page_title: Long hair
section_title: Trends among men in 20th and 21st centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Long hair / Cultural history / Europe / Trends among men in 20th and 21st centuries
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Collectie / Archief&#160;: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie&#160;: [ onbekend ] Beschrijving&#160;: Aankomst Beatles op Schiphol, de Beatles tijdens persconferentie. John Lennon Datum&#160;: 5 juni 1964 Locatie&#160;: Noord-Holland, Schiphol Trefwoorden&#160;: muziek, muzikanten, persconferenties, popgroepen, portretten Persoonsnaam&#160;: Lennon, John Instellingsnaam&#160;: Beatles Fotograaf&#160;: Pot, Harry / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende&#160;: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort&#160;: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris&#160;: bekijk toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer&#160;: 916-5131
context_page_description: Long hair is a hairstyle where the head hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said to have long hair.
  Males having short, cut hair are in many cultures viewed as being under society's control, such as while in the military or prison or as punishment for a crime. Long lustrous female hair is generally rated attractive by both men and women across cultures. The prevalence of trichophilia is 7% in the population, and very long hair is a common subject of devotion in this group.
context_section_description: Before World War One men generally had longer hair and beards. However, short hair on men was introduced in World War One for soldiers. Slaves and defeated armies were often required to shave their heads. The trench warfare engaged in from 1914 to 1918 exposed men to flea and lice infestations, which prompted orders by the higher command to cut hair short, establishing a new military tradition.
  Beat poets during the 1950s wore longer hairstyles. By 1960, a small "beatnik" community in Newquay, Cornwall, England (including a young Wizz Jones) had attracted the attention of their neighbors for growing their hair to a length past the shoulders, resulting in a television interview with Alan Whicker on BBC television's Tonight series. The 1960s also introduced The Beatles, who started a more widespread longer hair trend. The social revolution of the 1960s led to a renaissance of unchecked hair growth, and long hair, especially on men, was worn as a political or countercultural symbol or protest and as a symbol of masculinity. This cultural symbol extended to several Western countries in the Americas, Western Europe, South Africa, and Australia. The trend even spread to some Eastern Bloc countries, such as the Mánička subculture of Czechoslovakia, which was met with discriminiation by the authorities, who saw it as unwanted Western influence. Specific long hairstyles such as dreadlocks have been part of counterculture movements seeking to define other alternative cultures and lifestyles since this time. Longer hair in general remained popular due to the youth rebellion throughout the liberal decade of the 1960s. The long hair trend grew with the spread of the hippie movement in the 1960s and, in the 1970s, longer hair styles would become the norm among men and women.
  In the 1970s, the popularity of Jamaica's reggae music and musician Bob Marley prompted interest in dreadlocks internationally. The anti-establishment philosophy of Rastafari, echoed in much of the reggae of the time, resonated with left-leaning youth of all ethnicities – especially and primarily among African Americans and other Blacks, but among counterculture Whites as well. In the 1980s the view of long hair as a solitary signifier of political or counter-cultural identity was countered and parodied in films such as Rambo and many other militaristic heroes of media which challenged then-contemporary views of tradition. In the 2000s longer hairstyles among men became popular among neopagans and rock enthusiasts; for example, musicians in metal bands and their fans often wear long hair. Long hair may be grown for the purpose of its being donated to an organization, such as Locks of Love, that provides hairpieces to help those who can not have hair otherwise, such as those who are diagnosed with alopecia areata. Today long hair has gained even more popularity. Even among mainstream men it is socially acceptable to have hair reaching around the upper back. This could in part be due to the "man bun" trend where men pull their shoulder length or longer hair back into a topknot bun.
caption: Long male hair in western youth culture became popular in the 1960s and 70s with The Beatles.
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