Girls with short hair being labelled as trans

I had long hair as a child, still do but it was down to my bum in those days doesnt seem to grow as long now, and until I started growing boobs at age 10 all the adults thought I was a boy, the kids knew tho.

I put it down to walking about in trainers, spiderman tshirt and joggy bottoms and being rather a dirty child, holes in the trousers etc.

Same for my 11 year old since she got her pixie cut. She lives for sports, wears mainly sportswear and jeans. Been asked if she’s trans and frequently mistaken for a boy. We’ve talked about it and she’s even more determined to keep the pixie cut. Heaven help the next person that tries to put her in a box.

I was a rockabilly with a flat top for years. I remember a girl chatting up my male friend and asking me what school I went to. She was puzzled and said “but that’s a girls school” when I told her. I just laughed and that was it. These days I know I’d be told I’m trans.

If you don't have porn mermaid hair you're a dyke. Welcome to the 21st century!

goths etc united over music and dressed like the bands.

now kids are uniting over ideas on the internet and theres no uniform for that

I noticed this in the early noughties. Every girl suddenly looked like Rachel from Friends. My school photos from the 80s show a mixture of hair styles and lengths. One girl had Robert Smith (Cure) hair, a fair few rocked perms (self included) of various lengths, some had crew cuts and we had one girl with a rockabilly quiff. The boys are just as hilarious, everything from mullets to a full on "flock of seagulls" hairspray extravaganza.

It took me far longer than it should to pock my 16 year old niece out in her class photo, from a sea of identikit gorgeous girls.

For ages you’ve had peer-group issues with “short hair is for boys” or “short hair makes you a lesbian”. And well-meaning adults occasionally trying to redirect children loowise/calling a boy with long floating blond curls a pretty girl/absently saying “what a helpful little boy you have” to the parents of the little girl with short hair who is helping smaller kids in the park.

But adults used to invariably be flustered & mortified when they made that mistake (especially calling a boy a girl, let’s face it); unlike now when you get adults leading the charge on Hair Cannot Be Personality, Practicality Or Personal Preference

@Palavah
I think they’re too busy thinking she’s a lizard, but…

More to the point, not quite that entire generation of women had/have short hair, obviously, but it was/is incredibly popular, even more so once they went grey. I’d bet ALL these people rushing now to tell [the parents of] little girls had at least one elderly female relative with short hair. Before they go making any such suggestions again they need to ask themselves if they really think that [Great-]Auntie Daisy was trans; & what leads them to whichever conclusion they draw.

I've been called 'sir' twice this year. I have a basic barber cut with shaved back and sides, earrings, no make up, typically in unisex type clothing of jeans, boots and hoodie. I'm late 30s, average female height, so unless they have poor eyesight and think I am a 14 year old boy I don't know how I could be mistaken as male? It never happened when I had a half inch all over as a teen/young adult.

When i was a kid I had punk hair. I now have a bob and wear pearls!

I love this 😂

My daughter had her hair cut short about 8 years ago. She looked AMAZING. She’s since grown it out to look more girly. She still looks great but she has such delicate features the short hair really highlighted it.

That's upsetting, @SavBbunny - your daughter doesn't conform to gender stereotypes, why should she? In a diverse society she should be able to dress and style her hair how she wants.
I've never known so much "princessing" as exists now.
Credit to your daughter for maintaining individuality!

My 13 y/o has experienced exactly this. Asked if she's trans at school just because she now has short hair.

I had short hair at the same age and in some photos I do actually 'look like a boy' but 'trans' or non binary wasn't even a thing back then and I was just allowed to get on with it. Even if I did look like Ron Weasley!

for RocketPanda.

Hurling LGBTQ labels had a huge effect on my daughter. She does have short pink hair. Two tats and docs. She has previously claimed to be trans but over the last year since turning 18 that has abated. She has a male boyfriend and wants to be married with a family. The whole thing started when she had her hard to manage bi afro air cut short. There was so much in the news about ftm. She has been offered clinical intervention but so far has declined. Its just hair and clothes but she gets abused in the street (we live in a upmarket country town). When i was a kid I had punk hair. I now have a bob and wear pearls!

Who's labelling them as trans then ?

I've seen a growing number of threads on MN about "gender disappointment", pregnant women grieving because they're having another boy.
Upset because they want to play Sylvanian families, or buy sparkly wellies.
The gender stereotypes seem to be worse than ever.

At school I had short hair and wore trousers. I wore trousers because they were more comfortable. I was also teased mercilessly because I had dark body hair and wasn’t allowed to shave my legs (thanks mum ) and wearing trousers was a godsend. I was very uncomfortable in my body at the time. Lord knows what would of happened if I’d been at school nowadays.

We used to hang out in big groups, just walking around town or parks, I don't see groups like this anymore. I remember dressing up the boys with nail varnish, our clothing, most of the boys had long hair. Everyone had a piercing or a few, we definitely experimented in quite a number of ways let's say but I won't go into that!!

And yes, way more cool pixie cut girls back then.

It's ridiculous isn't it. The Queen has short hair. Do people think she's trans?

I have no breasts and scarcely any hair thanks to chemo. Post menopausal so no periods. I wear track bottoms or leggings and big jumpers or baggy tshirts. Still very much a women.

My DD has just turned 13, she has had short hair since about 9. She is frequently asked if she is a boy by other pupils at school, somebody asked if she was non-binary recently. It's tedious.