Braids on Boys?

My little boy has really long hair, Id love to try him in tails or a Heidi braid, but I dont know if the world is ready? Ive discussed it with him, and hes willing to give it a go, one weekend. Do you think its acceptable for boys to have girls hairstyles these days?

I don't see any problem with a braid, or even two braids. I wonder about a Heidi braid though. I live in an area where there are many native americans and many young boys and men wear braids. So braids themselves are not the problem. However, one can imagine many more feminine styles that might pose a problem for your boy.

At the same time, look around you and see how other boys are wearing their hair. I see lots of young kids, say in their teens, who have dyed their hair, wear dreds, or buzzed cuts that defy description.

I guess what I am saying is, if you wish to braid your son's hair so it is convenient and comfortable for him, go for it. If you wish to feminize him, that is a whole other issue.

Alana

I appreciate the different possibilities to live in your country. If I look around here in Bavarian I never have seen a young boy with braids, although long hair on boys seems to be possible.

During my lifetime I have seen a lot of young men who prefered to look feminin with flowing long hairs. I think this type of self-expression is not in conflict with gender, but it can cause conflicts with the usual meanings of everydays people. But this conflicts can also be caused from other things. I think if it is possible to express the own thoughts of being, one should try to do it, but taking in mind the reaction of the environment. The price should not be too great, not for the child.

For young people their own friends or relatives are very important, and there exist also other factors in their own social groups that can not be estimated, and this factors can be really independent from outer appearances, something like "who has the most force", or "who gives the best ideas for playing something".

For me I can say that I liked long hair very much (not only as a boy), but my parents always gave the request to cut it very short, there was no chance to do something against this, they were only more powerful then I. I suggest the boy should be supported in his own preferences.

The times have changed. I have a young niece. She had very beautiful long hair. One day she had cut it all off and coloured it red, I guess she tried to make impression in her social group (at that time she was 11 years old). But after some weeks she don't liked it any more and now she is growing it back.

I wish that society didn't have this double standard of girls hairstyles and boys hairstyles. Girls seem to be able to wear ANY length or style while in most places boys are limited to shorter cuts or they face ridicule. Society is more tolerant of guys with hairstyles that are longer or outside of the general stereotype. I have a bob below my ears with bangs. I don't mind showing my feminine side. I sometimes use barrettes to spice up my hair though not really openly. Anyway, I do get looks and people probably talk behind my back but they don't say negative comments or anything like that. I have had a few girls tell me that I have pretty hair. Hair that many girls envy. I love the movement and versatility of my hair and if people call it feminine then so be it but I think that all hairstyles and lengths should be available to all guys and girls.

Is there really such a thing as "boys" or "girls" hairstyles anymore? Surely kids do their own thing! I wear my hair curled in what many would consider a "femine" style - but that is how I want it. If your son wants to try a particular style & you are willing then "GO FOR IT" & to hell with the detractors

Yes unfortunately there is still such a thing as a boys or girls hairstyle in most of societies eyes. I'm a guy and I have my hair cut in a bob below my ears with bangs. I love the style, shape, versatility, and movement of this cut but most people think that I have a girls hairstyle. I would love nothing more than to be able to let it grow out to about chin length but I would then be labeled as gay or queer or something like that. I just don't understand why girls can go super short, medium, or long and nothing is said, but if a guy starts letting his hair grow longer people automatically start talking.

Put him in the style he feels most comfortable in be it pig tails or whatever, Who cares. Just make sure its what he wants and that your not just "trying styles" on him. I remember being a child who hated having her hair done, I just wanted to let it free. Heidi braids can also be very uncomfortable depending on how many pins you need to make them stick. I wouldn't reccomend that for a young boy.
Whatever you decide to do make sure he's comfortable with it and not doing it to please someone else.

my friend has braids.

Andrea5087 wrote: My little boy has really long hair, Id love to try him in tails or a Heidi braid, but I dont know if the world is ready? Ive discussed it with him, and hes willing to give it a go, one weekend. Do you think its acceptable for boys to have girls hairstyles these days?

Yes I think the world is ready!!
Just do wat you want to do!

I hope this is just a troll and not serious. And I shudder at the positive nods this poster is getting. There is a big difference between an adult male who makes his own decision to wear his hair in some feminine way and what is posted here where a ''little'' boy who I presume is not able to make his own decisions is having this mom''s whims and fantasies hoistered on him.

I have endured the negative sides of such attentions from a legal guardian and a female cousin four years older than me who saw me as her living Barbie doll. I have suffered the indignity of attending a wedding with other relatives present with my hair in braids, ribbons and interwoven flowers, having my hair rolled in front of my cousins friends and being sent to school with my hair styled in popular girls styles of the day that ensured my teasing from girls and boys alike while not being so obviously feminine that it called the attention of the teachers. The closest such occassion was being sent to school on the day of a school photo with my hair in a French braid., with the threat hanging over me that if I did not return home with the braid intact that I would suffer worst ignomy the next day.

This is mental abuse.