers women a wide variety of hairdos--wear it down, wear it up, wear a pony tail, a braid, even pig tails. I think as women get older, they choose shorter styles because while they still want to look good, convenience means more than fashion, and plenty of attractive short styles can be had (thanks the the descendants of that gay cave man alluded to earlier.)

    Long hair is not universal. I spent some time in East Africa last year, and the women outside of the cities almost universally kept their hair closely cropped. African-American women in this country, too, are more likely than others to keep their hair short.

    As for me (I also thank the Beatles and other rockers, Hippies, and the musical hair) once I could grow my hair long, I kept it quite long for many years. Combed it straight back with a part in the middle when drab, had fun styling it when I could (I once had rollers and a curling iron!) Now, alas, male genetics forces me to wear a wig to frame this all too large face and less than petite nose.
      September 17, 2010 12:58 PM BST
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  • I suppose cos you can mess about with it and look different.
    I've changed my avatar and profile pics with the help of a wig
    and I do look different.
      September 17, 2010 1:19 PM BST
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  • While there is always an element of fashion and social conditioning which dictates hair length, for the most part I would say it is cultural and relative to a particular time and place. Go back in UK history and there was a time when long hair was seen as a status symbol. (Think ye olde royal navy).

    I think a more relevant, and related, issue is why is it acceptable for women to have both long or short hair but it is frowned upon if men have long hair. Ahh....equality. Sometimes it actually works in our favour.

    Nikki
    Every woman is beautiful, some show it with their faces, others show it with their hearts.
      September 17, 2010 3:47 PM BST
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  • 1195
    Hey! I'm only a week late but I'd like to add my little thoughts on this subject.
    If it's a fashion thing - the media and the celebs will try to influence it, naturally.
    I believe women at present tend to style their hair to meet their everyday needs - an office worker or a woman doing computer work at home doesn't want her hair falling into her face or work, so she will either wear it up or tie it back. She might even have it cut shoulder length.
    A performer can go with whatever pleases her - anyone remember Crystal Gail? Her hair touched the floor.
    Many women as they mature in their later years (didn't you like that PC statement?) do wear wigs - no problem.
    that's about all from this end of the pool.
    hugs
    Gracie
    <p>If it isn't fun - don't do it.</p>
      September 17, 2010 7:11 PM BST
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