March 21, 2008
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Growing Long Hair for Men
Long Hair: A Man’s Perspective
Part 1
First, a Word
This will inaugurate the first of my entries on my
xanga with it open to the public again. Expect, of course, all public entries
not to be too overly personal: if you like my entries, my site, and myself,
please feel free to request <echoing voice> protected ACCESS
<end echoing voice>. Yes, you too can have entry into my super-top-secret
thoughts, but you have to ask… nicely… and you also have to have a xanga site.
The worst that could happen is I say a polite no, right? It’s not like I plan
to hunt you down like the dog you are, drop a hydrogen bomb on your new car,
and then decorate your dog with Christmas lights… right? Hey, why are you
running away? What did I say?Why Guys Grow It
Now, for my thoughts on growing long hair as a guy.
You should know, firstly, that I this is coming from the perspective of a man
who has had short hair all his life and never grown it at all until now.
I started at the age of late twenty six, and now I am about to turn twenty eight.
It has been over a year since I chose to grow it out- and it was longer than
usual when I started, anyway. I am a stay home Dad of a two year old, and a
husband- and since I am in my twenties, I do not fall into the typical “long
hair bracket”. What is said bracket, you say? Well, it’s just my opinion, but
let’s look:1.
Boys and Teenagers: It’s the ‘cool thing’, it’s the thing that
gets girls… look more like a girl and the girl’s will like you, right? They’ll
forget about the fact that technically boys mature at a slower rate than girls
and are much more interested in ‘that one thing’ than girls. It also has a nice
rebel quality at this age.2.
College students: Well, it’s a hang-over from bracket one.
It’s cool, and the look by college has a ‘matured cool’ look to it and tends to
define a whole personality. Long hair at this point, for a guy, is not so much
rebellious as it is a statement.3.
Men who had long hair at a younger age: Call it a bit of a
long-hair hangover from bracket one and two. They’ve done it this way so long…
well, it’s become a habit.4.
Midlife Crisis: “OH MY GOSH I’M OLD… but, no, no, no, I am NOT
OLD, I’ll prove it! I can be young. Yes, I can act young. Look look at me, I
may be half-bald but I still got it, I got long hair, yes I do! Haha… ahahahahahah!
<crazy, gibbering laughter>” You get the point- the pre-requisite for
midlife crisis is usually either significant balding, fourties and up. Some
guys jump the gun and start in the end of their thirties because they see the
big four zero coming.I don’t
fall into any of those brackets, of course. I never had long hair… I’m not in
college… I’m not going through a midlife crisis (unless you think I am planning
on dying by the age of fifty six…) and no, you can’t wiggle me into that
bracket because I’m not anywhere near significantly balding.I just
felt like I wanted something different. I want to grow my hair long- I want to
try it, just once in my life, before my hair does eventually recede to the
point where it would be pathetic to even consider it. Balding is in my family,
I see my hairline making it’s first feints towards the back of my skull. If
there is a time to try- now is it!Is long hair really as hard as they say?
If those
aren’t good enough reasons, well, hey- my Wife has short hair, and I tend to
prefer long hair. So if I can’t run my finger’s through her hair, might as well
run them through my own. I can close my eyes and pretend it’s hers.
<laugh> That, and once I remember her challenging me, when I was trying
to convince her to keep long hair: “YOU just try having long hair and
see how easy it is to care for a child with it”.<clears
throat> So, I am caring for a two year old full time, all day long every
weekday… <puts up a finger> I
have hair to my collarbone now, what would be considered a ‘shorter style’ for
a woman but definitely not ‘short hair’ (my bangs are to my chin after all),
and definitely long for a man <puts up another finger>I’m sorry
ladies, I hate to shoot your argument in the foot, but… nope, long hair ain’t
that much of a hastle at this length. Oh sure, there are some inconveniences,
but I am actually finding that the longer my bangs grow the easier it
gets! Yes, you know what I am talking about, the ‘ol tuck your bangs behind the
ear trick. Though I find the way my hair frames my face is quite nice, and I
prefer going out with that look. Also, ladies, you guys have some tricks of the
trade that I, as a man, am not supposed to use. Of course once my hair is long
enough, the ponytail will fix a lot of the hair in the eyes problems,
until then using rubber-bands to hold my bangs out of my eyes, clips, any of
that is considered unmanly and while I have done it a few times to save
my fingers from being chopped off by a huge, extra-sharp chef’s knife or to
vacuum… well, I certainly got laughed at by my Mom, and my Wife found it rather
embarrassing looking. Of course I remember guys in the dorms in college would
freely use it for convenience- they didn’t really care.So
actually, you ladies have it easier than I do, and I still don’t find it
that much of an inconvenience. For me, personally, it is at least as
inconvenient as my normal ‘short hair’ length (and the short hair length most
girls would have) and in some ways much better. The reason it is better? I have
super oily hair. You would think long hair would make it worse, right?
Wrong. The oil (well, most hair people would phrase it “the natural oils” so it
sounded less gross, right?) spreads out through my hair so that I can actually
go longer without washing it. My hair used to look icky if I did not
wash it every single day… now? It looks great, I can go two days just fine.
Needs a washing by day three though.Don’t make
a face ladies, I use TWO rounds of shampoo each time I wash my hair, and then
Tea Tree special conditioner… if I only use one round of shampoo, I couldn’t go
to day three without it being oily.Should you grow it?
Curly or Frizzy hair
IF you have curly
hair when your hair is short, frizzy hair, etc… you might not want to grow your
hair out. Everyone has different types of hair, of course, but some types do
better long than others. Curly and frizzy hair takes a lot more work when you
grow it long- slightly curly is not so bad as really curly or frizzy, and
actually looks nice… I mean, some ladies TRY to make their hair look curly. For
a guy, curly can look good if it is not too much, but if you are going to end
up having to straighten it… just keep it short. My nephew has curly hair and
uses a straightening iron. BAD for your hair, and lots of work!IF you have
straight hair, or when you wear it short you don’t really notice it curling,
you should be fine. If it just curls slightly it should not be too bad, just
keep it clean. I apparently have ‘wavy hair’ and never knew it until I grew it
out.Cleanliness is next to godliness
Okay guys, long
hair- whatever you hear some people say- is a GREAT excuse not to wash your
hair every day. Even with normally oily hair, you can go a day without washing
it- and on a weekend or a time where you aren’t going out on the last day,
maybe two days. This is actually encouraged for women who are growing their
hair really long, and in a long hair guide for women they are encouraged to
occasionally stay in on a long weekend and let their natural oils condition
their hair. It does not look nice, but it is good for your hair. BUT LONG HAIR
IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO BE GROSS, or DIRTY.If you regularly
plan to go more than a day without washing your hair, your hair will look oily.
At least rinse it especially if you plan on going out- and brush it daily.Yes guys, long
hair = brushing it. Gotta do it. Its easy, its quick, it is a lot less
inconvenient than washing your hair every day. Great exchange if you ask me. I
give my personal thoughts on keeping it clean below.ALSO, long
hair is not an excuse not to keep the rest of your body clean. USE
antiperspirant and deodorant. Use it daily. Wash your face. Heck, if you have
to, shower daily but just don’t get your hair wet. Keep clean, smell nice, most
men NEED antiperspirant/deodorant combos. Women hate smelly men. MEN hate
smelly men. I hate smelly men with long hair more than most.
Especially since it seems the most smelly men I have known also have long hair.
What a horrible stigma. If you want to smell, chop your hair short. Buzz it
short, like a buzz-cut. Stop giving us long haired folks a bad name.Will you put reasonable effort into it?
Brush it, go to a
professional stylist, properly shampoo and condition it EVERY time you wash it.
If your hair looks oily, thick, or generally crappy… give it up, it is not for
you, cut it and keep it cut and save everyone the horror, and don’t give guys
with long hair a bad name. It takes LESS EFFORT in some ways, you just have to
be consistent when you do wash it. If you like to keep your hair super short,
never brush it, never blowdry it… then no, it is more effort and you’d best
keep it short. If you like the long hair look, and you want to try it, it’s not
hard so long as you don’t shirk the basics. You’ll get it done faster than many
girls, but it won’t be like having a buzz-cut.