Short hair versus long: which one looks more feminine?

[Anonymous]

[MrOracle]

Long hair on a woman is preferable and since the dawn of time has been a symbol of beauty (which is really based on youth, fertility, and health/nutrition).

Short hair on women generally indicates one of two things: being too old to grow healthy long hair (which is why women in their 40s and beyond nearly all have shorter hair), or it means that they are not interested in being attractive to men - often because they are lesbians, but sometimes because of a trauma, real or exaggerated.

I've previously mentioned the Felicity incident. Felicity was a young adult drama from the late 90s, starring Keri Russell as Felicity. The show was a hit in its first season, with lots of positive press about Russell's voluminous hair, and when the second season was about to start, Russell showed up in a short wig, as a joke to the crew. But the ladies in Makeup suggested that she let them cut her hair short for the show, and they talked a female producer into giving permission. Note that the Hair & Makeup department and the producer were older ladies - the kind who are jealous of youth and beauty and can't help but sabotage others.

When the (male) showrunner saw her short hair, he was furious, but could only make the best of it, and they wrote it into the show.

When the first episode of Season 2 hit the air, the outcry was swift and loud - the Feminists loved it and everyone else hated it, and the show permanently lost about 1/3 of its audience, and even those that stayed objected loudly.

The studio soon called a meeting with all of its showrunners and required that any and all hairstyle changes must be approved by the studio prior to being made, and the female producer and Makeup staff were fired. Warner Brothers estimated the the haircut had cost the studio about $80M over the life of the show.

Yes, folks, it's THAT big of a deal.

[Sasha0426]

So, in other words, women who have short hair are terrible human beings? Guess I’m terrible because I naturally have long hair but cut it off.

[MrOracle]

I thought I made it clear that the issue was that women who wish to be attractive to (the majority of) men should keep their hair long. If they are not interested in being attractive to men, then it doesn't matter And if they simply can't have it long, then they can't, but if there is a choice, they should be aware that the consequence is bigger than just a new hair style.

I made no judgments of anyone, nor did I even imply that short hair makes someone a bad person. I was strictly discussing attraction between the sexes.

[Sasha0426]

I rather choose death than keep long hair.

[Sasha0426]

I rather kill myself than go through these obstacles to look beautiful JUST to get a boyfriend.

[Sasha0426]

Also, if he can’t accept me for wanting to cut my hair once in awhile because long hair is a hassle, then to hell with him. I’ll stay single 🤷‍♀️

[OpenClose]

Speak for yourself. Lol. When a girl can pull off a pixie cut, I lose my shit. I find it super feminine.

A few things to keep in mind if you're going to bring evopsych into the conversation:

For one, you probably know this already, but there's a difference between what evolution tends towards vs the actual experience. That is, you see a hot girl and you're thinking "this girl is easy on the eyes" and not "this female seems a fertile vessel for my offspring". Unless you've spent too much time thinking about everything in terms of evolution.

Next, evolution acts mostly on broad trends. That is, it shifts the bell curve, or makes people's interests broad enough that they include the optimal one. It just needs to be common *enough* to saturate the reproduction rate. For instance, many men are attracted to male features. There isn't significant evolutionary pressure against this if birth rates are already effectively maxed out. The human reproduction rate is relatively easy to max out. Our sex acts per birth are a couple orders of magnitude higher than necessary. So a lot of our sexual behaviors have grown beyond reproduction and more into the realm of social cohesion.

Finally, one of the biggest evolutionary traits of humans isn't in relatively fixed traits. Rather, most of our fixed pressures are towards being social, and then having the plasticity to turn almost any community behaviors into instinct. For instance, a spider might invoke an uneasy response for you, but a hunger response in others. Both are instinct, but what changes is which stimulus is wired to which response.

In your case, you are probably used to seeing either older women or lesbians with short hair, so that association makes it a turn-off. You might live in a more rural area where you don't see it as often in younger straight girls.

In my case, a lot of the features I'm attracted to are like antimatter to a pure "optimal babymaker" narrative. Short hair, small features, not very curvy.

[MrOracle]

You are replying as if I was giving my personal opinion. I wasn't, which is why I cited the Felicity example. There was a country-wide backlash due to a short haircut, including among women (that show's primarily audience). Long hair on women is hardly just my personal preference. Ask 100 men if they prefer long or short hair on women, and 90+% will say long.

[Sasha0426]

Fine if you have a preference. But, what’s with this “consequences” nonsense? You act as if women have to do what men want or they’ll have a partner.

[Sasha0426]

*they’ll never have a partner

[loveslongnails]

90% huh? Read this:
www.glamour.com/.../do-men-really-prefer-long-hair

[loveslongnails]

@Sasha0426 Something interesting for you:
www.glamour.com/.../do-men-really-prefer-long-hair

[Sasha0426]

@lovelongnails I totally get everyone has a preference for hair. But, that right there proves it depends on the guy. Some like short, some like long, some don’t care. I just hate how this asshole tries to make women feel bad for changing anything about themselves because some men will not approve. Like, who cares? Find someone who loves you for you.

[OpenClose]

@MrOracle Ah I took it as both your preference and your argument.

I still have issues here and there with the argument. Hair length and fertility would be an interesting correlation to make.

But its one those things where people are making the symbol stronger than the actual thing.

For instance, I've heard the argument "In the Philippines, they like pale women because it shows they aren't working the fields".

But I'd be willing to bet that in those cultures, they would prefer a pale girl who actually DOES work in the fields over a rich tan girl. Which pretty much throws out the original hypothesis. If it was about working the fields, then her ACTUALLY working the fields would completely override how you feel about her skin tone.

Rather, the "working the fields" argument is just some unverified post-hoc explanation by someone sitting in an armchair looking for a larger narrative.

I'd say the preference for long hair is relatively cultural. In much the same way that Europeans "just so happen" to mostly like people who look European. It isn't some grandiose "sign of fertility" so much as it is what everyone is just used to.

One of the best cases is with beards in the 90's. Go to the countryside, and beards are "a sign of masculine status." Go to the city, and being clean-shaven is..."a sign of masculine status."

So while yes there are wide-scale preferences, and yes these lead to wide scale consequences, many of these things are simply stylistic choices and social norms, rather than universal biological imperatives. I'd say that's more of what my point is.

[loveslongnails]

@Sasha0426 Sometimes people like to pontificate to feel they're making good use of their education. I've seen a lot of this on this question. LOL

[HaveNoName]

Isn't that a no brainer answer.

First, "short" is a relative word... How do you define "short hair" on women. For me, it is anything less than shoulder length. Anything that exposes your neck.

For people who say "both can"... NO absolutely not. You have to be extremely feminine elsewhere for short hair to look feminine.

[desperatelyhungry]

I think MOST women look better with longer hair (long in this context being shoulder length or longer) and some even look really good with shorter., say that goes down to their neck. But almost no women and pull out the super short looks like you’d more commonly see on a man, ESPECIALLY a shaved head. I see women post about shaving their heads and people in the comments think they look so good. I never see it. I don’t even think most men look good with a shaved head. God gave us hair for a reason

[ShellyB]

I think long hair is more obviously or stereotypically feminine but either can look feminine depending on how it is done, short hair can make the neck and shoulder area more inviting I think. I keep my hair medium to medium-long, long enough for ponytails but not much longer than that.

[Red-Blaze]

I think for the current times for most commuintys long hair accounts to be more feminim
Not sure why many seem to answer with stuff like "They can choose" and stuff, for most views I know for this day long hair is consider a more feminm thing then for guys

[TrueConfection]

On me? Longer for sure. I went to a salon I had never been to and the woman chopped my hair off. I had shoulder length hair and left with a cut shorter than my husband's. It was horrific and I know I don't look good with short hair. My friends and family were just as mortified. I keep my hair long.

[mstbooblover]

As always in these matters, it's up to the ladies to decide how they want their hair. Nevertheless, no doubt that long hair has generally always been a symbol of feminity. My preference goes to long hair, but I also know the work there is to keep them in good shape.

[snackthatsmilesback]

Long hair is just long hair, you see men and women with long hair and they both look regular for their gender. Short hair, you would never see a man with a bob or a pixie cut and immediately think yes this is normal man haircut. Short cuts can be more feminine than long haircuts because they're more obvious gendered style differences.

[Messianic_Monk]

Depends on what you mean by "short" and "long". These are terms relative to a person's reference frame.

Long hair obviously symbolizes youth and beauty. Short hair has had very bad stigmas attached to it (being a Karen, a man-hating feminazi, a masculine man, etc.).

For me personally? I think both can look beautiful. And I honestly think yours looks really nice too.

But my preference? I love hip-length hair 😁

[Price511]

Short hair and long hair; long hair is traditionally considered more feminine, but short and long hair both can be feminine if you know how to wear it with your style, facial features, and/or body type :))

[Poliker]

Even bald can be feminine, but I think that long hair is more feminine than the other hair lengths. You can still be feminine and have short hair, just look at countless examples like: Audrey Hepburn, Nia Long, Meagan Good, Taylor Swift, etc.

[loveslongnails]

The length of a girl's hair doesn't determine how "feminine" she looks, or actually is, in my opinion. A bald woman can look extremely feminine. Personally, I like long hair IF it looks good on the girl. I've seen women with really thick, unruly long hair and it's a turn off. So too can super thin and straight long hair be unattractive to me. It just depends on the girl wearing it!

[Guy13]

Both short and long hair, on a woman, look good when she has a small waist. A nice shape, not necessarily hair, does much for overall perception of beauty.

[slatyb]

Neither. The association of long hair with femininity is just a fad. In previous times, men wore their hair quite long.. British sailors in the early 19th century took pride in wearing their hair in a long braid, the longer the better.

[Aggon1998]

For me short hair on women is a turn-off and never understood why it is so common

The woman in the picture is still considered 'long haired' for me.

[Karachan]

Pictures speak louder than words

[FinalFantasyBro]

I love longer hair on women it tends to look sexier but don't get me wrong their are some women who looks good with short hair but not to short than we are reaching to the men haircut region.

[AviatorTom]

It depends on the woman and the specific hair style. Super short hair in general is not that attractive. Personally, I find shoulder length hair on a woman to be very nice.

[dustybiker]

Depends on the person,’the shape of their head and their style.

[ZXCwWRQWz]

I like slightly longer but I like this pic. Very pretty.

[AngelLily]

As Someone who Has Long Hair Myself I would say Both can be Very Feminine.

[QuadDamage]

It depends on the eyes and rest of the body, just because I see a guy with long hair it doesn't mean he'll look more like a girl 😋

[Punk-y]

I would say long hair is more femenine, but short can be femenine too, but there's nothing wrong if it's not tho

[SamK20]

Which length looks more (feminine)?

Long hair, without a doubt.

But, that's not to say that you cannot look stunning, sexy, or hot as a flame without it. Because many women can.