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

[Arielle Popstar]

27 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:

 

I think one needs to be careful in assuming that Christian hairstyles were dictated solely on that verse you quoted as even within my lifetime I have seen it reinterpreted by some of the more fundamentalist churches to allow for longer or shorter styles. So as an example, the "covering" talked about was taken to mean women were to wear a hat or shawl rather than it dictating the length or style of hair required. I would suspect that hair fashions have been changing regardless of the superstitions or traditions of whatever religion held sway over a particular culture. Part of human nature is to make one's look unique and different from the rest of the herd to stand out. This article brings out some other reasons for the different hairstyles used by different people through history: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/scissors-or-sword-symbolism-medieval-haircut

[Persephone Emerald]

16 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

I think one needs to be careful in assuming that Christian hairstyles were dictated solely on that verse you quoted as even within my lifetime I have seen it reinterpreted by some of the more fundamentalist churches to allow for longer or shorter styles. So as an example, the "covering" talked about was taken to mean women were to wear a hat or shawl rather than it dictating the length or style of hair required. I would suspect that hair fashions have been changing regardless of the superstitions or traditions of whatever religion held sway over a particular culture. Part of human nature is to make one's look unique and different from the rest of the herd to stand out. This article brings out some other reasons for the different hairstyles used by different people through history: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/scissors-or-sword-symbolism-medieval-haircut

Agreed. Orthodox Jewish women even wear wigs to cover their hair. And to bring this thread back to SL, unless one is bald or wearing system hair, we're all wearing wigs in SL.

 

[Orwar]

1 hour ago, Arielle Popstar said:

I think one needs to be careful in assuming that Christian hairstyles were dictated solely on that verse you quoted as even within my lifetime I have seen it reinterpreted by some of the more fundamentalist churches to allow for longer or shorter styles.

   I never claimed it was the sole reason? I think one needs to be careful about trying to argue about something which was never said. 

   As far as SL goes though, I generally wear a shorter haircut on my male avi because there isn't a whole lot of long hair that will work (which also stand up to my pickiness in regards to quality). I do have short hairs for my female avies though, although they don't get much use simply because I have a personal preference towards longer hair. 

[cunomar]

I think the whole conversation is overly subjective . My work was always very physical and the length of my hair made no difference whatsoever .

Sailors of old may not have seen land for many months so i'd guess most had long hair until lice had them hack it off . Cowboys probably had long hair and probably most of the Roman Army until lice invaded .

Historically Gentry might have copied a king or queens fashion but for the masses practical considerations came first . A dress is easier to make than trousers - lots of men wore kilts or similar until riding horses became common and demanded more protection .

I think someone said earlier Scandinavians or Vikings were known to use hot spa's regular , and why wouldn't you if nature provided such a thing . The Romans made large of this and so the Bathhouse became a statement of great luxury . The masses might struggle to find clean drinking water .

If there was a turning point in history which dictated girls have long and pretty hair and guys go short i'd bet my bottom dollar the date ties in with the creation of the big screen or as we now call it Hollywood .

Must have been the 1950's or 60's my mother was devastated when her father declared all 15 kids would have their heads shaved because it was the only way to cure lice .

Edited March 18, 2022 by cunomar

[Lewis Luminos]

When I was younger, I kept my hair long (varying between shoulder length and waist length) but then the male pattern baldness genes kicked in. Nothing says "desperately clinging to lost youth" quite like an old rocker with a bald crown and a long straggly ponytail, so it all had to go. So at least in part I think genetics has some impact. Shorter hair for men evens the playing field between those who are "folically-challenged" and those who aren't.