To think there's a lot of hypocrisy on here about feminism and long hair?

[AlpineAnja]

Noticed tons of threads over past few years, and i mean tons, where poster asks if long hair is ok after 40, etc.
All answers naturally say of course it is! And i agree!

But i also notice this weird thing where people go on to insult women over 40 who prefer short cuts. They claim that growing hair long as a mature woman is a feminist act, yet insult shorter haired women for choosing a 'dated' or 'ageing' style.

This is a massive contradiction, because if wearing hair long was a feminist act, so should wearing it short! All hair choices should be supported by feminism. If a woman grows her hair long and receives insults such as 'witchy' or 'mutton', then it is equally wrong to throw shade on short hair, too.

Surely I am not the only one who has noticed this. I am tempted to think this contemporary obsession with long hair as faminism belies a deep fear of ageing and a keeness to copy gen z.

So, all hair styles are acceptable, whether frizzy, short, 'karen' style, wavy, curly or straight. All lengths are acceptable, also. The endless threads about long hair and the users who pile on to tell everyone to grow it longer seems to me to be hiding a different issue than feminism.

Bash away!

I’ve never, ever seen or heard someone say these things about short hair.

Me neither but then there are a lot of people on here so you do see all sorts and it’s easy to get confirmation bias working

I have also never heard or seen the things you’ve described. Other than the posts asking if long hair is ok after 40, which of course is ok. But the rest of it, no. I have no idea where you’ve got that all from.

was expecting that. try a google for 'long hair mumsnet', there are countless results if only in the past few years, and most involve encouraging women to grow hair and telling them short hair is ageing.

my only point is, if this was feminism, then all hair styles would be encouraged.

I am awaiting being told:
I am delusional
I am aggressive
I dont know what you are talking about OP
I dont know what you want from this thread OP
You sound irrational OP
I have never ever seen a post about long hair.
Are you unwell OP

There, got that out the way

I’ve never seen they type of threads you are talking about, but ’Karen’ hair…really?

Huh? You don’t seem to need anyone else to post as you are preempting what you think people will say, whilst also telling us we are wrong for not having seen those posts ourselves.

I am telling you that I haven’t seen threads like that. You can’t say that I have! I scroll Active a lot each day and don’t see these threads.

I grow my hair long, cut then, then repeat the cycle.

Never, ever, have I considered feminism when I’m telling the hairdresser what I want. Genuinely never seen any conversation online or in real life where anyone does

yes people do indeed use that term on MN and say it is dated and unflattering.
I would call that insulting, wouldn't you? It isnt very progressive to tell women their hair is dated or ageing. This is my precise point.

But if no one has ever seen it, I am of course likely completely blind, mentally ill or looking for friction. It is a fairly balanced point, which invites deep discussion about feminism and hair which most people will reject in their excitement for a fight and an internet put-down.

Nuance debate died on here many moons ago. It is more like a colosseum than an educated woman's forum.

Also having done an internet search at your demand, I still don’t see those threads in the search results.

This is AIBU not the Feminism board.

I shave my hair, 4 on the back and sides and 7 on top. It needs redoing actually thanks for reminding me.

But what I usually say on any threads complaining about other people's posts to topics is the same no mattter what the topic, you cannot control what people say so if you have an opinion, voice it on the threads themselves.

Does feminism mean that all hair styles should be encouraged ? Feminism doesn’t mean yelling “go you” to whatever a woman says

feminism that you shouldn’t be expected to adhere to the traditional beauty standards . So if you want long hair or short hair have it long or short

but if someone is asking about a specific style and they want to look youthful say then I would expect them to be given honest feedback

Can't say as I've noticed it. You've obviously had to do a lot of digging to find these threads @AlpineAnja . Plus there are tens of thousands, if not more users on Mumsnet, with a huge variety of views, some of whom are men and some who come here to shit stir and tell women off. It's not a feminist hive mind chat room with single digit regular users.

Ah ok, I see what you’re about. Fuck all to do with hair.

I’ve seen it on here loads how short styles are masculine, unflattering and don’t look good on anyone.

I feel like your research proposal is muddled. I guess your question is:

Obsession with long hair as feminism belies a deep fear of ageing and a keeness to copy gen z.

Then I would like to see a literature review to justify this as an area for research. Who is saying this? Sources? I have literally never heard of this angle. So you'd have to prove it is a thing before trying to work out why.

I wouldn’t say it to someone directly but plenty of short hairstyles are unflattering. That’s not antifeminist.

I've never seen posts having a go at older women for having short hair. And I've been on here for yonks. Not seen every thread though, obvs, so who knows?

Also, YABVU to use "Karen" as a slur.

Are the threads from the style and beauty section? I find the advice there helpful but there is a strong interest on what is and isn't aging, and more fixed views on what is aging. So it's not being horrible about short hair exactly, but viewing it through a particular lens. And to be fair lots of women do worry about looking old so it's not an unreasonable way of answering a question.
Plus, if you go back 30 years there was a trend of older/middle aged women cutting their hair short or having shorter hair. So someone who was young then will have an idea of that being an "older" hairstyle in their minds and something to avoid as they themselves age. Just like the generation before then probably had shorter hair because it was a youthful style in the 60s (and ironically also the 90s).
Basically no-one wants to look like their mother's. But you should wear your hair how you want to wear it and be happy.

Well you will likely get that and the exact opposite in the same thread because of the make up of the site - large

what you have to prove here is that is a dominant position

Well, you won't get that. Try shit stirring on Reddit instead.

As i predicted: the intellectual spirit of the original Mumsnet is entirely dead

I can move on and get back to my scones now.

I imagine these threads are mostly in style and beauty? And yet posters are saying to grow your hair long as a feminist act, rather than because they think it looks nice or in fashion? Seems unlikely. Or is it that people are starting threads on FWR about their hairstyles? Also unlikely.
Feminism isn't just about choice by the way.

People have opinions. Its literally the basis for discussion forums.

Is this in Style and Beauty? If so, that's why I've never seen it.

.Hair can be a feminist issue - but more about the pressure to colour it.

I have experienced negativity about very short hairstyles personally - but that's a negative association with perceived sexuality usually - so homophobia.

Karen is a misogynistic insult .