attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by dave on March 21, 2003 at 21:41:46: Previous Next
I am 22 and growing my hair for the first time in my life. I have been growing for about 6 months and it is about 5 inchs. I was wondering if other folks in the UK have problems with, namely, teenagers with their boring short back and sides giving comment on long(ish) hair. The town i live in is full of thugish looking skin heads and crew cuts ,as with much of the UK these days. I was wondering if anyone else has this problem and how they deal with looking the odd one out. I really want to grow my hair long.
Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by Het's Beard on March 22, 2003 at 02:17:53: Previous Next
In Reply to: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by dave on March 21, 2003 at 21:41:46:
Yeah bud, I understand. I live in rural Northern Ireland, not the most go getting, jet setting part of the world, but in a town much like yours. But, living where I do, I am used to a small minority of hateful folk tryin to spoil life for the rest of us, but theres no way I would let them intimidate me at all, hairwise or otherwise. Just remember that these people sre generally as bright as a one watt light bulb and you'll not take their comments to heart. Keep growin buddy.
Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by chris on March 22, 2003 at 04:08:26: Previous Next
In Reply to: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by dave on March 21, 2003 at 21:41:46:
well, i'm 17, from bristol. i know exactly what you mean. it's hard to cope to be honest...you can't reason with these people because they're too ignorant to understand why people would want long hair. i suppose it's not very fashionable, i never see people on tv with long-ish hair.
i tend to just take pride in that i'm happy with how my hair looks and that i dont look like everyone else. i'm doing my a-levels at my secondary school, so as you can imagine i get the 'get your f'ing hair cut' and 'woah, i thought that was a girl' remarks almost daily.
infact, i'm going to a wedding in a few hours time, my relatives last saw me just when i was considering to grow my hair...it's now just below chin length, i think i'll keep you posted on the comments i get.
i think england has become a lot more narrow minded, or maybe i've just found this out by growing up. i think long-hair is associated to females with the youth of today anyway, still, they don't need to be so blunt/inpolite....i never thought i'd get so much criticism for my hair, seeing i'm only 17 :s i've been attacked a couple of times because of it aswell.
i'm interested, what part of the uk are you from?
Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by Mark Ellott on March 22, 2003 at 04:30:27: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by chris on March 22, 2003 at 04:08:26:
: well, i'm 17, from bristol.
Curious, I'm living in Bristol and haven't had any problems. Occasionally someone will take a longish look. That's about it, though. Bristol is a pretty cosmopolitan city and anything goes in my experience.
Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by Nathan on March 22, 2003 at 07:07:13: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by chris on March 22, 2003 at 04:08:26:
I'm in Nottingham, and i haven't noticed this at all. When i'm in the city center, i normally see plenty of longhaired guys around. It's not the most common hairstyle, granted, but it's far from rare.
I do get looked at sometimes, but not in a bad way - I always wear my hair down when walking around town because being a weak-minded person, those looks, especially from ladie,s, tend to put me in a good mood :)
There aren't many lads with longhair at my college, which surprises me, but i've never had any negative remarks about my hair there.
Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by dave on March 22, 2003 at 18:52:00: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by chris on March 22, 2003 at 04:08:26:
i'm interested, what part of the uk are you from?
Hi again, I forgot to say my location. I live in the outskirts of manchester in a dump of a borough called tameside (hardly tame!). I think the attitudes are generally due to the fact it has a "no where in particular" feel with a high crime rate and a lot of rough estates. I don't wish to stereotype put you are not likely to find imaginative hair-styles amongst these people.
I do agree with the guy from bristol who said that in bristol he finds a much more cosmopolitan feel because I study at manchester as a university student (while living at parents home). I feel a lot safer! and accepted; with a fair few other long-hairs about. I think it is all down to the small town mentality as someone said.
I'm guessing
Posted by Sherri on March 26, 2003 at 07:40:29: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by chris on March 22, 2003 at 04:08:26:
most of the negative comments you are getting is at school. It is most likely age related.
When I was in high school it was common to be scorned for anything that looked different from "the norm." Younger people, while claiming to be more open minded, seem to be the most cruel towards anyone that doesn't fit their own idea of what is acceptible.
Since you are very close to being out of high school, I'd just tough it out. It's almost over. Once you get into the "real world" you won't have to deal with the attitudes...as much.
Re: attitudes in narrow minded towns
Posted by Will on March 22, 2003 at 04:52:53: Previous Next
In Reply to: attitudes in narrow minded towns posted by dave on March 21, 2003 at 21:41:46:
I get the comments daily in my school, people never tire of doing it im afraid. Theres of course the odd good person who dont treat you any different and dont make it an issue, which is a great thing