Hairstyles Long Hair

Hairstyles Long Hair

Long hair, sometimes written as longhair, is any hairstyle which is relatively long. Exactly what constitutes "long hair" can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair would be said to have long hair. Scientists view long hair as playing a large part in any animal species' natural selection, since hair length is frequently a sign of health. Freudian psychoanalysts also see it in a sexual light, as a representation of the id's release from the suppression of the superego.

Culturally, long hair typically signals a separation from cultural structures and rules, although there are exceptions. Ways of life often viewed as more rigid, such as religious structures and cultures, often have rules regarding hair length. For example, one passage in the New Testament of Christianity contains passages forbidding long hair for men, while approving of it for women, and Buddhist monks shave their heads as part of their order of worship. Even outside religious structures, cultures often connect long hair with ways of life outside of what is culturally accepted. Subservient cultures, for example, are sometimes detected by their rulers through hair length, as was the case with the Irish under English rule and the Moors under Spanish rule in Medieval times. Again, though, there are exceptions to these rules, notably among the long-haired and religiously devoted Nazarites of the Hebrew Bible (Samson being a famous example) and a time when long hair was popular among those in power in France.

Among women, the signal is reversed. Long hair becomes an acceptance of culture, while short hair signals a rebellion from it. Long hair is traditionally accepted as a female characteristic in western cultures. Feminists and women's rights activists have long debated whether to advocate long hair as a solely feminine trait, or to call for short hair in opposition to a stereotype.

Hairstyles Long Hair