Why do you think hair brings out the worse or the best out of people?

> Hair is such an expression of our inner selves> and yet how many times it tends to bring out the> worse reactions from people and I am not an exception.> I am thinking of my neighbo'rs child that decided> to have green hair. I was speachless and couldn't> surport his decision. I am thinking of men with> long hair and how hard they seem to have it. Society> have this opinion on how a man should look and> yet the personality or the way he performs at> work doesn' t change. I often wonder why is it> so important that we cut our hair?Hi, Diane! Good to see your post...I read the previous posts and have to say that I am more in line with Tyllannon than elana, but your direct question was why do we cut?I would say the short answer is uniformity and perceived neatness. Where did the phrase clean-cut come from?I enjoyed Tyllannon's comments immensely. I have to say that since I found this site I have spoken to more long-haired folks in my area than I ever have. It's a very strange phenomenon. I wonder if elana might want to do an article about it:)With men especially, they are more than eager to speak with you about their experiences at work, school, etc. THey also want to know about products and the growth process. There is definitely a quiet rebellion going on with men and long hair potential. Like Ty said, it is a conscious decision among many corporate and professional men to buck authority and keep a part of themselves alive and kicking by growing their hair. With women, the rebellion is more directed at other women who say why don't u cut that hair because it doesn't look neat or you look so unprofessional. Most women with boyfriends or husbands have said that their love interests love the long hair as much or more than they do. Similarly, single women often attract men knowingly or not with their long locks.I know that many of you have heard about my story with the split ends and me having to cut several inches. Well, I can remember the reactions of some people and was quite surprised. People really wondered whether or not this was just the beginning. Often, long-haired people, from what I have heard, will gradually cut more and more of their hair.The majority of female business associates seemed quite glad that I was going to join their club. Most women had hair to their necks or above. I told them that the cut was just to purge the split ends. THey seemed a little disappointed:) I don't think I had ever received so many compliments from this particular group of women on my hair.The men were a different story. Most of them had puzzled looks on their faces and seemed to not want to say anything.The few that did made comments like what happened to your hair, or where is your hair. One man said it all and I appreciated it greatly. He said, "Jade, I hope this is not a trend because we wouldn't know you without your hair." I had a great laugh with a "serious" business executive,but I definitely heard what he was saying. To some extent, I think my hair is a part of who I am just like what books, languages or foods I like.

I think this concept can be traced to the messages we were given as children. In my case, when I was young (I am 24 now) little girls were prized as being "beautiful" for having long hair. People may argue that the notion of being "beautiful" is subjective. I couldn't agree more. But we also must realize that society has already written a prescription for what is "mainstream beauty." Just sitting and observing children, you can see how little girls with long, pretty hair are treated differently from those with short hair. Adults treat them different too(tend to treat them more gently and as if they need more help). Therefore, when we grow older, this is already in our subconscious mind. So feelings of jealousy, etc. might arise between women. If you want to get really deep into the psyche- here it goes. Many evolutionary psychologists feel that women who were deemed "pretty" attract more mates and therefore further their chances of reproducing and having a mate to support the children. Of course we don't think of these things on a daily basis, but these psychologists feel it is already imprinted in the mind. Also, we are blasted with images from the media that women with long flowing hair are "special" and sexy. So perhaps women might be jealous of these women, seeing them as a threat. Just my thoughts, and oh yeah, if you haven't already guessed, I'm a psychologist.