Long Hair

Long hair, sometimes written as longhair, is any hairstyle which is relatively long. Exactly what constitutes "long hair" can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair would be said to have long hair. Scientists view long hair as playing a large part in any animal species' natural selection, since hair length is frequently a sign of health. Freudian psychoanalysts also see it in a sexual light, as a representation of the id's release from the suppression of the superego.

Culturally, long hair typically signals a separation from cultural structures and rules, although there are exceptions. Ways of life often viewed as more rigid, such as religious structures and cultures, often have rules regarding hair length. For example, one passage in the New Testament of Christianity contains passages forbidding long hair for men, while approving of it for women, and Buddhist monks shave their heads as part of their order of worship. Even outside religious structures, cultures often connect long hair with ways of life outside of what is culturally accepted. Subservient cultures, for example, are sometimes detected by their rulers through hair length, as was the case with the Irish under English rule and the Moors under Spanish rule in Medieval times. Again, though, there are exceptions to these rules, notably among the long-haired and religiously devoted Nazarites of the Hebrew Bible (Samson being a famous example) and a time when long hair was popular among those in power in France.

Among women, the signal is reversed. Long hair becomes an acceptance of culture, while short hair signals a rebellion from it. Long hair is traditionally accepted as a female characteristic in western cultures. Feminists and women's rights activists have long debated whether to advocate long hair as a solely feminine trait, or to call for short hair in opposition to a stereotype.

Science of long hair

Anthropologists speculate that the functional significance of long head hair may be adornment, a by-product of secondary natural selection once other somatic hair had been lost. Another possibility is that long head hair is a result of Fisherian runaway sexual selection, where long lustrous hair is a visible marker for a healthy individual. For some groups, however, short hair is the selected trait. Psychoanalysts argue that long hair represents the id and aggression, and that cutting the hair is thus akin to castration. Such scholars compare hair cutting to ceremonial mutilation rituals such as circumcision, blood-letting, et al. Hair is considered a phallic and sexual emblem, having many parallels with intercourse. Further connections made with sexuality are made with the fact that historically, adulterous men would cut off their partner's hair if she threatened to reveal their secret, thus violating the role of her husband.

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Women

Women often have a stronger inclination towards long hair than men do. Some feminists have declared long hair as "irrefutably feminine," while others argue for shorter hair. Other scholars have also remarked on how, without hair or long hair, a woman cannot be a woman. Long hair also symbolizes wealth, and luxury, as such hair is difficult to maintain. Often, men and women will protest the social system by adopting the hair length considered acceptable in the other sex: men growing their hair long, and women cutting it short, again pointing to the strong trend of long hair being a female commodity. Since short hair is frequently considered mannish, working women sometimes face a challenge in balancing between having hair long enough to appear a woman, but short enough to fit into the male-oriented business world.