# Who in society decided that short "clean" haircuts are the ONLY ones that look good on men? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706 "2015-08-01T04:37:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/61 "2015-08-04T23:01:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > **Who in society decided that short “clean” haircuts are the ONLY ones that look good on men?** > > New fads look great to a lot of people. I remember reading a survey in the 1960s where ladies said long hair on men looked sexy and made men look intelligent etc. Thirty years later, the same answers were given regarding men with short hair. I guess people get bored with old styles, and new ones look smart. It goes up and down. Got it in one. There’s only so much you can do with the human body, _vis-a-vis_ fashion and grooming. So looks tend to cycle in and out of fashion. Plus, each new iteration likes to react to the one before. So the long, shaggy hair of the hippies was a rebellion against the conservative IBM cuts of the Fifties and Sixties, and in turn was rebelled against by the long-but-highly-styled hair of the Seventies, which gave way to punk hair, then shaved heads. Now we’re seeing the Don Draper look come back, but matched with neo-Edwardian long beards and curled mustaches (the “I listen to bands so obscure they don’t even exist yet” hipster look). It has ever been thus. > [@pool](#): > > In my humble opinion I always think high and tights look ridiculous like a guy from the 1950’s found a time machine, it looks even more ridiculous when the person has any type of balding. If you’re gonna go the short hair route, the fade looks way better to me. I agree. High-and-tights make me think “Bob Haldeman called…” ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/62 "2015-08-05T02:58:50Z")
Rimmer: You all think I’m a petty-minded bureaucratic nincompoop who delights in enforcing political regulations because he gets some kind of perverse pleasure out of it. And in many ways, you’re absolutely damn right! But that doesn’t alter the fact that the only we’re gonna down track Red Dwarf and get through this in one piece is with a sense of discipline, a sense of purpose, and wherever possible a sensible haircut. Lister: [Feeling bored after Rimmer’s speech] I’m going back to bed. Rimmer: Would it harm you to have hair like mine? The Cat: I have got hair like yours. Just not on my head. Rimmer: Well, I’m no stranger to the land of scoff. Perhaps you’d like to explain to me why it is that every major battle in history has been won by the side with the shortest haircut. Kryten: Oh, surely not, sir! Rimmer: Think about it! Why did the US cavalry beat the Indian nation? Short back and sides versus girly-hippie locks. The Cavaliers and the Roundheads, 1-0 to the pudding-basins. Vietnam, crew-cuts both sides, no score draw. Kryten: Oh, for a really world-class psychiatrist! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/63 "2015-08-06T01:38:44Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > Rimmer: Well, I’m no stranger to the land of scoff. Perhaps you’d like to explain to me why it is that every major battle in history has been won by the side with the shortest haircut. Because long hair provides a convenient handle for your opponent to grab hold of. ---
**Author:** ![dirty\_hippie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@dirty\_hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirty_hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/64 "2015-08-06T06:02:29Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > But you are a dirty hippie–it’s right there in your name! 😛 > > How is your long hair “an extension of [your] musical interest” but not “about fashion or a lifestyle”? Seems like if you choose long hair because of the music you like, then it is very much about fashion and lifestyle. Yeah, you’re right. I knew that statement was a bit clunky when I was typing it out. One’s hairstyle is an expression of one’s lifestyle and whether we acknowledge it or not is very much influenced by our taste in fashion. I guess what I meant to say was that I’m not trying to make a statement with my hippie look. Actually, I’m far from being a hippie. Heck I bathe and my clothing is what one might call conservative or even preppy except when I’m chilling and wearing my [band t-shirts](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/amge55/me/bleached.jpg). (Another pic, I’m fishing for compliments or an SD gf.) Anyway, just to add to what others have said, I have long hair because I hate haircuts and getting it cut right each month is sometimes hit or miss. Btw, I do my own trimming after I found out I could do it myself…and do it better. I like the natural V-end where the middle is longer than the sides. No guy should have an even end trim. Green Bean: Sold! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/65 "2015-08-06T06:22:12Z")
I’ve got long hair. It is always clean, and tied back in a ponytail. I’m also a lawyer, and have never been barred from speaking in a courtroom because of my hair. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/66 "2015-08-06T06:37:29Z")
Well **dirty hippie** , I’m a straight male but you can definitely pull off the long hair, all Asian guys seem to be able to pull off the look, they’ve always got good hair. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/67 "2015-08-06T15:31:43Z")
**dirty hippie** , I can’t be your SD girlfriend but I’ll hand out a compliment for you anytime. Your hair is amazing! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/68 "2015-08-06T20:52:10Z")
The short part I sorta get, depending on how you define short (as guys with great long hair seem to be rare), but neat? People have been rocking less neat styles for years now. Maybe there’s so on the edge trend for neat hair again–I haven’t kept up–but it’s nowhere near ubiquitous. And since anecdotes about friend’s hair cuts mean little, here’s [a current article](http://www.mensfitness.com/styleandgrooming/grooming/10-best-new-hairstyles-men/taboola) showing all the same variations that have been popular for the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/69 "2015-08-06T22:02:56Z")
> [@dirty\_hippie](#): > > I have long hair because I hate haircuts To be honest, that’s part of the reason I grew my hair out too. Going to the barber every month was a complete ballache that I don’t miss (having said that, I do need to go in for a tidy up - but then, it’s been six months since I last went!) One thing I have learned since growing my hair out: It takes a lot more work than short hair. When I had short hair, I could wash it with anything and it would still look OK (shower gel? Fine, whatever) and it would take about thirty seconds to sort out in the morning (get hair wet, run my fingers through it, good to go). Now I have to be picky about what I use to wash my hair with (I’m currently experimenting with different conditioners) and it takes a good couple of minutes in the morning to even get it to ‘not ridiculous’. Looking good, for going out or whatever, can take ten minutes or more. So if you think of someone as lazy just because they’ve got long hair, remember: they probably put a lot more effort into their hair than you do! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/70 "2015-08-06T22:07:22Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > **dirty hippie** , I can’t be your SD girlfriend but I’ll hand out a compliment for you anytime. Your hair is amazing! Ahh…but I can! (I’d think a dung beetle would get along awfully well with a dirty hippie, though) ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/71 "2015-08-07T01:00:50Z")
> [@dirty\_hippie](#): > > (Another pic, I’m fishing for compliments or an SD gf.) ! How do you feel about cougars? 😃 Great hair and cool photo. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/72 "2015-08-07T01:06:00Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > So if you think of someone as lazy just because they’ve got long hair, remember: they probably put a lot more effort into their hair than you do! 🙂 Actually, I find that I spend more time on my hair when it’s short and has to be blow-dried into a style. (I wore a long, angled bob for a little while. It looked cute, but I had to use gallons of product and had to style it daily.) It takes more time to do up my hair fancy, but I can have normal day-to-day waves in the same amount of time as doing my bob took. I just put my hair into a topknot (bun) at night, brush it out in the morning. In the summer, I only blow-dry the bangs. YMMV, of course. Bonus of long hair: it irritates the CRAP out of my dad and stepmother! They think that it’s 1958 and that I should have a more “professional” and “controlled” and “styled” hairstyle. They also have said that I’m “too old” for long hair (I’m 45 and have full, wavy hair). It irritates the shit out of them that I wear it halfway down my back. I guess it’s the female version of the question asked by the OP ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/73 "2015-08-07T01:08:05Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > That’s fine. That means I won’t end up having to work for the sort of person that a) judges a person’s work ethic and abilities by the length of their hair, and b) doesn’t actually know what a hippie is. It’s win-win, really, Nice try, but you don’t know shit about me or my history, so your comments are meaningless. I’ll bet that at some time in my adult life, my hair was quite a bit longer than yours. I also was there during the Age of Hippies\*. I doubt you were. \*- I don’t _remember_ a whole lot of it, which proves my point. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/74 "2015-08-07T03:07:52Z")
I have long beautiful luxuriant hair myself … so I’m walking down the Las Vegas strip and some midwesterners stop there on the sidewalk just outside Harrah’s, “Hey, you want to smoke some pot?”. They got really excited about smoking some of their weed with an authentic hippie … taking pictures and everything … pretty crappy stuff though, half ditch-weed I imagine. Oh, yeah, West Coast boy here … through and through ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/75 "2015-08-07T14:08:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Knock yourself out. I still won’t hire a hippie. But does your sign say “long-haired freaky people need not apply?” 😉 As for the OP: you’re free to do what you want. People are free not to like it. Many a so-called rebel has had problems with the second part. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/76 "2015-08-07T17:16:13Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > That would be me. I decided. I represent the Haircutters Association, and we have a lobby group that encourages employers to demand that male workers have short hair. This is great for our industry, because it keeps more haircutters employed. > . > . > . > > if you are able to grow hair, it should be cut every 3 weeks. Thanks for your attention to this important matter. So you probably also set the standard 1/2 inch off to ensure a cut every 3 weeks. I always request an inch off to go 2 months between cuts, but every time they mention 1/2 inch off per “your instructions” in their computer. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/77 "2015-08-07T18:05:23Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Short hair is actually not the norm, historically. In the history of the US, men have worn long hair all the time except for the period 1900-1960. THAT was the actual fad. That’s funny- Abraham Lincoln’s hair looks pretty short. And does Andrew Johnson’s, General Grant’s, James Buchanan’s, and pretty much all the presidents prior to that until you get to the long wig-guys. Franklin Pierce’s hair is pretty sexy, though- is that considered “long”? It doesn’t reach his chin or flow down his back or anything. And after Lincoln, all the US presidents continue to keep their hair short, up through the 1960s and beyond. In old civil war photos, there are lot of long beards, but the hair on the soldiers and officers doesn’t seem especially long. Andrew Jackson had wavy woodpecker hair, but again, it doesn’t reach his chin. I wouldn’t call hair “long” on a man until it at least reaches his shoulders, maybe his chin if I’m feeling generous. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/78 "2015-08-08T00:28:11Z")
justjake, it may have already been pointed out, but if people are telling you to trim the ends, it’s not because your hair looks fabulous. I would guess they can see split ends and breakage that you don’t. They aren’t telling you to cut it all off, right? They are saying yes, keep the long hair, but trim it to keep it healthy. Split ends are not a fabulous look on anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/79 "2015-08-08T06:36:21Z")
I’ve had long hair for most of my life. For a few different pragmatic reasons I tried it short two or three times—for a couple years at a stretch—but it just never felt ‘right’. I don’t think I could ever get used to dyeing my hair either. I’m in a white collar profession, but since I work from home and avoid face-to-face with clients like the plague, it’s unlikely I’ll ever need to cut it short again. But if I do, it’s kind of far down on the list of things I won’t do–I’m kind of realistic about it. What does the future hold? Well, here’s [our five-year-old son](https://i.imgur.com/Qt3FqWz.jpg). If the fashion cycles again in the next ten to twenty years, he’ll be all set. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706/80 "2015-08-08T11:28:16Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > Does it fly in the breeze and get caught in the trees? Give a home to fleas, a hive for buzzing bees? A nest for birds? There ain’t no words for the beauty, splendor, wonder of your hair. Hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-society-decided-that-short-clean-haircuts-are-the-only-ones-that-look-good-on-men/726706.md?page=5)