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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Girls can have short hair too campaign

117 replies

TeenToTwenties · 28/01/2025 09:35

Football club unites to support girls with short hair - BBC News

Wouldn't have been needed back in the day when loads of girls had short hair.

Also wouldn't have been needed before boys started identifying as girls and being allowed into girls spaces.

Two young girls wearing blue and white vertically striped football shirts are smiling at the camera.
There is a green football pitch behind them with floodlights.

Football club unites to support girls with short hair

Under 12s players upset after opposition teams accuse them of cheating by fielding boys.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy1nzv799mo

OP posts:
duc748 · 28/01/2025 16:22

I can't believe what I'm hearing here. I assumed the ubiquity of blonde hair and pig-tails was just cyclical fashion. I thought the days of a stigma against short hair were long gone decades ago. Clearly not.

Itiswhatitis80 · 28/01/2025 16:25

I had a pixie cut for 10 years but I grew it out because I was sick of being asked if I wanted to be a boy or lesbian,I’m neither.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 28/01/2025 16:54

In fact, thinking about it - and reminded by that video - short hair on young women was a mildly rebellious look in the 1820s.

At this rate of regress, they'll be burning witches by next year.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 28/01/2025 16:57

Itiswhatitis80 · 28/01/2025 16:25

I had a pixie cut for 10 years but I grew it out because I was sick of being asked if I wanted to be a boy or lesbian,I’m neither.

Whwras I had a pixie cut in the late 80s/early 90s and kept being told I looked like Lisa Stansfield. I grew it out because my student grant didn't cover London hairdresser prices.

RaspberryArcadia · 28/01/2025 17:25

In the beautiful words of Andrea GIbson ;
Either way, I can guarantee a haircut will never tell you anything about someone’s gender, who they love, or how they
But I’ll keep growing out my short temper “

LunaNorth · 28/01/2025 17:30

When I had a very short pixie cut, one of my students asked if I’d had chemo.

It’s become so unusual for women to have short hair these days that it’s either thought to be an identity statement or a side effect of radical treatment.

We’re going backwards.

RedToothBrush · 28/01/2025 17:34

MarieDeGournay · 28/01/2025 10:50

I get an eyeroll from my friends when the subject of hair length in women's sports comes up, one of my hobby-horses!

I maintain that 'a personal preference for long hair' cannot explain why, out of two squads of players in women's football, not one single one has short hair.
I suspect there is some kind of influence - subtle, subconscious or explicit from sponsors, I don't know - for sportswomen to look 'feminine'.
Hence more ponytails at a women's football match than at a gymkhana...

Little boys and girls with short hair do tend to look pretty much the same in sports kits, and as PPs have said, this wouldn't be problematic if eligibility rules were 100% respected.

There's a post on another thread - a mother asking for recommendations for make-up lessons for her 15 year old daughter... I didn't respond because I couldn't trust myself not to lose it a bit, and I don't want to be rude or confrontative.

But it's 2025, and 15-year-old girls are being coached in how to look more conventionally 'feminine', and older than they are. By their mothers. And girls with short hair are assumed to be boys.😦

What makes me despair helping out with my son's classes is how pathetic the girls are talking about make and hair etc. They are 9/10 FFS. But the fashion is all about beauty and beauty parties and sleep overs.

I think I'd die inside if I was faced with that age 9.

We were playing Ghostbusters.

ConstructionTime · 28/01/2025 17:49

trivialMorning · 28/01/2025 14:24

I had though they'd been a shift back to normalcy.

When DD1 was at secondary all the girls had long hair - then older teens who cut short were apparently signalling they were lesbians.

DD2 younger by 4 years - they do have more range of hair styles - not all super long many above shoulders now thought haven't seen any really short ones.

It is depressing.

I did enjoy this - hairstyles though time on one woman.

The hairstyles are not the only element to change; note how the cut at the leg moves upward, too. The shift seems to have gained momentum in the 90s - same concept as with beach volleyball, for example.

Scout2016 · 28/01/2025 17:50

My DD is in year 4 and has short hair. I think she's the only girl with short hair at her school. It sounds mad but I have been keeping an eye out to test my theory and not spotted another girl with short hair. Everyone else's seems to be at least shoulder length. I would love to know why because lots of adult women round here have short hair. Lots are of my generation too, so short hair would have been the norm when they were girls. Unless they are all traumatised by dodgy home done 80s cuts and determined their darlings won't suffer the same fate.

On a recent playdate round ours, DD's friend asked for a mirror to be taken off the wall so she could see to re-do her makeup. She sprayed some sort of scent on too, and she's just gone 9 and they were off to play in snow, not even like they were going to a disco. It's depressing.

Iheartmysmart · 28/01/2025 18:01

I’ve got very, very short hair, live in converse or DMs with jeans and a band t-shirt and have very occasionally been called ‘son’ by someone stood behind me. On turning around I think the 34HH boobs put them right!

I do wonder at times though how I would have faired if I’d been born later and not had the sort of upbringing I had. My parents never batted an eyelid at my hatred of skirts and pink stuff and were more than happy to buy me an Action Man rather than a Barbie or Sindy. This was back in the early seventies and I was never made to feel my choices were odd.,

CaptainCallisto · 28/01/2025 18:02

I'm a primary school TA. This week, we've had to send a reminder out to our KS1 parents (so kids aged 5-7) that make-up, false nails, and false eyelashes are not permitted at school. There were seven girls wearing false lashes last week. We've always had the odd one in Y6 who tries to get away with make-up/nails, but the worst we used to get with the littlies was some sparkly nail varnish. It's ridiculous!

There are four girls that I can think of in school (350ish pupils) with short hair, and one of those is a black girl who likes to wear her natural hair in a short Afro.

Boiledbeetle · 28/01/2025 18:16

Signalbox · 28/01/2025 10:12

I was looking at my secondary school photo the other day. 85% of the girls had short hair. wtf happened between then and now to make girls think short hair is only for boys.

I am in the process of sorting through stuff and found mine the other day from 1988. Lots of short haired girls and and so many blond highlights on both sexes.

MarieDeGournay · 28/01/2025 18:39

CaptainCallisto · 28/01/2025 18:02

I'm a primary school TA. This week, we've had to send a reminder out to our KS1 parents (so kids aged 5-7) that make-up, false nails, and false eyelashes are not permitted at school. There were seven girls wearing false lashes last week. We've always had the odd one in Y6 who tries to get away with make-up/nails, but the worst we used to get with the littlies was some sparkly nail varnish. It's ridiculous!

There are four girls that I can think of in school (350ish pupils) with short hair, and one of those is a black girl who likes to wear her natural hair in a short Afro.

Mind-boggling!Sad

Here's a link to the discussion about 'skincare for teens' and MNs many many ads relating to it.
Off topic(ish) - ads for “teen skincare” promoted in FWR threads list | Mumsnet

I've noticed that when there is some awful tragedy involving a very young girl who has got into a bad situation through her social media contacts, the little girl's profile photo usually shows someone wearing loads of make-up, who looks more like 20 than 12.

So it's not just 'let children be children', it's also that young girls are presenting themselves online as much older than they are, which isn't a good idea. I used to think that it was evidence that the girl's parents weren't monitoring her online activity and didn't know about the profile photo, but apparently some parents approve of and even encourage little girls to look like adults.

ConstructionTime · 28/01/2025 18:39

ConstructionTime · 28/01/2025 17:49

The hairstyles are not the only element to change; note how the cut at the leg moves upward, too. The shift seems to have gained momentum in the 90s - same concept as with beach volleyball, for example.

oops, I quote the wrong post, apologies; I meant the one with hairstyles for gymnastics.

AccordionedWhileMallBurned · 28/01/2025 18:44

Is this not just a question of fashion? Back in the 80s, most girls had short hair. It will come back into fashion eventually, not sure a campaign is needed.

DeanElderberry · 28/01/2025 18:47

€18;00 for a dry cut from my hairdresser who trained under someone who in her turn had qualified in New York in the early 60s.

Looking around at the craft group, where we're aged 55ish to 80+ almost all of us have short hair and the 'long haired' ones have it just below shoulder length.

Talipesmum · 28/01/2025 18:54

AccordionedWhileMallBurned · 28/01/2025 18:44

Is this not just a question of fashion? Back in the 80s, most girls had short hair. It will come back into fashion eventually, not sure a campaign is needed.

There is if the club has noticed the kids getting mocked or challenged for it. Which they have.

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 28/01/2025 18:58

Itiswhatitis80 · 28/01/2025 16:25

I had a pixie cut for 10 years but I grew it out because I was sick of being asked if I wanted to be a boy or lesbian,I’m neither.

Mine is Grade 2 round the sides and back and just cut in on top. I am regularly assumed to be a lesbian. I think the fact I'm single and quite vocal about not wanting a man might feed into this (although if you'd had the men I have had, then YOU wouldn't want another one either). So in order for my sexuality and my sex not to come into question, I am expected to grow my hair long. Which just makes me look like my Dad in drag.

BestLeftAnonymous · 28/01/2025 18:58

It bothers me to no end that women are now considered to me making a statement on gender if they choose to wear their hair short. It is just part of a consumer culture that wants and succeeds at making women and girls look a certain way that sells more product.

We have regressed since I was young. There was a time when girls could just have short hair and it was not a big deal or a gender issue. It was just hair.

I now get comments about my hair and often am asked if my husband is okay with it being short. I find that offensive and can see why it impacts the choices of women and girls. Regrettably, I do not foresee this trend changing anytime soon.

TheCrenchinglyMcQuaffenBrothers · 28/01/2025 19:31

I spent a, not too small, part of today going through my clothing collection. I'm downsizing and selling on eBay. Today was trousers. I'd better fucking hurry up and sell them before they become verboten.....

puffyisgood · 28/01/2025 20:44

I'm always a little mystified by the seeming 'uniform' of long, straight, bleached ponytails in the England ladies' team, who are quite a diverse bunch, e.g. many of them openly gay. Absolutely right that short hair is a good look for many women and girls.

SailorSerena · 28/01/2025 21:14

Treaclewell · 28/01/2025 12:06

One thing I do not see mentioned is the time and behaviour involved in maintaining long hair. Schoolgirls I see at the end of the day have smooth hair which has obviously been straightened before school, and they must have done very little active during the day to keep it that way.What do they do with it at night? When I had mine long - it never grew that long - it tangled. When I had it cut off the difference in weight was amazing. I think the long hair thing must be like other fashions in the past, corsets, hobble skirts, not wearing trousers, stiletto heels, foot binding in China, ways of limiting women's movement.

I love my long hair. It's bum length, auburn and curly.

I'm very active and work with horses so it certainly doesn't limit me. It's in a french plait or a bun 90% of the time to keep it out of the way and when it's down in all it's glory when I go out I feel so beautiful.

Hair doesn't limit women in my opinion, if you just tie it back it's out the way and not a problem. I cut it short once and hated it, took years to grow back and I'd never cut it again. Saving ten minutes in the morning isn't worth giving up my crowning glory and I know several women who feel the same.

SailorSerena · 28/01/2025 21:22

denhaag · 28/01/2025 15:07

I'm not sure what (if any) point I want to make, but these are my observations as a mother of a boy who has gone through the grassroots football ranks.

I take umbrage at the assumption that fielding a boy on a girls team gives that team an advantage. From about 9 or so many girls are larger, faster and stronger than many boys. It's a small window because obviously the boys catch up and overtake the girls, but a U10 or U12 girls team would probably do better w/o boys.

Many boys have long hair and have been mistaken for girls. I've watched games where a slight, long-haired boy has been mistaken for a girl and the lads have sometimes avoided being as physical. I'm talking once they get to 14 or 15 when some of the boys can be man sized.

Re people thinking the boys are girls because they have long hair

I don't think this is anything to with transgender women playing in female sports tbh, I think it's as simple as the girl looked like a boy. Truthfully, in that picture she does. Children have always been meaning about eachothers appearances and boys with long hair have been teased about looking like girls for decades, far before transgenderism was constantly in the media and public eye.

Children need to be taught that gender stereotypes don't always apply. Getting trans women banned from women's sport won't stop children telling girls with short hair that they look like boys.

Maddy70 · 28/01/2025 21:22

Most of the girls around me have pixie cuts?

Gymrabbit · 28/01/2025 21:29

Obviously women and should have their hair how they want and not be accused of being men because if it but I’m really not convinced the reasons why women want long hair are as deep or culturally ingrained as people on here are suggesting.
The fact is that the vast majority of women and girls look much better with long hair. Karen Hauer on strictly was a Latin goddess with long hair and then a frumpy Middle Aged mum type with her cropped hair. There’s also a reason why they put Lauren in a wig whenever they want her to look nice…

someone actually suggested a return of the Purdey cut. Why would anyone want to look like someone has chucked a bowl on their head and cut around it? The wolf cut is just a hideous eyesore.

thinking about the 50 or so women at my workplace between the ages of 22 and 60 and across many different races and nationalities I can only think of one who has short hair and she is clearly someone who isn’t bothered about her appearance. I don’t believe that we are all bowing down to society pressures, we just all have eyes and realise it looks better on most women.

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