New experience as a long-haired lady
Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Hair Talk
Forum Name: Hair Politics
Forum Description: The politics of Hair is a slippery slope...
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=8427
Printed Date: June 06 2025 at 8:14pm
Topic: New experience as a long-haired lady
Posted By: Unregistered Guest
Subject: New experience as a long-haired lady
Date Posted: January 11 2000 at 9:04pm
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Just for the heck of it, I bought a long-haired wig. It isn't a dead ringer for the real thing, but it is good quality and in no way resembles the October specials for Halloween long-haired wigs!Although no one has said anything directly to me in public, sometimes people speak so loudly that it's hard *not* to hear! Some things said in regard to "my" long hair:"Who does she think she's fooling? That isn't real.""Isn't all that hair just awful? Somebody needs to take a pair of scissors and hack through it.""Look at her -- I bet she thinks she's hot shit.""There's no way that's real. Blondes can't grow their hair that thick.""Look at that mess all over her back and shoulders. Hasn't anybody told her that it looks terrible?"Interestingly enough, every single one of these people who spoke so loudly (that they *want* you to know what they're saying) had short hair and were probably a bit less than average at best in appearance.I have to admit that I didn't give much thought to the posts that said total strangers said and acted upon "less than polite" issues with long-haired people. Obviously, many different types of people (different ethnic groups, obese people, and so forth) get hassled, but I've never had hair as long as the wig so I hadn't experienced it.I just stood as tall as I could, pretended I didn't hear, and smiled to make myself look as attractive as possible so anyone listening would think of the perpetrators as the ones making asses of themselves. And they were!I was quite surprised that people were as rude as they were.
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Replies:
Posted By: Dave
Date Posted: January 11 2000 at 9:04pm
Hi Jena,Welcome to the world of the very long-haired person.Sorry to hear you received so many negative "reviews."It takes a lot of self-confidence to endure consistent harassment for what isa VOLUNTARY choice. Most people aren't strong enough to keep it from gettingthem down -- and so they give in.I have yet to hear of a long-haired person EVER saying ANYTHING negative(such as you overheard during your wig-wearing experience) to a short-hairedperson regarding their hairstyle choices.What does this say?Forgive me for making a generalization, but to me it says that people withvery long hair are generally more likely to be more respectful of other people'shair choices -- even when they are inconsistent with their own -- than are somepeople with short hair. Sure, there are plenty of short-haired people who arerespectful in this respect -- probably the vast majority. But all it takes isone here, and one there, and another one over there, to start vocalizing theirtheir negative opinions about long hair...Is it any wonder that so few people in this world wear their hair very long?It would not surprise me to learn that there are many, many more people inthis world that would like to have very long hair than presently have it -- andthat criticism (such as you experienced) and other pressures are probably amongthe reasons why so few people actually have it.Dave
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David M Squires
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Posted By: Kent
Date Posted: January 11 2000 at 9:04pm
Jena,Thank you for not only sharing your experiences but for also putting yourself in "our (long-haired) shoes". It is very easy as humans to criticize others for something we don't understand, but when we "walk where others walk" we share in their experience.I developed a speach for Toastmasters several years ago that told of a little brown skinned boy with long dark hair. When he moved to a foreign land he experienced ridicule because of his clothes, speach patterns (accent), hair, etc. After changing all these "external appearances" he discovered the one thing he couldn't change was the color of his skin. It was only then that he learned that his self worth as person must come from within and not from what others think. Perhaps sometime I will write out this story and share it on the board.I just wanted to let you know I appreciate your open-mindedness and concern for what some of us go through on a daily basis. I respect you for your thoughtfulness and caring.Kent
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Kent
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