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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that long hair on young boys.......

323 replies

Haahoostory · 07/10/2012 10:57

Is unfair on the child. It dangles in their face and gets in their way and must be really annoying for them. With girls you can clip it back or tie it up in pretty styles so no problem at all. It is the parents imposing their tastes and choices on the child - rather like when toddlers have pierced ears. Older boys with long hair absolutely fine - as they have chosen to wear it that way, but toddlers and younger boys no.

OP posts:
minouminou · 08/10/2012 12:44

The only people who have been unpleasant about DS' hair have been a bit unbalanced and unhappy in general, tbh. Way too much into gender stereotypes - to an unhealthy and restrictive degree.
I'm talking here about someone who flipped out when I referred jokingly to her DS' undies as knickers...
You know..."Oooh, look at you in yer little knickers!"

Obviously some posters on here live in areas where you really would get hassle for long hair, so they make their judgement call based on that. If we moved away from here, we'd have to have a rethink and go for a surfer look, I reckon.

Thankfully, we have had very little grief indeed, and we have a good range of people from different backgrounds/continents and so on.

Times are changing - not that long hair on boys is a new thing, anyway.

TheOneWithTheHair · 08/10/2012 12:51

YABU

I have 2 dss. One with very short hair and one with longish hair. The one with long hair is three and very capable of telling me he doesn't want his hair short.

In dd's school this is so common they've given the boys the same rule as the girls. If its below shoulder length you have to tie it back or cut it. Quite a few of the boys tie it back for school.

FolkGhoul · 08/10/2012 12:53

Times are changing - not that long hair on boys is a new thing, anyway.

Ahem.

Jesus had long hair

Or so said the t shirts of my youth!

plus3 · 08/10/2012 12:53

YABU - my DS hair is a mop top at best - sticks up all over the place. It's not unfair to him because he loves it. He also has sensory processing disorder & likes stroking hair. Stops him stroking other peoples Grin

FolkGhoul · 08/10/2012 12:54

TheOne yes, my son's school has the same rule.

minouminou · 08/10/2012 12:55

Don't forget Genghis, Folkghoul....

prettybird · 08/10/2012 12:55

I have a beautiful Victorian doll with ringlets of real hair. The hair was from my great great uncle, who, as a young Victorian boy had long hair as a toddler and it was then cut when he was a wee bit older.

Op: YABU. I almost agreed with you when you were saying that it stopped them from doing things but then you exhibited double standards by saying that it was OK for girls to have long hair because they could put it back Hmm

FolkGhoul · 08/10/2012 12:58

Ooh yes, and Genghis.

And, as you said, Vikings!

TheOneWithTheHair · 08/10/2012 12:58

Well I'm glad FolkGhoul. It should be fair. I know schools (ds1's) that make the boys cut their hair.

3faced · 08/10/2012 12:58

Mino and Folk you really do protest far too much!!!
I am just giving my opinion like everyone else.
But seeing as your opinions are the only ones you see as being correct, lets see if any short haired boys mums would like to speak.
I just dont like to see boys with long hair.
That is my opinion.

ShirleyRots · 08/10/2012 13:00

I not only let my boys' hair grow but I also dressed them in dresses and called them girls' names, because I really, really wanted a daughter.

I also am desperate to be trendy.

ShirleyRots · 08/10/2012 13:01

You're being so rude 3faced, you're not just giving your opinion, you're being appallingly rude.

I mean, "Long hair on small boys gives me the creeps." that's such a shitty thing to say!

3faced · 08/10/2012 13:02

See I knew I was right with my theories.

FolkGhoul · 08/10/2012 13:03

I wasn't protesting 3faced Confused

I was answering this question:

Well please tell me of these other reasons that boys have long hair then?

asked by you at 12:13:10

Hold on a minute. Were you asking a rhetorical question? Sorry, I thought you were asking a question to which you wanted an answer.

Since then I've been engaging with other people.
And still not protesting.

Yes, you're entitled to your opinion. Of course you are.

But you asked a question and they usually require an answer.

ShirleyRots · 08/10/2012 13:04

mince.

prettybird · 08/10/2012 13:05

Oh - and ds only had his first hair cut at 2.5 because he still had baby hair until then and it had barely grown. It was generally kept fairly short (usually a number 3 or 4 but with quite gap between cuts) until he was about 9 or 10 and then he had a year of wanting to grow it. Went nearly a year without a cut.

Now it is kept mid (boy) length - a No 8 every couple of months. His choice. (He's 12 now)

FolkGhoul · 08/10/2012 13:06

I'm not defensive about it either.

I know other people have different ideas. I'm quite comfortable with other people doing different things.

That's why I haven't insulted other people's, including your, preferences.

Life's too short to get that upset about hair length.

FerrisBueller1972 · 08/10/2012 13:07

Shirley I really hope you were being sarcastic up there.

3faced · 08/10/2012 13:07

I am giving my opinions.
Sadly this has turned into a one sided debate.

minouminou · 08/10/2012 13:10

It's not turned into a one-sided debate, it's just been a series of posters at the same time.
Of course you have your opinion - I don't see the point of that statement there. Do you feel we're attacking you personally?
How are we protesting too much?
Against what?
Someone's opinion? I think we're big enough to absorb the impact of someone else's thoughts.

ShirleyRots · 08/10/2012 13:11

Sometimes I wonder how people actually manage to get onto the internet without blowing themselves up or something.

prettybird · 08/10/2012 13:12

At ds' rugby last year two of his friends (twins) had long hair (way below their shoulders). it was their choice, not their mum's. If they were teased for it (which I wasn't aware of at rugby), it would have been the teasers that were in the wrong, not them for choosing to grow their hair.

One of the twins has now cut his hair. The other one has stopped coming, so I don't know if he has still chosen to have long hair. His choice though!

minouminou · 08/10/2012 13:12

I haven't insulted anyone either - I haven't slammed short hair.
You did ask for reasons, we gave you some, and then we started sharing anecdotes and a few light-hearted jokes that were just a bit silly.

Quadrangle · 08/10/2012 13:15

Is boys with clips and hair ties in long hair a London thing? I don't think I've ever seen that. The boys at my dd's school seem to have hair that is neither very long nor very short. It is a sort of grown out style, but not to the point of being down their back or over their eyes. Maybe in their eyes a little bit.

minouminou · 08/10/2012 13:16

Right - gotta go.
Be back later