Proposed Research Project - Long & Extremely Long Hair - Motivations

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   Proposed Research Project - Long & Extremely Long Hair - MotivationsAt last finally managed to find the time to look through this extremely interesting Site from both a personal as well as a professional viewpoint. In fact I live in the South West of the U.K., mid-40's, passionate over dogs and the countryside, have travelled, manage to get by in 3/4 European languages, and have done the Surfing and Skiing scenes etc. However and in common with most of your correspondents, I both enjoy and appreciate the elegance and beauty of long or extremely long hair on a woman, most especially the obvious outward pleasure that she derives from it. Justifiably so given her daily effort in looking after it properly. If a woman has beautiful hair and/ or colouring (especially), then she has every reason to be proud of it and enjoy the admiring glances she receives - from both the sexes. (Could there perhaps be just a teeny parallel here between men in their Classic Cars when out 'just plain cruisin'?) However this does'nt necessarily mean to say long hair suits all women - the hair is obviously just a part of the whole. So I wholeheartedly agree with those protesting against Society's ridiculous dictats that women's hair ought to be worn short and that anything else is somehow 'different' - whatever that means !I spent many happy years with a former girl-friend during the Seventies and Eighties - especially when we realised that quite simply, we both loved hair. As she had always felt that she would like to grow her hair as long as possible, but had never really been encouraged to do so it was great when we almost immediately agreed that this was what we both wanted. And even though we unfortunately finally grew apart, as very close friends we still keep in touch treasuring the many lovely memories and photos of those times, especially her lovely naturally thick auburn-coloured hair that eventually reached down to below mid-thigh. As we both felt the same way taking care of it never became a chore. And it never ceased to amaze me despite our continuous enjoyment of outdoor sports (usually wet ones !), the way her hair always managed to remain in such excellent heavy 'swingy' condition, even though I'm afraid I never did manage to master the intricacies of all the different shampoos and ingredients ! There is no doubt in my mind that throughout the usual ups and downs we still somehow managed to have two very happy love affairs - perhaps the one supported the other ? And she is really great as she was and always is the first to admit that she probably would never have bothered to grow it at all, if I had'nt felt the same way that she did. Really warming inside even after all this time, to see from the many Christmas photos I receive that she has still kept it all in the same condition and at more or less the same length. She has never regretted the decision wishing that she had done it much sooner, and is now absolutely adamant that she will never ever have it cut only the ends trimmed because "my family would be horrified " feeling that she would be losing part of herself it having become a such permanent part of her identity. Though we are still the closest of friends, sad that we finally did'nt make it together I suppose, but fabulous realising that we are still sharing the important things. Funny thing - Hubby does'nt seem to mind or get jealous either; perhaps he thinks we have got the odd screw loose. I know that we are both happy to let him carry on thinking so!As a result of all these wonderful experiences, whilst naturally one can understand and sympathise with their worries etc., I have often wondered what other (exceptionally) long-haired women really do think of men's attitudes towards them - that a genuinely felt and proffered compliment towards the beauty of their hair could be taken mistakenly to mean something quite the opposite. I know that my soulmate was always very surprised and flattered when it happened to her. Perhaps this is a cultural issue more common to European women ? In view of the large volume of American correspondence be interesting to eventually hear your own reactions over this one.Finally my own favourite hair colour and type is what I can only describe as that particularly rare, unusually heavy, thick yet creamy blonde hair texture that when let down and worn loose is absolutely stunning. I have only ever seen this once in my life - in Copenhagen where this cascading, almost liquid, swinging creamy waterfall came down to below her knees ! It was truly awe-inspiring and I felt that I had been very lucky indeed. Perhaps this is the same for others also fortunate enough to achieve a once-in-a lifetime experience ?So fellas - nothing personal you understand - but I'm afraid I am and will always be one of those traditional blokes who will never ever get used to seeing it on men as it will always look faintly ridiculous - you can never mix femininity and masculinity. My soulmate once persuaded me to grow it which was fair enough, in the late Seventies when it was the temporary fashion, but it did'nt last long as neither of us really liked it ! Though I can understand that perhaps for some the feeling of it on the skin etc. must be pleasurable. And remember - I am only referring to the onlooker. To me long hair on a woman is all about accentuating their very deepest essences, things such as a slight gesture, movement or attitude that they are rarely aware of doing themselves, yet come over so strongly to the fortunate few males who love to see it adorning any woman, plain or beautiful. As the poets rightly say it is 'their crowning glory'. The pleasure, for this male anyway will always lie in it forever remaining a permanent and wonderful mystery.Finally to the main point of it all. As I am usually involved in some Research project or other (the latest one involving several international Universities), I am thinking of undertaking next year a small piece of private market research into long and extremely long hair for the international Hair Products industry. Perhaps the most significant among the many questions I have are the reasons or motivations why a woman chooses to grow her hair very long in the first place. For example your original motivations, subsequent thoughts, feelings, reactions, frustrations, fears as it was slowly growing longer until you at last finally achieved your goal - or regrettably had to give up etc. Perhaps you were forced to endure the before and after horrors of "The Awful Cut" ! Even from those who firmly decided that for some specific reason they would never ever grow theirs long will still be of use. Perhaps you have never had it cut since childhood, or you have highly unusual or really lovely hair shades and/or colours. Alternatively it might have been because your mother / grandmother had always worn theirs long, or had come from a country where it is has always been a common tradition ? Or lastly, regardless of the effort, could it simply be that you finally succumbed to what I believe is for the majority (?), the overwhelming urge to luxuriate in the pleasure of growing it as long as possible and never ever cutting it again ? If this last point is really the case then it must surely be something that only a woman can ever truly feel.So I would therefore be very interested indeed to hear from as many long-haired ladies as possible who would be prepared to shed some light on it all. Age or location is quite unimportant as cultural differences, awareness and approaches etc. will prove I believe especially important later on when applying for research grants and funding etc. My own very limited experience in all of this has shown that so far there would appear to be two distinct camps - those wanting to grow it because of tradition or unusual quality etc., and those who feel the over-riding urge to grow it long anyway (the latter in fact I think could well eventually prove to be of particular interest). These then will be just some of the initial main issues behind the proposed Research Programme which obviously must be in place well in advance of any future grant funding applications etc..If you have managed to stay with it all this far (!), my thanks. I'm quite happy to keep all this open, unless otherwise requested, for general discussion purposes though if you should quite naturally wish to remain anonymous please use the E-Mail address instead. The only requirement, and then only if the need ever arose, being some final guarantee or substantiation by an outside independent professional witness that everything had originally been carried out in good faith. This is because any grant applications etc. will always require numerous forms of documentary proof and that I have not just simply made it all up !Finally always more than keen to chat on the personal level, swap experiences etc. when dealing with one of my favourite subjects, so look forward to hearing from you all whoever or wherever you are. Photos are not required thank you.What a great idea it was to start this Site - congratulations - Karen and Jeff is it ?Keep up the good work !Peter.P.S. Would be nice to hear your experiences if you also happen to live in the U.K. - especially the South West ! !