# Do Women Have Better Hair Genes or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091 "2020-05-04T00:47:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/22 "2020-05-04T18:48:30Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > ?!?!?? Did you mean to direct that last comment at me? Were you _somehow_ of the impression that I’d asserted something akin to what you’re calling my “perception”? > > 😕 😕😕 No. To the OP: that is, the original poster. Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/23 "2020-05-05T03:54:15Z")
Male hair loss is basically a hormonal disorder. Men with thinning hair cut it short because they don’t like the way they look with long hair. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/24 "2020-05-05T04:10:22Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’m going to call “some women” here. At its most protected (kept in a bun), my hair can reach slightly over my shoulders and that’s it. My mother could manage half a foot longer, also protected. Yeah. mine is shorter than it was when I was in college, despite not having been cut much in between. It gets to a little below my shoulder. My sister’s hair is even shorter, and uncut she can’t get it to her shoulders except in bits and pieces. She keeps it short because it doesn’t look good much longer. I have a male friend (Chinese) who has gorgeous hair down to his bum. Every so often he cuts a foot or two off, and then let’s it grow until it annoys him. His is thick and rich all the way down. All his female friends like to play with it. Yes, I’ve braided it. 🙂 I do think that on average women have finer hair and men coarser hair, but I think the length genes are independent of sex. And there’s a big overlap in hair texture between men and women. ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/25 "2020-05-05T13:13:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Wow. > > Have you heard that before the Europeans arrived there were people in North and South America? And that in many, if not most, of those cultures men wore their hair long? You are, of course, not wrong, even if you might be over-generalising. However, it might be worth pointing out that many of those arriving European men would also have worn their hair long. It’s always seemed to me that the western idea of boys have short hair/girls have long hair is purely a (mostly) 20th Century phenomenon. OB ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/26 "2020-05-05T13:19:22Z")
That’s not true, either - in Ancient Rome soldiers cut their hair short and were clean shaven so opponents couldn’t grab their hair or beards during hand-to-hand combat, which was based on some pragmatic considerations. In Ancient Egypt shaving was popular for both genders, as were wigs, but that was largely for hygienic reasons. Hair is a complicated thing throughout history and culture. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/27 "2020-05-05T15:24:24Z")
As I understand, the current style of fairly short hair for men (except during the 60’s and 70’s) was a byproduct of the trenches of WWI. The most effective form of lice control was fairly short hair, so much of the young male generation (the ones who survived) were used to wearing short hair after the war and it signified they had served in the army. It became a common style since then. Before that, longer hair was common for men. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/28 "2020-05-05T16:15:56Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > I always wondered why females have long hair (allow their hair to grow long) > and males keep their hair short. > > Where did this come from? Who decided this should be the general ideal for male and females? Why couldn’t it have been the other way around where men have long hair > and women all have short hair? > > Then it made me think, when I see a female with long hair, her hair seems a lot more attractive/beautiful than a guy with long hair…his hair always seems less silky, less smooth, damaged, shabby, etc. > > Even if I try and think of a man with longer hair like Thor (lol), his hair is still not as attractive as say a woman with long hair. > > Do women actually have better hair genes made to be long? Maybe they just take better care of it then men if they had long hair? I don’t know. Uh, no. You can tell that to my alopecia-ridden ass, lol. Just because it’s more socially acceptable for women to have long hair then men (although I’ve seen plenty of guys with long hair and even dated one) doesn’t have anything to do with genes. Plenty of men can grow out their hair should they choose to. Obviously not all, but then again, not all women can grow real long, healthy hair, either. Mine is thinning and when growing it out means weighing it down and having it splinter off into nothing, no matter the shampoo I use. Some women have hair that is more course, more thick, more frizzy or thinner than others. That does come down to genes. But it isn’t a men vs women issue. Thor \*absolutely \*has more amazing hair than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/29 "2020-05-05T16:23:34Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > I agree, men can, but that wasn’t the question. Compared to women…why isn’t it the same? Then why did you even bring up genes if you think men can grow hair the way women can? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/30 "2020-05-05T17:23:18Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > That’s not true, either - in Ancient Rome soldiers cut their hair short and were clean shaven so opponents couldn’t grab their hair or beards during hand-to-hand combat, which was based on some pragmatic considerations. In Ancient Egypt shaving was popular for both genders, as were wigs, but that was largely for hygienic reasons. > > Hair is a complicated thing throughout history and culture. As another data point, I was surprised to learn that in George Washington’s time long hair on men was considered a military style (the opposite of the buzzed hairstyle of today). The reason, though, is because it offered the same practical effect - the hair would be pulled back into a tight bun, thereby keeping it tight and out of the way during the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/32 "2020-05-08T02:15:19Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > Do women actually have better hair genes made to be long? Maybe they just take better care of it then men if they had long hair? I don’t know. I wonder if we can find any studies about the use of and costs of conditioner broken down by sex. I would wager that not only do women use conditioner more they spend more on it than the men who do as well. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091/33 "2020-05-08T05:13:04Z")
I think the conclusion here is that no, hair genes do not differ for men and women but are the same. So the only difference is just cultural and personal maintenance preferences. I guess women just treat their hair to make it long, silky, or whatnot and it only appears that they have better hair genes meant for length. I did notice that most men that have long hair tend to have it wavy, as oppose to long, straight and silky treated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-have-better-hair-genes-or-what/853091.md?page=1)