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All Hair Matters
Why uttering this phrase is problematic and why it misses the point.
This particular brand of slaughter is everywhere. It happens in the streets of our large coastal metropolis and on the dusty small town roads of middle America. When will we all see that All Hair Matters is a problematic statement.
Women in the mountains of Denver fall victim to the lies at the same frequency as the women of the valleys of California. No race is immune. No age can claim 100% resistance. The insidious nature from which this idea has cropped up, no pun intended, started innocuous as any social movement seeking equal rights. Unfortunately as with most social movements, this one too, started with good intentions yet the fallout of it has been more disasterous than any social convention which it sought to upheave. I’m taking it course, about people cutting their long hair short.
Much as the chorus of all lives matter is problematic in the face of major social and cultural issues which have recently come to light. All hair matters is similarly dismissive of the issues at hand. Recently as a tongue and cheek measure mainly intended at starting a meaningful dialogue took a nefarious turn when my cries of long hair matters (as it is a minority, often demonized in the media in favor of shorter hair, etc) took quite a nefarious turn. I started receiving hate from the majority (people with short hair are the majority, they make up roughly 76% of Americans). Stating my views were problematic on IDLSH.com. Excuse me, when did it become problematic to stand up for the minority, the outlier, the unique individuals who dare to stand against the tyranny of the mob?
I began to muse of all the purported privileges people try to disparage the pro long hair movement with and they started sounding similarly exclusionary to the rhetoric uttered by the “all lives matter” crowd. Long hair didn’t “make people’s life easier by virtue of possessing this superficial quality” and in truth, things such as hair only hold subjective value. So to say something such as “all hair matters” is painfully redundant. In reality, long hair takes much more effort to care for, therefore putting its holders at a serious disadvantage against their majority short haired peers.
Long hair also has the distinct disadvantage of causing its wearers to appear less serious which leads to many issues such as being passed up for promotions at work and going through the ringer with relationships. As with most exotic commodities, long hair is fetishized and in high demand. Therefore those with long hair are toyed with and victimized in a series of indirect relationships and dead end jobs. The reason being is literal in its definition. Long hair is harder to define and seen as indirect. Havers of short hair are afforded the upfront privilege of being seen as direct, cut to the chase type, therefore making people more reluctant to mess around with them too much.
Those with both short and and long hair want those with long hair much more than short haired folk want each other. This leads to a shortage in the market which according to the law of supply and demand would provide more long hairs into the mix. Unfortunately the long hairs are categorized as the other in a way similar to that of sex workers, lgbt, and people of color. The majority want to engage with long hair in the deep dark corners their mind or a budget motel; yet demonize it in the press by associating it with deviance and non conformity. The majority fear the minority long hairs to take over while still desiring them. Therefore supply and demand wouldn’t work. Because if long hair became the norm. The majority in power with short cut hair would no longer have the benefit and the privilege of being able to advance with little to no effort. Leaving those who have to work much harder behind, while also gaslighting people into believing it’s somehow the fault of the long hair for being in this predicament. My thing is, great, you’re allowed to have your opinion, but until you stop soliciting long haired people in your own endeavors and relationships you have no room to speak on this matter. Short haired people can’t understand the work long hairs put into our every day lives and it’s exhausting. We are harassed for having long hair, discriminated against in jobs, and seen as frivolous and shallow for having a feature which is in the minority.
The advertisements which pander to the idea of cutting your hair short are misleading and cause herd mentality thinking and cancel culture rhetoric. Rather than being educated on long hair they’ll shut you out, preferring to live in their easy world of short cut hair. Why not teach a more inclusive message that it’s ok to love long hair openly and it’s not shameful to prefer it and to move our country in the direction of doing things because they’re right not because they’re easy.
Long hair preference is seen as too complicated an issue. Much too difficult to bring up in our relationships for fear of hurt feelings. I say fuck it, and stand up for a long hair today. You can help save this dying breed from conforming by offering compliments rather than criticism, asking questions, and appreciating them for what they are not what you and society thinks they should be. Only then will more long hairs come of the woodwork and our desires can be openly satiated rather than behind closed doors. Long hairs can feel less ashamed and defensive in social interactions.
Long hairs have a significant reason to fear rape than their short haired peers. In fact studies show the majority of rape cases of women between the ages of 18-35 are perpetrated on long haired women. For a population which makes up roughly 1/8 of the general populace this number is staggering. As a matter of fact a shocking 72% of rapes are against long haired women. Where short haired women who make up the minority of the demographic of women who are raped (a mere 8%) yet they are a stark majority of women in this country (roughly 66%). Medium haired women make up the adjacent percentage accounting for their population.
This alone proves long hairs are desired behind closed doors, possibly for repressed desires which can turn dark. Whereas because of the ubiquity of short hair it’s not as desired yet also afforded the privilege of being protected from rape, all for being in the majority. Of course short haired women wouldn’t want the status quo to change. Because then they may have to change as well. Most short hairs don’t want to do the work or undoing this unfounded short hair privilege. Many aren’t willing to live life as a long haired woman, they blame her and act as if she has a choice. Yet as a less privileged type from the get go, often their long hair is their only reprieve from their minority status.
This alone proves long hairs are desired behind closed doors, possibly for repressed desires which can turn dark. Whereas because of the ubiquity of short hair it’s not as desired yet also afforded the privilege of being protected from rape, all for being in the majority. Of course short haired women wouldn’t want the status quo to change. Because then they may have to change as well. Most short hairs don’t want to do the work or undoing this unfounded short hair privilege. Many aren’t willing to live life as a long haired woman, they blame her and act as if she has a choice. Yet as a less privileged type from the get go, often their long hair is their only reprieve from their minority status.
![All Hair Matters](https://idontlikeshorthair.com/wp-content/uploads/All-Hair-Matters.png)
Short hair is promoted as the ideal, women are encouraged to cut their hair short and are often bullied for their long hair. Long hair is not given the same prominence as short hair and people feel scared to speak out against short hair and feel pressured to denigrate long hair.
This trend has been pervasive in our culture ever since short hair went from relative obscurity in women to the stark majority. Short haired women relish in the newfound privilege of low maintenance hair and wanted to keep this status quo. Basically by demonizing men who spoke out against it as sexist. When in actuality these men were actually showing preference to the minority in this situation which actually implies the opposite.
Think about it critically. Why are we so afraid to put short haired women in their place? Why are we so quick to defer to them and refrain from questioning their decisions? And what gives us the right in turn to feel more entitled to not only put long haired women in their place, but also put them to the side? Why do we feel so readily able to critique long hair as a woman’s choice? These are questions many journalists are afraid to ask yet with these lurking in the minds of undoubtedly many Americans, I am sure we will revolt eventually. Why not start by changing the narrative. Instead of praising some bland celebrity for her “edgy pixie cut” we discuss the actress who has been diligently growing out her long hair. Doesn’t her discipline warrant more praise than the women who chop their hair off to take the easy way out?
Instead of taking the opportunity to once again victimize those who dare to be different and alternately but equally as important, those who embrace tradition why not celebrate them? It seems this issue has less to do with partisan politics (even though republicans show a slight preference for long hair at 22% to liberals’ dismal 18%). The majority of Americans are undecided or prefer not to answer. This shows that the majority of Americans are not being heard or they feel too scared to speak out because of the utter polarity of the issue.
I think as Americans we have the right to representation not only in our government but in our media and policies as well. Equality of opportunity would be a great place to start. Instead of asking women to cut their hair short and judging them based on the superficial trait to begin with we should stop fetishing them straight out the gate and view them as equals with different life choices. Women who have long hair aren’t merely objects for consumption, they are people with feelings. Much like no one in their right mind would objectify a short haired woman we should approach the way we view long haired women similarly. Only by normalizing this life choice can we start to provide long hairs with the same stability afforded to short hairs.
As we have seen repeated in history a multitude of times, treating the minority with disdain only leads to civil unrest and eventual hostile takeover. If short haired women don’t want to be relegated to the outermost corners of straight men’s minds due to their preference finally becoming normalized, then they should start accepting long hairs individual decisions to keel their hair long despite what society has told them. If not, the short hairs will eventually be forced to conform as well, when the long hair takes over similar to the servi privati overthrow of the Roman Empire.
If we want to live in a free society in which individuals are allowed to proclaim their hair preferences at will we should create a more equitable society in which everyone has a choice. Wouldn’t short haired women feel better knowing their man isn’t choosing them because it is compulsory but because they actually prefer their women to look like men? Alternatively wouldnt long haired woman be able to breathe easier knowing they aren’t seen as exotic or a deviant fetish but a normal expression of real femininity? And most of all men would feel less pressure to date carefully for fear of being called out as a bigot (against the majority, no less) and choose women out of true love and sexual desire. All of this undoubtedly will lead to healthier unions for everyone. Less shameful secrets. And outward expressions of pride rather than deep resentment and shame.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, it is. This is a tale as old as time we hear it all time at IDLSH. The elite have always feared a takeover by the proletariat and thus have stifled minority voices out of fear they’d have to conform or change their ways. Do not fall victim to the curse of repeated history. Speak up and out for the long hairs in your life and defend their choice to keep their long hair as vigorously as you defend your wife’s pixie cut.