Longhairs.... Anyone?

[Theocrat]

Who else gets shit for having long hair nowadays... Should have thought that such a thing would be more rare today.. 'but it isn't'..
Having to explain it many times, and having to talk to insecure people about their problem with it. I'll cut my hair when I want to. Not when somebody else wants, this conformity bullshit really reeks.
I'll choose my lifestyle, and i'll alter it when i see fit. Not someone else.

Think about those unoriginals who are walking around living someone else's life. It pains me to see them live like that, when i know 'who' they really are, and they have given up on their dreams and desires in life.
To please someone else or another group of people.

And parents/family can be a real pain in the butt concerning these issue's.
I'm 28 for &%#"'s sake! I cut 'the' cord along time ago..

This discussion does not have to be about just having long hair.

[A_Non_Ymous]

Re: Longhairs.... Anyone?

Who else gets shit for having long hair nowadays... Should have thought that such a thing would be more rare today.. 'but it isn't'..
Having to explain it many times, and having to talk to insecure people about their problem with it. I'll cut my hair when I want to. Not when somebody else wants, this conformity bullshit really reeks.
I'll choose my lifestyle, and i'll alter it when i see fit. Not someone else.

Think about those unoriginals who are walking around living someone else's life. It pains me to see them live like that, when i know 'who' they really are, and they have given up on their dreams and desires in life.
To please someone else or another group of people.

This is an interesting phenomenon, I'll admit. It used to be my experience
back in the '70s-'80s, that the behavior you describe was fairly prominent
in certain parts of the U.S., and very much less so in others. For example,
I used to receive major, moron-level harassment for the length of my
hair when visiting my wife's home town (Nashville, TN) and environs
(e.g., Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi). It made me glad to return home.
I recall similar behavior in times gone by in much of Texas, with Austin
being an island of sorts. Perhaps it's different today; I haven't been
there in a while.

Contrariwise, I never heard anything of the sort in Los Angeles or San Francisco
or Chicago. Similarly, I travelled around France, Germany, Britain, and Sweden
quite a bit in the '70s - '90s, and encountered general indifference to the length
of one's hair. (Although it used to be a pain to get into certain restaurants in
France if you weren't wearing a sportcoat or jacket. That's a cultural difference
of another sort, which I've had drummed into me by my older French relatives.)

My theory, based on my very admittedly restricted personal
experience, was that the culture (such as it is) is just a lot more intolerant
in certain parts of the country. People who stand out even a little from
the general mass are automatic targets -- sort of the "green monkey"
syndrome. You see the worst behavior from the lower end of the educational
spectrum. In some parts of the country, yahooism isn't a fault, but is almost
thought of as a polite accomplishment. :-]

I'm a little surprised that people are still making a big deal about long hair
after 35+ years of such things in our culture. Perhaps I just haven't noticed
it (hair cut a lot shorter these days, due to impatience on my part).

And parents/family can be a real pain in the butt concerning these issue's.
I'm 28 for &%#"'s sake! I cut 'the' cord along time ago..

This discussion does not have to be about just having long hair.

I think this is actually a separate topic, which you seem aware of in your
comments. The tyranny of familial relationships is well-known and well-documented.
As Mark Twain (I think) put it, at least you can choose your friends.

LSN

[Omaru]

I grew up as a teenager with long hair but cut it off before I came to college. Nowadays I have a barbell piercing in my eyebrow and a hoop in my lip, a shaved head, and a beard. I've always seen personal appearance as just that: personal. As in no one else's business, really. I happen to live in a pretty liberal spot at the moment so it's not much of a problem but when I go back home to visit family or anything I really start to get stares and comments and it becomes pretty annoying.

[Doc]

Re: Longhairs.... Anyone?

[quote="L_Stearns_Newburg"]
It made me glad to return home.
I recall similar behavior in times gone by in much of Texas, with Austin
being an island of sorts. Perhaps it's different today; I haven't been
there in a while. [quote]

I don't mean to change this thread's focus, but...

Austin's no different now. In some parts of the city (especially South Austin), you stand out if you're a man and don't have long hair, facial hair, multiple tattoos, or some combination of the three. I have two of the combination (only one tattoo, which isn't usually visible).

Hmm... The whole tattoo thing could also be part of this thread. Tattoos seem to be a rite of passage today. It's almost rebellious to not have a tattoo now, instead of expressing rebellion with one. It's funny how some people will now accept tattoos, but are shocked by men with long hair. Kinda silly, isn't it.

[Anonymous]

I guess the thing about personal appearance is that other people can feel threatened or uneasy if someone looks like they belong to the suicide division of the hell angels. I feel uneasy when talking to a girl who has gone a significantly long way to make herself sexual attractive. Reduces my mental capacity by 30%..

[Bob]

I just go for whatever is comfortable, really. My hair is long(ish) originally out of laziness, but then I grew to like it so tried to do something with it. I often think that if a person overly tries to be 'sexy', they look silly. Similarly, however, I simply can't cope with someone looking dirty or scruffy - there is no excuse for not having personal hygeine!

[ReaveTheJust]

Right on Theo. I'm with you.

I've had a shaved head for years now (easy, no fuss), but used to have long hair, at one time in dreadlocks etc, with the sides shaved etc.

I also remember the hostility I generated with an eyebrow ring (this was in 1992 before it was passe).

If I or anyone else wish to look like I've just beamed down from Venus then that's my affair :D

[Bill]

"Think about those unoriginals who are walking around living someone else's life. It pains me to see them live like that, when i know 'who' they really are, and they have given up on their dreams and desires in life.
To please someone else or another group of people. "

Well, I for one look fairly inconspicuous (not unlike my avatar, actually, when I am not wearing my contact lenses), although I used to be a long hair.

Two things jump out at me here. One, on a basic level, is that if one is really "dressing for themselves" they don't give a hoot what that impression is. Some people choose not to live like that; I for one have many other ways of expressing my individuality, so wearing short hair and a polo shirt doesn't impact my life one bit.

But second, and more importantly, exclude the true mavericks (you'll soon see what I mean) and those (like me) that don't use looks as a means of expression (necessarily). What intrigues me - and causes me to shake my head - are the the "pretenders". Those that want everyone else to thing they are cutting edge, and living the individual life (be it with long hair, or piercings, or ink, or whatever) but travel in packs that - you guessed it - all look the same! To me, there is absolutelt NO DIFFERENCE (and that includes in individuality or radicalness) between ten guys walking into a corporate office in blue suits and red ties and ten guys walking into a mall with baggy pants, an Alan Iverson jersey, long hair and a nose ring.

A uniform is a uniform my friends.

[DeeCrowSeer]

I just go for whatever is comfortable, really. My hair is long(ish) originally out of laziness, but then I grew to like it so tried to do something with it.

Between the ages of... er... 13 and 18, I had hair down to my shoulders. Mostly it was because I was listening to a lot of metal, and it went with the tee shirts I was wearing. I was also very lazy and hated having to come up with small talk when I went to the barber's. Eventually I cut it, because my laziness weighed up the relative hassle resulting from hair-cuts verses washing and drying long hair and voted in favour of getting it cut. I never found a style that I could stand for longer than a week at a time, so I grew it out again. All through this time I was experimenting with facial hair too, but it never really took. As I've mentioned in another thread, I recently shaved all of my hair off, and am hoping to stick with the crew cut for a while. I still think that long hair is one of the better looks for men and women, but I just don't deserve it! I am planning to grow my highly suspect goatee back again, because the one thing I can not stand is looking "neat and tidy", as my mother puts it. I break out in a sweat if I look like more than one other person in the room, and I am always teetering on the brink of looking like a stereotypical "geek".

[At this point Dee has to be physically restrained from writing anything else about his hair. Vanity overload!!!]

I often think that if a person overly tries to be 'sexy', they look silly. Similarly, however, I simply can't cope with someone looking dirty or scruffy - there is no excuse for not having personal hygeine!

I agree, and disagree. I think women trying to look "sexy" generally just look cold, and I worry about them. Dirty/scruffy is definitely more my end of the scale... scuffed fingernails, roots showing through cheap hair-dye, stained denim. That's the good stuff!

I do have a slight pet peeve against generic tattoos, such as nonsense words written in random Chinese characters. If you're going to get inked, I want it to mean something... preferably your own design. I don't think I'll ever get one, although I often joke that the fist company to buy one of my scripts will earn the honour of having their logo tattooed on my writing arm.

But I also agree with Bill about how a "rebellious" uniform can now be bought straight off the rack. There are so many shops selling "anarchy" tee shirts and studded belts now that I'll often walk down the street and think I see a "metal kid" only to realize that they're a "trendie" (sorry, my terms are a tad outdated). I suppose you could argue that sub-cultures are blending together and this will lead to a greater sense of togetherness, and the death of tribalism, but that really doesn't seem to be the case. There is still a glass wall between the girls who bought their Maiden tops in Dorothy Perkins (high-street fashion chain), and the ones who stole them from their parents.

Only the other day I was brooding over the fact that it's been years since I saw a real "metal shop". The closest we have is a tattoo place that sells a few music tees, and far too much PVC fetish clubwear. Where have all the bullet belts gone? My kigndom for a "riot grrrl", etc.

D...

PS. Just out of curiosity, the Suicide Girls porn site, good idea or bad idea? I say bad.

[Bob]

There are, of course, degrees of 'scruffiness'. I probably fall in there somewhere as I'm not fussed about looking 'neat and tidy' as mum's might say. What I mean is that I can't stand a lack of hygeine. Smelly people just don't cut it!

I'll not drag this any further for fear of sounding like a snob...

:oops:

[Bill]

"I still think that long hair is one of the better looks for men and women, "

Actually, long hair (at least to the shoulders) is kind of a given if I am going to be attracted to a girl.

Demi Moore: HOT in St. Elmo's Fire; NOT in G.I. Jane
Sharon Stone: HOT in Basic Instinct; NOT in Catwoman
Neve Campbell: HOT in Scream; NOT in Three To Tango
Charlize Theron: HOT in Cider House Rules; NOT in Sweet November

Now, I realize that the last two are relative, and included to make a point (they would both be hot with an azalia bush on their heads), but you get the idea.

As far as "dress up", if a girl is sexy in a jeans, a turtle neck, and a sweater/sweatshirt, she is sexy always; if not, then anything else is smoke and mirrors.

SNOBBERY!!!!!

[bluekachina]

Fact: My hair is dead protien. It is black/brown.
Opinion: It is long.
Fact: I will cut it when I wish, the length of said hair carries no other statement.
Opinion: Some like the length, some do not.
Fact: All who behold my hair give it more consideration than I.
Fact: My opinion is the only one of consequence.
P.S.
I like to attend public gatherings wearing bright red pajamas while smoking my pipe.
I prefer a bit of Perique with my Cavendish.

[Jerico]

NO MATTER!

"No matter!
We are all gathered here in praise of Metal!
Long hair, short hair,
leather, jean, suit and tie.
No matter!
We are all here to
'Fight til Death!'"

--Tom Araya, Slayer
_________________
Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 6:23 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING! WARNING! too extreme for some ALERT!....
Intro to "Necrophiliac" (is that spelled with two L's?)...

SLAY-ER! SLAY-ER! SLAY-ER! SLAY-ER!

"How many of you are into older women?... I mean WAAAY older women! The kind you dig out of graves. The kind with MAGGOTS CRAWLING OUT OF THEIR F*@!!N C**T?!!
And when you f*@k these little ladies, they break in two!
Are you Necrophiliacs? --Tom Araya

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Demi Moore: HOT in St. Elmo's Fire; NOT in G.I. Jane
Sharon Stone: HOT in Basic Instinct; NOT in Catwoman
Neve Campbell: HOT in Scream; NOT in Three To Tango
Charlize Theron: HOT in Cider House Rules; NOT in Sweet November

Shirley Manson: HOT circa Garbage 2.0, NOT nowadays...

Case in point:

[DeeCrowSeer]

Actually, long hair (at least to the shoulders) is kind of a given if I am going to be attracted to a girl.

Demi Moore: HOT in St. Elmo's Fire; NOT in G.I. Jane

What about Demi Moore in Ghost? I have a weakness for bobbed and cropped hair, I admit, but she's not un-cute in that film.

Well, I'm not going to try to talk you into anything, because while you're casting your eye over the long-haired ladies, I'll be sneaking off with Amelie. Bless her. Oh, and Enid from Ghost World. Fine hair styles both.

As a Tank Girl fan of old, I don't draw a line at shaven heads... perhaps not *totally* shaven, like the mighty G.I. Jane, but a monichan or something like that is still the right side of cute as far as I'm concerned. I'll agree that Shirley Manson looked better with long hair, but that's mainly because the colour and style she went for is so strange. It looks as if someone melted an ice-cream on her head.

D...

"Ditto!" [sniffle]