On having short hair.....

Hey everyone! There`s been a bunch of posts on here regarding long hair & its symbolism and the reactions of different parts of society to long hair. Now, I`m wondering about short hair (on girls mostly, but I guess on guys too)- what to people take it to mean? Is there any kind of symbolism attached to a female with short hair? I know that there are some people who seem to prefer short hair (and one or two who seem to like it TOO much- some of you know who I`m talking about :) ) For those who do prefer it, what are some of the reasons for it?
And what about the women out there who have short hair? Why do you wear it short? And if you have long hair, why do you prefer that?
I`m just wondering about these things because I`ve recently cut my hair short (not cropped, but definitely short), and I`ve encountered quite a few reactions to it. Some of them have been pretty negative- a guy at my school asked me "So what, you`re a dyke now or somethin`?" (Ok, that`s not really bad, but there`s nothing to make him draw that conclusion other than my hair) , and a girl said to me (partly in reference to a recent break-up with my b/f) "So it looks like you`re giving up on ever getting another guy" A few cruel souls at my school have taken to calling me boy`s names and asking me stupid things like "How`s it hangin`?" & "You gonna sign up for football now?". Also, a couple of adult men (not teenagers but adults, who I didn`t know at all) called me "Butch" and "C**tlicker" right to my face. :( :( :(
These were the worst, but not the only, negative comments I`ve gotten. I know that these are stupid assumptions made by small-minded people, but I`m wondering how much of this is going around? I thought in our "enlightened" & "tolerant" world we were supposed to be past this kind of foolishness.
I very much like having short hair & I won`t let it grow or change it or anything just because of this, but it made me curious. Is having short hair some kind of taboo? Am I supposed to be less of a girl if my hair`s not long anymore? If long hair is a sign of femininity, then is lack of it masculine in some way? So, I was just wondering what everyone else out there thought.

Thanks!
Lotsa Love,
Ingrid

It all depends on your features. Some women have better features for short hair than other women do.
I know one thing short hair is probably more popular than ever for women and it has actually been popular since the short perms and bob haircuts on women in the 1920s , the "roaring twenties" jazz age, when women starting wearing very short dresses and the short haircuts to go with it. That was the beginning of "short hair chic" for women.
I am 52 years old, I wear my hair short, so does my oldest daughter who is 24, and no Ingrid, it doesn`t make you less feminine. Are actresses Sharon Stone or Halle Berry with their short crops less feminine than other women? I think you know the answer to that Ingrid ! ! !

Hi Ingrid

Interesting questions.

I had short hair (very short) imposed on me from childhood onwards. Part of that imposition involved de-feminization i.e wearing traditionally masculine clothes, taking on the stereotypical masculine attitudes in order to "survive" in the big bad world of men.
I won`t go bore you with the reasons this happened but the impact was a woman who was in denial of her feminine soul. Every aspect of my womanhood was swallowed up - the overt propoganda I was fed covered all aspects of life from "professional women have short hair and wear trouser-suits, otherwise they are not taken seriously" to "Girls who show their legs/cleavage/look pretty/wear clingy tops/loose hair/make-up are an evil temptation to men &/or ******s".
I had a fun time growing up - NOT.

Now the comments I am about to make come from having the warped background I have described, so please don`t take offence.
Like you, I have been called names. Lesbian and man-hater were typical. This happened so often I started wondering if I was.......(I`m actually happily heterosexual and love men).
All the time the whisper in my head got louder and louder until it was a screaming voice that tore through me.
I dropped the whole pretense and stopped living through the eyes of others. I have embraced what I believe to be the essence of myself and part of that involved liberating myself from the “short hair syndrome”.
Symbolically, short hair was a double-edged sword.
On the one hand I had rejected femininity and that meant not allowing “beautiful” long hair to share my life (I have eastern origins and long hair is considered an intrinsic and part of a woman’s physiology and has unlimited erotic possibilities – by contrast, the shorn woman is rejecting her erotic potential). My role models as a teenager were short-haired Joan of Arc and the one-breasted Greek amazons.
On the other hand I defended myself with short-hair, because any man who was attracted to me in this de-feminized state would truly love me for myself - that was my logic.
Now what society does – and I believe this is a natural part of both the biological and cultural impulses – is have clear indicators of gender differentiation. In parts of the western world, these are getting increasingly blurred and women dress like men, men grow long hair and get waxed etc, etc. I will not pass judgement on that at all. Note, however, that the birth rate is also falling, the divorce rate is at an unprecedented high and marriage is second choice to co-habitation. Sorry, I’m getting off-subject, but maybe nature is trying to control the human population through a de-sexualisation process…..who knows?

Very long hair has typically – though not always – been an indicator of a fertile and healthy woman.
Short hair has typically – though not always – been an indicator of a woman not comfortable with the cultural idea of femininity or not happy to be defined as sexually or maternally available/desirable.

Anyway, the point is, right now, anything goes. The old archetypes are either being distorted or are being buried. Nothing is certain and no one can say x is feminine and y is masculine. With reference to western mythology, well Medusa had a head of writhing snakes, Dionysus cultivated wild flowing locks and the spartan warriors had long, well-groomed hair while their bride’s head was shaved off on their wedding nights. Draw your own conclusions……

It all boils down to this: Let your spirit talk to your soul and your soul knock on your heart and your heart whisper to your mind. Live your own truth.
Liberate yourself from the symbols created by others – they are traps.
Create symbols that mean something to you and give birth to your own dream vision of yourself.
Trust me – it’s potent and it works!!!

Lots of love to you Inga.

Hey! Thanks for your replies & especially to Uzma (Hey, Girlie-girl!) & Jennifer for your honesty. Don`t worry, Jennifer, you didn`t hurt my feelings :) And thanks to Klaatu and Christina for being supportive. As for what part of the world do I live in, I`m from a surburb in the Midwestern USA; I think that there are a lot of rude and savage people out there, here and everywhere else. I was kinda hurt by those comments, but not really surprised.
Hal- I think you got me confused with someone else (S`Ok); my hair`s actually very layered and textured and curly and has, at least what I think, a very soft and feminine look. Also, altho I only dress `girlie` some of the time (OK, I have a wierd habit of wearing guy`s shirts and jackets), I`m an absolute junkie for jewelry and makeup, particularly eyeshadow, eye liner, etc, and choker-type necklaces, which are not at all masculine. Ugh.
I guess you guys are right about the traditional associations of long hair with femininity and freedom and short hair with masculinity and repression. Oh, well. I love my hair short, and to me it`s a sort of freedom. Until pretty recently, I kept my hair long (not super-long, but past my shoulders), and had tried to bleach it blond it order to catch and keep the attention of a certain guy, who hated it when I cut it short. Now we`re broken up (I don`t think it was because of my hair, but that might have been one of the factors), and my hair`s short and I dyed it black, and altho its maybe not `feminine` or attractive enough for other people`s tastes, it feels a lot more like `me`- I`m happy with it. I`m resolved to never again change myself to please someone else, especially not some stupid boy (No offense, guys :))
Anway, thanks to you guys for your responses. Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

Lotsa Love and bright, sunny days,
Ingrid (or Inga, if you like) :)

I guess I did make a mistake..no ofence taken I hope... 2 other possible reasons... 1st teenagers can be just plain mean some times... 2nd Maybe these guys really like you and teasing you is away to get your attention

Well, here`s the latest....
I was at a local mall today, doing a little Christmas shopping & enjoying a mocha at Starbucks, when this guy, maybe early twenties or so and a total stranger, sitting at the next table says to me, "So, hey, why do you want to be a guy?" I said, "What?" and got kinda nervous. So he says, "Well, you`re wearing guy`s clothes and you have a guy`s haircut. Are you a dyke or somethin`?" He didn`t say it rudely or forcefully, but matter of fact-like, as if he was trying to settle a bet or something. I didn`t know what to say...true, I was wearing a unisex-type turtleneck and baggy carg pants and a demin jacket, but I don`t think I looked like a guy (Hello! Black eyeliner! I guess that doesn`t mean anything anymore tho). I was really nervous, so I just mumbled "No." "Oh," he says. "`Cause you look like a guy. You should dress more like a chick if you`re not a dyke. Guys don`t like chicks that look like guys" (or something like that- I was so shocked that I don`t remember exactly what it was) Then he turns back to his friend, they snicker, and a minute later they take off, leaving me feeling like....well, I dunno, but its not good. What was up with this? I said it before and I`ll say it again; so much for being `civilized`. I`m not really insulted....but what in the world would posess him (or anyone) to say stuff like that to a stranger? I don`t understand.
It`s my belief that we should love all people despite their human failings because we all have failings of our own (that doesn`t mean that we have to agree with them or stand by what they do- love is bigger than that). But sometimes, its really hard.
Anyway, I guess there`s my answer...apparently short hair IS perceived as masculine or at least the absence of feminininty, cuz I wore these same clothes when my hair was long and didn`t get any kinda looks or comments. Oh well, I like it anyway.

Ingrid

Hey ingrid _ I bet you looked absolutely cute and the guy couldn`t take it. Next time a guy tells you that guys don`t like girls who look like guys, look at him with sexy eyes and tell him..."oh, you`d be surprised".....Calvin Klein ads with Stella Tenant would in them would not be so popular if the unisex look wasn`t sexy. Don`t take those insults lying down. Next time an older guy comments about you - do the same thing. A comment like "are you a dyke now?" from a guy could easily be returned with "well, if I have to be with a person like you, I might just be" or something.
What Uzma said - and quite beautifully I might add, is that your hair defines YOU- your spirit and soul. Let it do that. For those long hair lovers - I AM ALSO ONE - long hair defines me, so don`t start attacking me. I am supporting Ingrid in her wish to be herself.
Jacqui

Dear Phil

Thank you for your kind words.
However, I am not as well-balanced as you imagine.
Trying to make sense of who I am, without reference to the distorted world-views I inherited, has been, and continues to be a struggle.
Sorry if I sound obtuse here, but here is how I deal with things:
I break the problem into pieces.
I identify the root cause and test it’s truth (too long to explain how on this board).
If it fails the test than I have destroyed it with the Sword of Truth.
This process is intensive, transformative and final.
It may take hours, days or weeks, but once it is complete, I am like a snake that has shed it’s skin – renewed, re-born and un-bound.
The foundation of power/control that anyone had over me, has been cut-off permanantly.
The philosophical basis for this is simple: Anything that has been done – can be un-done.
I have in each instance, through energy and will-power, emptied myself of poison and created a pure space.
The space is waiting to receive something. And something always comes. And it is the right thing.

Hair symbolises transformation. It is a body made up of individual parts, each having a slightly different lifespan and colour. Each strand has a lifecycle and lifespan. Each strand dies and is re-born. On some level, depending on how intimate our relationship with ourselves, we acknowledge this microcosm or replica of the natural cycles of the earth, planets and living creatures. We take initiatives in forming and re-forming it to conform to our tribal/class/religious/group allegiances, to express our creativity or fantasies, to seduce, to announce our differences/state-of-mind, to gain or avoid attention, etc.

In it’s positioning at the highest point of our bodies, hair is precious. In my culture, it is “radiance of the mind in physical form”. In it’s abundance, hair is fertile, a cornucopia of regenerative potential.

When someone other than yourself, imposes change on your hair, they are taking ownership, possession and control over a very deep part of you. If this control is repeated over a period of time, especially during the formative years, it is enslavement expressed as mutilation and destruction.
Unnecessarily strong words perhaps, but this is my opinion and experience.
The response of the “slave” is
(a) Fight against it, rebel, run away, do the opposite of what was done to you, take back your power and gain more power from experiencing the counter-balance.
(b) Absorb it, join the enslaver in their mutilation of yourself, beautify the experience in order to deal with it, sexualise the experience in order to push it into the psyche and overcome the loss of power by masking it with the primal power of sex.
(c) Punish yourself for letting others rule you, expressing this through rejection of anything other than, very specific, marginal “ideal” – a false ideal (in my opinion) as it is an escape created out of a situation of powerlessness. This can get very comfortable.

I have gone the round with all the above. There are, of course, many other routes of which I am ignorant.

My relationship with my own hair is to let it fully express itself for what it is.
In practical terms, this means letting it go. Letting it grow. Nurturing it. Not having a style. Letting it be wild. Marvelling at it’s beauty and mystery. Protecting and cherishing it from the bad energy of vicious tongues, looks and thoughts. Freeing it of all internal and external constraints.
It is mine and no one elses – I feel it is a significant part of my essence.
I am territorial, admittedly obsessive and very curious as to where this adventure will lead to next.

Phil – you have to find your own path(s) – only the one(s) you find for yourself, or pick up and make your own, are meaningful and potent. If you are in pain, don’t cut off the limb that hurts, cut out the arrow that has pierced it, destroy your enemy, tramp their entrails into the dust and wash your feet in their blood – symbolically and psychologically because it is the mind that conquers.
The energy of liberation will hit you like a storm and after the storm…..peace…..and after peace….magnetism and magic.
If you go looking for it, you will find it’s always been looking for you, to bring you face-to-face with your unknown highest potential/ true desire/freed destiny.
Go find it.

Love and best wishes (and hope some of the above has helped/connected with someone out there)

Hi all! First off, I have short hair, and have had it for many years. In my life,(55 years now)I`ve had long hair several times, which I enjoyed for a good while while I had it, as it was thick, and the darkest shade of brown before a true black, and very healthy. But I got into the habit of trying to straighten my naturally wavy-curly hair by chemical relaxers, setting it on big rollersand later by blow-drying. After awhile, when I was in my late 20`s I started hearing about a salon in the city where I lived at the time(NYC) that specialized in cutting curly-wavy hair, and they were featured in a magazine with pictures. The models had similar hair to mine, and they had haircuts varying from very short to mid-length, and since the cuts emphasized the natural texture and beauty of the hair, there was a very feminine look, not a severe "helmet-head" look in sight-LOL!There`s short hair, and there`s short hair, if you know what I mean! Short hair does NOT have to look "matronly" - if it does, ditch your haircutter, and check out something wilder-LOL! Needless to say, I was sold, because my long hair was getting to me in terms of maintenance and time spent blowing it dry, etc. With a bit of trepidation about making this change, I went to this salon, and immediately my little bit of apprehension disappeared with the haircutter I had! She started to snip, showing me how my curls sprang to life with the snipping, etc. I left with my hair mid-length to start, and went somewhat shorter later on. From that day on, I ditched my hairdryer and large rollers, etc. that I used to use to make my hair straight, and I can just scrunch with gel or mousse and go. And since then, in the different places I`ve lived, I`ve sought out haircutters who are expert in cutting curly-wavy hair. My hair is not ultra-short, which is in proportion to my small frame, and suits my features, and I get tons of compliments. Also, since I have grey in my hair, I color it a rich reddish-brown which brightens things up. No one has accused me of looking unfeminine either! To the poster above who gets rude comments, those folks have their heads up their you-know-whats, plus they sound like they`re rude.
To all who are thinking of going short, get a consultation with a good haircutter first, and this becomes increasingly important as one gets older, because nothing looks worse on a mature face than a scraggly haircut!

Take it from me ladies, if a woman is good lookin, she`s good lookin, don`t much matter how long her hair is, a doll is a doll!!! I`ve seen some mighty fine ladies with all kinda lengths of hair!
Miss Ingrid if you are a hot woman with a hot attitude, then you wear your short hair like the very cool broa d you are. I like what I read too about your many earrings and jewelry! Very sexy!