Random Thoughts on Hair and Dress

[dragon wench]

Unregisturd's thread on having her hair cut got me to thinking about the whole notion of how we wear our hair, and also why some people have preferences for either long or short on whatever gender they are attracted to.

I find this interesting, because cultural conditioning (sorry there's that phrase again ) seems to have as much of an impact as the aesthetics of facial structure combined with a particular hair style.

Personally, I think my partner looks better clean shaven with short hair because it enhances his eyes and cheek bones. However, I also think some men look really hot with a *neatly* tied back pony tail and a well-kept, closely-trimmed goatee.
The mountain man look just doesn't do it for me

But the thing is why do we have likes and dislikes such as this? I would like to think my own preferences are more based on aesthetics than cultural conditioning, but I am not quite that naive, and in all probability what I find aesthetically pleasing is influenced by any cultural baggage I might be carrying around.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I wear my hair long because I think it works better for me and I just like long hair, but again.... I am to some degree falling into a stereotype...

And the other interesting thing is that men wearing long hair are often considered to be challenging convention. This is also the case, to a much lesser degree, with women who wear their hair short..... In an intriguing parallel.. women can easily get away with wearing more androgynous or somewhat masculine clothing... but if a man wears a skirt......

Opinions? Reflections?

[blake]

I have longer hair than my girlfriend. So we arent really falling into the Gender Stereotypes you'd think you'd find in small town texas.

[Lost One]

I think in these cases of looking good, aesthetics weighs more than cultural baggage as you termed it. Of course, looking at lingerie models and catwalk beauties may give you a preconceived notion of what looks good, but this is one of those cases where taste varies according to individual. For example, myself and a lot of people I know don't like the skinny, pretty girls you find in magazines. Like Sir Mixalot, "I like big butts and I cannot lie, yo brothers can't deny!".

And there is, like you said, certain beauty styles that fit certain people better than others. I know guys who look good with a beard, I know those who look real bad. I don't grow my hair long because I know it will look bad as it will become large and wavy, with a tendency to grow outward than downwards, and thus, I keep it short. Likewise, people with round or square faces, large or small chins, and all the rest of the facial qualities will usually decide for itself what looks best on them. But yes, cultural baggage definitely plays a part. I'm sure if you leave a baby to grow in a stone cave for 40 years with no access to pictures, photos or interaction with the human race, and then take him out to the city one day, I doubt he'll immediately think 'Hey, my incredibly long hair and beard looks AWFUL! Get me a shaver!' Rather, it'll take him some using to to realize how poorly he looks to other people.

[Tower_Master]

I would say that, although gender stereotypes may still exist, the (American) culture as a whole has becoem generally more socially accepting in different "appearances" or "styles", especially the younger among us. However, I would concur on your statement involving the corrolation between body and/or facial structure and how it affects your appearance. I, for one, can never pull off the long-hair look other men can, so I choose to keep it short consistently. This does not mean, however, I consider long hair to be unsightly. It just doesn't work for me.

One more thing - women with short hair can be JUST as "alluring" as those with long or medium-length, just look at the "pixie" haircut.

[CM]

Well personal point of view i am completely aesthically displeasing I am over weight, have hair long enough that i can eat and only just recently started shaving.

Until 2 weeks ago i liked like the missing link. Just dressed in suit

[C Elegans]

Another topic worthy of a dissertation....

We have to distinguish attributes from features here - clothes and hairstyle are attributes, whereas body shape and face proportions and angles are features. Many studies have been performed in this area, and whereas much of aestic ideals in people as well as in other areas (art, architecture or what have you) are socioculturally conditioned, some features have turned out to be global across many different cultures. The triangle shape for the male body (broader shoulders than waist and hips) and the hour glass shape for female body (more narrow waist with broader hips and shoulders) seems universal, approximately the same proportions are favored in all cultures. What differs in the absolute measurements - although the same ratio between shoulder-waist-hip is favoured among Western Europeans and Polynesians, Polynesian people tend to prefer a bigger size in absolute terms. Interestingly, it's the ratio rather than the absolut measurements that are important from a health perspective too, to maybe there is natural selection mechanism affecting all humans here.

Another feature that has been studies is facial proportions and angles. Here too, there seems to some similarities across cultures. For instance, there is no known culture that favour irregular teeth with dark stains. In a famous Australian study, the researchers used computer morphed face images of many different people with different ethnic origin. They constructed "average" faces out of 2 or 4 or 8 etc different picutres of real faces. Interestingly, the faces that the test-takers rated as most attracted, were the face pictures that were a mix of most different faces.

[giles337]

well i am short and ginger.

my hair is short and ginger.

personally, i don't go for the same kind of girl as other ppl........ i go for more natural ( by which i DONT mean hairy ) girls, who don't wair ( amnesia, forgotten how to spell it!!!!) thick make up, and i agree, short hair can be just as attractive, if someone is genuinely beautiful, then even bald, they will look good

EDIT: its wear!!!! thats the one!

[Luis Antonio]

I keep my hair short. My hair is a disaster. The nature itself thinks my hair unbalances the powers of the world, three guys from greenpeace already tried to kill me, but I keep it short to avoid unwanted attention.

[Monolith]

Uh, well, I prefer natural beauty as well. But I have nothing against some make-up... ( as long as the breasts and the arse are real...........tigh...*cough*...ehm...well, I think I am faintly off topic now?)

I have a 9mm haircut ( I cut my hair a couple of hours ago, exactly 9mm ) and I have to admit that I very much prefer women with long hair. It simply looks more feminine - please don't get me wrong. A women with short hair can be just as feminine as a women with long hair, it's just the overall impression I have. My ex-girlfriend for instance had short hair and well, she was very feminine, that I can say for sure...

[sparky_kat]

i agree with DW on the part where a person looks better a certain way where a man looks really good clean shaven with short hair because it shows off good features, whereas others look really good with a goatee.... i will put my husband as an example, my husband looks VERY good when he has a goatee(neatly trimmed of course) but when he is clean shaven, he looks REALLY bad, im not saying that i have a personal preferance for facial hair... an ex-boyfriend of mine looked great clean shaven, but looked horrid with ANY type of facial hair. i beleive it is a matter on facial and body construction on how facial hair looks, also the same with girls and hair length, 1 of my friends looks better with really short hair, where another looks better with long hair....... kinda like Halle Berry, does she look better with the short hair, or the long hair, i peronally think she looked the best with the short pixie cut, it really brought out her great cheek bones

[Tower_Master]

[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]I keep my hair short. My hair is a disaster. The nature itself thinks my hair unbalances the powers of the world, three guys from greenpeace already tried to kill me, but I keep it short to avoid unwanted attention. [/QUOTE]
No squirrels in there, right?

I'd agree with Miss Sparky Kat (I assume you're a miss, I'm sorry if I offended you, if you're not) - just look at Hally Berry! Anyone who says she's not feminine needs to put down the drugs. Ultimately, your body (especially your hair) is your own statement to personality - and, as cliched as it is, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" (the question is, which of its eyes?) (or if it's Michael Jackson)!