Why do you think (in Western society at least) that women usually have longer hair...

[Gopi Passiflora]

...than men? I know it's a cultural thing but I am interested in the origins.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

I don't think there is a simple answer to this, in part because it hasn't always been true, and because historical and cultural differences across place and time are enormously diverse.

I also think in a sense that you have the question the wrong way round: long hair is actually the default for everyone. Men tend often to have shorter hair because it is cut short, so in some ways, the better question is, why are men so often expected to have (artificially) shorter hair? On the whole, however, we tend to think of men as "the norm," and femininity as a deviation from that, so it's not unexpected.

And as you note, it's a cultural thing. In a great many periods and cultures, men's hair was (is) actually often longer than women's. In our modern Westernized culture, reasons might include:

• The belief that long hair is a sign of "leisure" -- shorter hair is better for manual labour, so having it longer looks prestigious
• The idea that longer hair is "softer," and so accentuates "femininity" (as defined in the West)
• Hair tends to grow faster when one is young, so longer hair can make one look younger -- an advantage, perhaps, in terms of mating strategies.
• You can do more with longer hair, aesthetically speaking -- more style options, and so forth -- and as women are supposed to be more concerned about their appearance (and, let's admit, because of social conditioning actually probably are more concerned about it than men), longer hair provides more tools to "look good"

I've seen some pseudo-scientific "evolutionary" explanations for this too, but they mostly assume, without real warrant, that longer hair for women is "normal."

Edited March 16, 2022 by Scylla Rhiadra
typo

[Sid Nagy]

I can use a trimmer to cut my own hair when I keep it very short.
The few ones that are left on my head, ain't worth to see a barber with.

In my teens I had them over my shoulders though.

[Rowan Amore]

Interesting topic especially since someone commented on a recent picture I posted "Very beautiful with hair..."   Same face as always.  

[Coffee Pancake]

Women with short hair is a pretty major weakness .. especially red heads .. guys with long hair too .. I guess I'm backwards broken?

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Women with short hair is a pretty major weakness .. especially red heads .. guys with long hair too .. I guess I'm backwards broken?

I like longer, messier hair on men as well. And I myself very rarely wear my hair longer than shoulder length, and usually shorter than that.

I think we're actually in the midst of an era in which there is a great deal of choice for both men and women. Interestingly, though, I think longer hair for women still predominates in SL.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Scylla Rhiadra
Important qualifications missing!

[Ayashe Ninetails]

I'm an absolute sucker for men with long hair. The longer the better. 

If I could pull it off, I'd shave the majority of my own head and wear braids or a ponytail down the center. I've never been able to find a stylist to do it. They've always been hesitant to cut it off as my hair is super thick and grows past my shoulders and they say it's "too pretty" and my face won't work with what I want. They always gave me the super straight Barbie treatment instead. HMPF. At MOST, I was once able to get the back shaved and the rest cut to a few inches short - Halle Berry style. But that's it. Nobody wants to chop my hair completely off. 😞😄

So to answer the question - we can't find people willing to shave our heads?

[Rowan Amore]

7 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I'm an absolute sucker for men with long hair. The longer the better. 

If I could pull it off, I'd shave the majority of my own head and wear braids or a ponytail down the center. I've never been able to find a stylist to do it. They've always been hesitant to cut it off as my hair is super thick and grows past my shoulders and they say it's "too pretty" and my face won't work with what I want. They always gave me the super straight Barbie treatment instead. HMPF. At MOST, I was once able to get the back shaved and the rest cut to a few inches short - Halle Berry style. But that's it. Nobody wants to chop my hair completely off. 😞😄

So to answer the question - we can't find people willing to shave our heads?

Try a barbershop.  😁

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Try a barbershop.  😁

I know of one not too far from me in RL, that would gladly mangle her hair in any way she asked.

My friends and I have nicknamed the barber "The Butcher of Bathurst St."

[Ayashe Ninetails]

3 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Try a barbershop.  😁

This is the way! I've always wound up going to regular salons though (maaan the struggle - I needed those heavy-duty relaxers LOL), so it's just a pain to get them to deviate from what they know. I eventually switched to a salon where they treated me to the blowout treatment on top of the relaxer - wooo it's so bouncy and pretty after all that but it's just so...not me LOL. And it's so harmful to the hair to do that.

I eventually stopped going to salons altogether. At least for the time being. That's a great suggestion, though. At least I can get it shaved off first and THEN step into a salon for the rest 😆

[Madelaine McMasters]

I have no idea why anyone wears their hair as they do. Until I was maybe six, my father's hair was longer than mine. Until he died, it was better looking. I was briefly bald after chemo, and discovered the joys of short hair shortly after. It'll never be long again, except sometimes in SL where I don't have to care for it.

[Krystina Ferraris]

So do you have any stats on male vs female hair length in western society? When I was in Asia several times and in different countries I noticed how long women’s hair was vs men who had it shorter. This wasn’t obviously so in India and other places where hair has a religious significance associated with it. 
Over here I know lots of women with shortish to short hair, and I even considered to get a  bob “for the craic” once or twice but chickened out as I love my long hair 😄 

Several of my women colleagues have short hair, they did it for practical reasons as they are surgeons and also because they like it. My husband looks great with longer hair, looks like some kind of Viking, but can’t keep it for the same reason, long hours in surgery. I keep it long because it suits me and looks great in pics with the horses lol yes I’m shallow like that 🤣

[cunomar]

Speaking as a guy who had hair down past my elbows through my teen years simply because i never had time to go to the barbers and only had it chopped because i went for a beer and they were doing a head shave thing for charity .

I regretted it ever since because shaved doesn't suit me and short hair has to be maintained so theres that awful first week after a cut when it just doesn't feel natural , then its tidy for a couple of weeks , then a mess for a couple of weeks , then people start saying you need a haircut .

Thanks to lockdown its shoulder length again so i can splash water on my face and run wet fingers through my hair each morning and thats me brand new and ready to start the day .

Edited March 17, 2022 by cunomar

[colleen Criss]

My Grandmother always told me, your hair is your crown. She also said a lady never leaves the house without her lipstick. 

[Blush Bravin]

Whether we like it or not, much of the "West's" culture comes from the Bible. The Bible specifically states that a woman's hair is her crowning glory.  So, perhaps that is why longer hair seemed more appropriate for women in western culture. Also, I think it plays a role with men's hairstyles as well. Look at the story of Samson and his hair, though his hair was long but it was not the ordinary mode of hairstyle for men at the time. Even Jesus, wore his hair long, which was not typical. Both of these cases are spoken about as extraordinary. 

Much of our culture has evolved over the past century and a half where women's hairstyles got shorter, along with our skirts. As the west has grown further and further away from Biblical influences the culture has changed. 

As a retired teacher of art, history, and world cultures, I've spent considerable time contemplating how we have evolved to where we are today.

[Gopi Passiflora]

Thanks for all the replies to this topic. I think @Scylla Rhiadra and @Blush Bravin's ideas were quite informative and I agree with them.

[PermaRuthed]

I am the most feminine of them all. Long hair should bring all the boys to the yard.

Edited March 18, 2022 by PermaRuthed

[Orwar]

   I have long enough hair to take a topless pic with my nipples covered by it. 

[Ceka Cianci]

The long hair is for our cobra hypnotize attack..

Mostly used to hypnotize Butt gazers and attackers coming from behind..

Once they fall into it's grasp, they are locked down and can't move and open to the many counter attacks we have..

The most popular western counter attack is what we call, the the frogs tongue..

We kneel down just a little bit and line up our fingers and palm with the crotchel region.. Then like a frog to a fly, we shoot out our palm skimming the surface..

A well lined up frogs tongue blow will always send them to the ground into the fetal position, usually uttering with what little air they have left.. Ohh Momma..

 

 

hehehe

[Persephone Emerald]

I think longer hair would be normal for both men and women if cultural norms didn't push men to cut theirs short. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe women were expected to keep their hair long, unless they were nuns. Then they could cut it short if they wished. Either way, it was expected to be covered except by young, unmarried girls and ladies.

In RL I have long hair that goes down to my bottom, which is why I like my avatar to have a really long braid or ponytail. I probably like to keep it long in RL because my mother told me I should cut it because men don't like long hair on women.  (She was probably trying to sabotage me because she wasn't allowed to have long hair when she was young.)

In the 1920's short hair became more popular in the US, so by the late 1920s it was acceptable for my mother to have short hair. My grandmother got tired of my mother complaining when Grandma tried to brush it, so she just cut it short instead.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[Orwar]

4 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

In Medieval and Renaissance Europe women were expected to keep their hair long, unless they were nuns. Then they could cut it short if they wished. Either way, it was expected to be covered except by young, unmarried girls and ladies.

   Not to be overly nit-picky, but .. I am an overly nit-picky person. The medieval period (476-ca 1500, depending on where in Europe you are) went through a lot of fashions both for clothing, and for hairs and beards. But a woman covering her hair was a Christian thing, and much of Europe wasn't Christian for much of the medieval period - the Norse, Finnish, Baltic, Tengri, and Slavic people, among others, obviously didn't care about following any rules laid down by Christian superstition.

   "Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head." - 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

   We don't know a whole lot about what exact hairstyles were worn, people didn't take a whole lot of snapchat selfies back then, but from depictions in wood carvings and such, Norse women are often depicted with braided hair, presumably tied up for a combined reason of decoration and to keep it out of the way (just like today!), but it wasn't covered up. We also have a few bog women whose hairs were braided - some people even went through the trouble of 'reverse engineering' the Elling Woman's hairstyle:

[Persephone Emerald]

5 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   Not to be overly nit-picky, but .. I am an overly nit-picky person. The medieval period (476-ca 1500, depending on where in Europe you are) went through a lot of fashions both for clothing, and for hairs and beards. But a woman covering her hair was a Christian thing, and much of Europe wasn't Christian for much of the medieval period - the Norse, Finnish, Baltic, Tengri, and Slavic people, among others, obviously didn't care about following any rules laid down by Christian superstition.

   "Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head." - 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

   We don't know a whole lot about what exact hairstyles were worn, people didn't take a whole lot of snapchat selfies back then, but from depictions in wood carvings and such, Norse women are often depicted with braided hair, presumably tied up for a combined reason of decoration and to keep it out of the way (just like today!), but it wasn't covered up. We also have a few bog women whose hairs were braided - some people even went through the trouble of 'reverse engineering' the Elling Woman's hairstyle:

Correct, correct. I was giving the short version of "Medieval", meaning Christianized Europe. Viking women seem to have liked elaborate braids when possible, though this was likely more common among upper class women. Viking men probably also braided their hair, but did not wear it as shown on Viking TV shows.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[Orwar]

2 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Viking men probably also braided their hair, but did not wear it as shown on Viking TV shows.

   From what little that has been told on the subject through exhibitions at the Viking museums and in literature I read when I was younger, the average male Norseman in the Viking age would have shoulder-long hair. And far from the wannabe-heavy-metal-vikings depicted in that atrocious television series, Norsemen were reputed for being extremely cleanly for their time - something the Christian church of course deemed an expression of pride and vanity. Some of the most common grave findings from the period include combs and ear spoons, as well as beads (for hair or beard). We still call Saturday 'lördag/lørdag', which literally translates into 'washing day', and there's evidence that suggests Scandinavians have been fans of saunas for some 4,000 years.

[Persephone Emerald]

6 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   From what little that has been told on the subject through exhibitions at the Viking museums and in literature I read when I was younger, the average male Norseman in the Viking age would have shoulder-long hair. And far from the wannabe-heavy-metal-vikings depicted in that atrocious television series, Norsemen were reputed for being extremely cleanly for their time - something the Christian church of course deemed an expression of pride and vanity. Some of the most common grave findings from the period include combs and ear spoons, as well as beads (for hair or beard). We still call Saturday 'lördag/lørdag', which literally translates into 'washing day', and there's evidence that suggests Scandinavians have been fans of saunas for some 4,000 years.

YouTube is my friend when it comes to historical recreation:

 

[Persephone Emerald]

Classical Roman men typically wore their hair short and uncovered.

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Persephone Emerald