# Why do men have short hair and women long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2007, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886 "2007-10-16T09:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anonick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e5b9ba/32.png) [@anonick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anonick)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/1 "2007-10-16T09:12:52Z")
Has it always been like this? I’m sure it’s not like this all over the world… but why did men start cutting their hair, while women grow it long? It’s can’t be because men go bald, because they could have long hair and then lost it. (It’s have a more devastating effect on the ego, though ;)). And how come this custom became dominant all over the world? Maybe there’s a biological reason, eh? But men can grow long hair… does it take longer? Is it easy for a female to have long hair? ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/2 "2007-10-16T09:15:28Z")
WAG: Practical reasons. Long hair is going to get in the way during traditional male occupations, easier just to cut it. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/3 "2007-10-16T09:25:30Z")
Men having short hair is a fairly recent style. Pre-19th century lots of men had longish hair (check out European art for the medieval, reformation and romantic periods). Also other cultures in times past had different hairstyles - one that sprinds to mind is Japan in the pre-modern period where samurai would have their hair long and worn in a bun. Another are the native Americans (both north and south) who wore their hair long as well. ---
**Author:** ![anonick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e5b9ba/32.png) [@anonick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anonick)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/4 "2007-10-16T09:39:16Z")
Love this forum! So quick at replies. 😃 Two kind of contradicting replies… If it’s so recent, why is it so widespread? And, Essell, one option would be to tie them in a bum. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/5 "2007-10-16T09:43:21Z")
Sikhs also have long hair, tied into a bun, cleverly concealed under a turban. I’m sure there are other cultures as well. I’m also interested why western ‘polite’ society decided that long hair on men and short hair on women are ‘transgressive’. ---
**Author:** ![papaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@papaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papaw)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/6 "2007-10-16T10:18:19Z")
I have usually gone against the custom of the time. Wore it short when long was cool, wore it long when the opposite was cool. Now I have a long ZZ Top white beard and a little short ponytail. Can’t get much longer since I am bald on top! Put it up under a cap when needed. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/7 "2007-10-16T10:31:43Z")
Answering the OP with “Well, some people don’t”, and “it hasn’t always been this way” aren’t really addressing the core of the question, which is: Why is short hair on men, long hair on women, predominantly the tradition in the current social climate in Western cultures? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/8 "2007-10-16T11:52:10Z")
i suspect it’s for some of the same reasons why there’s a difference in men and women’s office wear: [Let’s gripe about social inequality between the sexes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=438837&highlight=women+office+wear) i wonder if the custom has anything to do with armies deciding to give soldiers uniformly short cropped hair. (US army since world war 2? earlier?) ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/9 "2007-10-16T12:00:15Z")
The short answer is fashion, in fact, the long answer is fashion 😃 As already noted, short hair for men, long hair for women, has not been the rule all over the world or at all times in western culture. Most times, most places women have had longish hair - often tied back or tucked under some sort of head gear - but it is certainly not an absolute rule. In the West, men’s hair has changed through history. The modern standard seems to have come in in the 19th century - around the time they stopped wearing wigs. One suggestion I have seen is that it was linked to a classical inspiration - Greek and Roman men had short hair. Why it didn’t get long again until the 1960s - who knows? WAG - perhaps linked to conscription and service in two world wars where uniform -short - hair was imposed. Apologies to **shijinn**. Missed previous post about influence of armies - must learn to preview :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/10 "2007-10-16T12:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Answering the OP with “Well, some people don’t”, and “it hasn’t always been this way” aren’t really addressing the core of the question, which is: Why is short hair on men, long hair on women, predominantly the tradition in the current social climate in Western cultures? [/QUOTE] I can’t remember where I read this, so take it with a grain of salt. Supposedly this has to do with the First World War, when large numbers of men were drafted for military service. Typhus was a huge problem when you have large numbers of people confined to a small area, and it was easier to control lice and other parasites with short hair rather than long, so the military cut their hair. Most men kept the style when they returned to civilian life. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/11 "2007-10-16T12:28:33Z")
There is a biblical basis for it as well: [1 Corinthians 11:14-15](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2011:14-15;&version=31;) > [@](#): > > Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/12 "2007-10-16T12:38:48Z")
Wow - is there _nothing_ that Christianity doesn’t forbid or frown upon in some way? Well tell that to the male population of 16th to 18th century (Christian) Europe who were wearing their hair long or (if they didn’t have any) were wearing wigs to pretend it was long. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/13 "2007-10-16T12:47:38Z")
[QUOTE=anonick] And, Essell, one option would be to tie them in a bum. [/QUOTE] Sounds uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/14 "2007-10-16T13:28:22Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] Wow - is there _nothing_ that Christianity doesn’t forbid or frown upon in some way? Well tell that to the male population of 16th to 18th century (Christian) Europe who were wearing their hair long or (if they didn’t have any) were wearing wigs to pretend it was long. [/QUOTE] I doubt Jesus had time to go around cutting his hair short all the time, too. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/15 "2007-10-16T14:09:39Z")
It’s kind of funny, now I picture Jesus looking like Johnny Unitas. “Now there’s a haircut you can set your watch by” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/16 "2007-10-16T14:11:12Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] It’s kind of funny, now I picture Jesus looking like Johnny Unitas. “Now there’s a haircut you can set your watch by” [/QUOTE] I had to google him but _snickers_ ---
**Author:** ![Fozzie\_Bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Fozzie\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fozzie_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/17 "2007-10-16T14:18:32Z")
I used to work with a guy who had super long hair back in the early 70s - down to his butt. He said his dad always used to gripe at him, “why are you running around with that Jesus hair?” His comeback - “would it be better if I hd short hair and a little mustache like Hitler?” 😃 [QUOTE=MarcusF] In the West, men’s hair has changed through history. The modern standard seems to have come in in the 19th century - around the time they stopped wearing wigs. One suggestion I have seen is that it was linked to a classical inspiration - Greek and Roman men had short hair. Why it didn’t get long again until the 1960s - who knows? WAG - perhaps linked to conscription and service in two world wars where uniform -short - hair was imposed. [/QUOTE] I wonder if, in the US anyway, there wasn’t a split in the 1800s along the lines of long hair = wild frontier, short hair = civilized living? ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/18 "2007-10-16T14:31:57Z")
I’m gonna hypothesesize that the modern “long hair on women” meme is part of a broader cultural idea that appearance is more important compared to practicality for women. I believe there are many other species where males are the more “flashy” sex. So perhaps the question we should be asking is why, among humans, females are the more “flashy” sex. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/19 "2007-10-16T14:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] So perhaps the question we should be asking is why, among humans, females are the more “flashy” sex. [/QUOTE] “Flashy” is a subjective term. Why is long hair flashier than a buzz cut? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886/20 "2007-10-16T14:43:33Z")
As far as fashion goes, I think long hair on women would indicate higher social status, as it would mean she had the time or the servants to care for it. Long hair just gets in the way on a farm. This would also be echoed in the hairstyles of men. Long means upperclass luxury, short means working men. See “Roundheads” and “Cavaliers” for a historical example involving class and religion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-have-short-hair-and-women-long/422886.md?page=2)