To wonder why all girls have long hair?

[Mightymoog]

Just driving past the secondary school at home time and every single girl had long hair. Different colours, some wavy, some straight, but every last one of them had long hair.
Where are all the short cuts or even mid length.
when I was at school (admittedly many moons ago )there was a huge range from short and spiky to mid length bobs to long.
just a little something I've been musing on for a while and prepared for people to tell me the local school is an aberration of long hair lovers

I assume that you didn't see every girl in the school on your short drive.

My DD has a mullet type cut, her friends haircuts are similar.

It is a mixture of both.

I had long hair as a teenager with a fringe bump, like most teenagers in my group, the 90's.

me too @tobee me too.

When i was young bobs were very in. I've always had long hair - clearly im a trend setter haha

A lot of people are saying 'fashion' but if it was just about fashion, there would be lots of girls with jaw-length wavy bobs and 'French girl' shoulder length cuts as well as universally long hair that's either straight or wavy.

My niece is now in her early 20s but she had a gorgeous short haircut for a few years in her teens, an undercut, asymmetric style that really suited her. She was literally the only girl in her entire year at school, out of about 200, who had short hair and she did get picked on for it.

I hadn't thought of that but so true.

Yes, but in teen years my hear were much more greasy so needed washing every other day, every day if for an event, whereas my friend with long hair washed them once a week. Shorter hair got greasy very quickly.

Erm probably because they want too! What a daft question

Unfortunately, there also seems to be a link between short hair on women and being called ‘a Karen’. Anyone that has a particular short but styled haircut is often referred to as Karen. Which is ridiculous. But I do think it would probably put a hell of a lot of young girls off.

Back at school when I was there, everyone had short hair. Ling bair was basically seen as boring and staid, likely as no one did much with it, it was the nice girls, thr good girls, the geeky girls with strict parents who had long hair, often in a ponytail….max they would have is a bob or a page boy.

then everyone had perms.

now with the advent of styling products, heating products, extensions, long hair is anything but boring, or dry, flat, frizzy.

in addition short hair is often seen now as the preserve of the elderly. As much as some woman keep their hair long , well into their seventies and beyond , as I think they should if they wish, I hope to, most have it cut short, shoulders or above, And long hair there for seen as more youthful.

I talked to my DD (when she was 18, at an all-girls school) and her friend (also 18, at a mixed grammar) about this as I noticed it at a secondary I drive past (mixed, comprehensive). The latter told me that the girls could not afford to deviate from long hair/skirts/female stereotype as you would labelled gay and come in for unwanted (usually homophobic) attention. Whereas being gay was absolutely not an issue at DD's school (several out and proud) and so short hair less of a signifier and not a draw of unwanted attention.

Another interesting point made by DD and friend was that, in this day of SM, being different, sticking out, not blending in is dangerous - you show up on the ubiquitous photos/videos/SM posts and therefore become a target. Anonymity is to be prized, which means blending in and conforming, at least visually.

I found it quite sad! Long live non-conformity of all types.

Sadly these days they don't have the courage to be different...all the youngsters want to blend in and not stand out.

I agree it is a trend that has been going on for some time. Easily 20 years, I would guess. Obviously everyone has the right to style their hair as they wish, but I do find the homogenous appearance of all girls and young women wrt their hair a bit boring. Some variation would be nice. 10 years ago, my then teenage daughter had a pixie cut. She was the only girl in her very large year at school to have such a short cut. I was against her doing it at first (sentimental for her amazingly thick long hair) but we still talk about it today. She looked stunning with a pixie cut, all the teachers at parents evening were talking about how her confidence had grown and how amazing she looked. But within a year or having the cut she was growing it back out again. I don't know exactly why, but I suspect she had some cruel comments from her peer group.

We just need one woman with influence to go for it and the appearance of girls and young women would change overnight!

You think young men these days are worse than young men from other generations?

I don't agree.

I wash my bob once a week! It’s slightly dry so doesn’t really look or feel its best until a day or two after shampooing.

@Whycanineverthinkofone short hair now indicates male. So if you’re a girl you automatically draw attention to yourself, and your sex/gender identity questioned. Even if it’s clear you’re female, it’s a weak spot for bullies.
one of my dc had short hair as a child and yes, they did end up growing it because they got sick of the idiots and mean kids.

We had the same experience. DD used to have short hair (pixie) before she started school but constantly got asked if she was a boy and the girls wouldn't let her play with them because they said she looked like a boy. She grew her hair and it's been a fight ever since.

Now shes at secondary, it's a bit better, as in she takes care of it herself but she will won't cut it to a reasonable length because she doesn't want people to think she's a boy. All the girls in her classes have long hair, as do all the girls in all her out of school activities.

DD is pretty ambivalent to fashion and won't wear something she doesn't like. She doesn't follow influencers or watch tv shows or YouTube (apart from Minecraft) or follow celebrities, so I think it's genuinely the fear she'll be called a boy. It seems so much more restrictive nowadays than when I was at school - and their school has no dress code!

Interesting. I did my o levels in 1984/85. I did all the sciences, maths, extra maths in a mixed school. 40 years ago and never thought any of these were boys’ subjects! (And ended up working in IT)

can i ask why it's a daft question to wonder why every girl I saw had long hair or are you just in a bad mood?

I don't remember decent conditioner being around until the late 1980s/1990s. My hair would get really tangled! Even in the 90s it was so dry.

My 13 year old is rocking a wolf cut, it looks amazing, but prior to this she’s always had dead straight, waist length hair, she was actually scared to bring any attention to herself because of bullying but recently she has reached the “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me” stage and is happy to be her true self.

sixties babe here; no shower, washed hair in the basin with a mug snd a kettle of hot water. No hair dryer. We still all had long hair . With flowers in, ready for San Francisco 🥰

teen years are famous for greasy hair. It changes with age.

Yeah I think this is it

Gender ideology reinforces traditional stereotypes. It's regressive. I wish young people could see that

How many girls were in those classes at a’level?

I did my physics a’level in a mixed comprehensive in the late 80’s. I was the only girl in a class of 30. GCSE was slightly more balanced as we had to take maths and 3 sciences if we were top sets, it wasn’t a choice. I was the only girl in the woodwork class though!

there’s always been girls doing those subjects, and you doing them does not mean it negates the statistics showing vastly more boys study those subjects than girls.

People in previous generations were less overweight and could pull off short hair a lot better. I feel like a really good bone structure is needed to rock a short style, I have tried a short bob myself and looked AWFUL! Princess Diana was beautiful but she would have looked even better with a long blow dry.

I think most millennial and gen z women tend to gravitate more towards longer styles, just because in general it is a more flattering look. I am a millenial and all of my friends have either straight or curly long hair. There is also the phenomenon of the "Karen" haircut that some of the younger generation may want to avoid (not saying I agree with calling someone a Karen).

I remember boys being told off at my primary school in the 1980s for having a buzz cut.