Women are allowed long hair in the military, but men are often required to cut/shave their hair short. It's also often the same rules in prisons. I thought gender equality nowadays is so important that one gender shouldn't get special treatment. In the military there's hair regulations because of hygiene, gas masks etc. Seems like these rules only applies to guys. The only rule for women is keeping their hair in a bun and keep their hair in a natural hair color. #Military#Hair#Sexism
Updates
+1 y
I didn't know it existed countries where women had to shave their heads like men. In the US women have long hair, while men short in the military. In Norway it's also like that although men could in theory be allowed long hair because of expectations. The actually written rules and the social expectations are different. Women with mandatory short army haircut in Philippines. blogs.reuters.com/.../RTR3DEMD.jpg
Why Are Women Allowed Long Hair In The Military, but Men Aren't?
Conformance and uniformity. Men already have short hair and are told to shave it. Women with long hair are told to tie it up in a bun. The shaving aspect has less to do with the actual hair and more to do with uniformity. Hence why it can be compared to women tying it up. The majority of the military don’t have to use gas masks on a regular basis, nor do I see what hygiene has to do with being in the military either (when you’re on the battlefield, you don’t exactly have the time to take any showers). Long hair isn’t exactly a safety hazard either, at least not nowadays, since most battles happen at a distance with guns. So it’s not like the enemy is going to grab someone by the hair and be able to kill them that way - it’s probably pretty rare for combats that close. And if they were that close to you, grabbing an arm would probably be easier than grabbing someone by the hair, cause you know... arms tend to be longer. I don’t really see the issue here since men in general keep their hair short anyways and women long. Having women shave their head doesn’t really serve a purpose. Telling them to put their hair up in a bun is enough. For guys it only takes like a month to grow back their hair to their normal length but for the average woman it would take a few years.
Yes. But men like me who have long hair are a rarity. Most men have hair that is short, and it's simply easier to keep things uniform having the long haired men cut, instead of having the short haired men spend years growing it.
No one should be forced to do much with their hair in my opinion as the reasons she has given, hand to hand combat isn't even a thing in most cases. There is no actual reason for a guy to cut his hair in the army if he has long hair now. All it is now is something remaining from the past..
Two reasons, uniformity, which is important for the development of discipline. And depersonafication. If easier to watch your friends die if you don't recognise them. If everyone has the same hair, it can be hard to differentiate between people in the heat of battle.
And somehow this is different when girls have their hair long? I already know about depersonalization i am practicing Buddhism lol. Only difference is they give us a choice.
I expect non fighters to not realize why soldier would cut their hair. It's because 1. it gets in the way of preferable vision if loose. Also, even if you wrap it up, it can come loose. 2. MOST IMPORTANT, your opponent will grab it and stab you in the throat. I would.
@DamnMan you'd have to be pretty shitty at tying your hair in a bun if it unexpectedly came loose. Tie that shit up with at LEAST three hairbands and it definitely won't budge, especially under a helmet. So I might not have experience in combat but I do have a lot more experience with tying my hair up so I know what I'm talking about. Girls wouldn't be sporting these buns if they weren't considered safe enough, or if they were "in the way". Also like I mentioned in my original post, when a girl's hair is tied up in a bun like that, it's not the first thing you're going to be reaching for. Especially from the front. The first thing you'll be reaching for is her arm, since it's probably a lot more within reach, and it also takes away more of her control than just pulling at her hair would (both of her arms are still free).
Not to mention that the likelihood of ending up face to face with the enemy within arm's reach is tiny anyway, since guns are the weapon of choice and you don't need to be close to someone in order to shoot them. Unless you're doing some unrealistic sneaky Assassin's Creed type shit that barely even happens nowadays
To be fair lumos the reason why it doesn't happen isn't because times changed but the terrain of open desert. Who is to assume that one day they won't be fighting in enclosed areas like before? God forbid something like vietnam, now that was some assassin's creed stuff.
1. MCMAP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r64SzQqXqU Soldier are still training for close quarters combat 2. I still say cut it off because you don't need anything extraneous happening in battle.
You have to understand, women in the military is a PR stunt. Nothing more, they are not expected to do any serious fighting and in most cases are kept in reserve or non combative roles. This is because women are far more valuable to a nations repopulative potential, and are several times less affective as fighters both physically and mentally. Put simply, a woman on the front line would be several times more likely to die, and the more women die, the slower repopulation occurs after a big conflict. Women don't have to cut their hair because they are not used as serious soldiers.
@torwulf as of 2018 women are approximately 14 percent of the active duty Army, 23 percent of the Army Reserve, and 16 percent of the Army National Guard. Women in the US military often found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan as they were driving in convoys. Women may not have a history in frontline roles but have a long history of important non combative roles from air controllers during ww2 in the RAF during the battle of Britain, to Russian female snipers and bomber pilots (some of the best snipers in history were women) to nurses. The Viet cong deployed a lot of female soldiers. You see what you have to understand that behind every frontline soldier is a lot of other people that make it possible for that soldier to fight. The US military couldn't function without it's female personal. https://youtu.be/G2Qcrqk7810 https://youtu.be/hIBSxaQjGzQ https://youtu.be/14j1o-YLagg https://youtu.be/gTv_4DPQUnQ https://youtu.be/CnZgLgG17GI https://youtu.be/pT59Foo71OM
@torwulf nothing token about 200,000 women in the US military is not a token anything but a valuable resource not a token anything for PR. Perhaps you have limited understanding and knowledge of how a modern military works and of history.
@Caaarl, In Norway many women have combat roles. They may not do the same tasks as men, but they're still in the field. Many women are driving tanks and planes. They do attack and therefor I consider it as a part of the combat too.
That's the same as most modern militaries in including the US, Britain, Israel, France, Germany and probably all of the scandanavian countries, possibly Russia too
Yea I think that men having a bun looks... silly no offense to anyone. Another thing making a bun is harder then shaving your head but some women do have a short bob or pixie haircut
Women joining the military here are obligated to cut their hair short, for long hair is associated with utmost maintenance.
Constant maintenance of vibrant, long hair necessitates more time to administer hair treatments such as conditioners and regularly cutting split ends. Conditioners are quite costly, and military budgets would not choose to allocate resources to matters that are unnecessary in militaristic endeavors.
In the line of duty, women in the military would most likely not be granted the privilege of being able to maintain their hair for personal gain, for they have willingly embarked on the duty to serve the nation at the expense of their individuality.
Men in the Swiss Army are allowed to have long hair. If you have long hair as a guy, you're just required to put them into a hair net or tie them into a tight knot (like a man bun), so they don't get into your way. I don't know how it works for women but I would assume the rules are very similar.
I don't know how it is in other countries but in Switzerland, the military is not allowed to discriminate you based on your social gender (probably also because we have a compulsory conscription). All the rules are intended to maximize functionality. So, for example the Army can't forbid men to paint their nails if they want that. However, they can require you to keep your nails short because having long nails is very cumbersome and perhaps even dangerous in certain situations.
Well, the US military is particularly "behind" compared to other countries. They have 21st century weapons but their mindset is more like the 19th century. I mean, they also didn't allow gay people in the military until 20 years ago. And even once gay people were allowed in the military, they weren't allowed to confess their homosexuality to anyone until 2010 or so. Just saying "I have a boyfriend" was enough to get you fired, although the straight boys probably talked about their girlfriends constantly.
As someone in the military I can tell you that although women are allowed to have long hair in the military there are a lot of regulations on how they maintain that hair to the point where I can't understand how it's worth to them. The military is just trying to accommodate women's desires and align them with the military's principles. Yes it might be a little sexist because what if a man wants to grow out his hair? But how many men actually care about growing out their hair as compared to women? In the end the military wants to enlist and retain as many people as possible within reason and creating rules that accommodate certain people while still maintain military ideals is one of the balancing acts they have to play.
An army woman often want to keep her long hair because she's not working all the times although she's a part of the military. Sometimes she has a few days off too and during the spare time when she's hanging with her friends, she may want to look good.
Mainly because of combat roles. Men are required to have short hair because they want all their combatants looking like the same. And because they don't want the enemy grabbing a hold of your hair to make it easier for them to strike you.
Women generally are not allowed in combat roles unless by happenstance. Such as being ambushed while on a caravan delivering supplies. This doesn't happen near as often. So it's not quite as big of a deal.
And also because of tradition. And the military is typically a pretty conservative institution, where they think women should remain women and men remain men, to which I agree. They recognize the difference between men and women, and know that men are more valuable in combat than women. Men are built for combat, whereas women are better built for child-rearing. We do keep conformity, however by requiring hair to be above the collar (not touching) short or kept in a bun. Ladies don't get the luxury of having glowing locks of hair just because they have it. I'd say a better question to ask is why are women not required to sign up for the draft like men are? That's how it is in the USA but you don't hear feminists fighting for equality there.
The primary concern when it comes to hairstyle in the military is the appearance. As such its very superficial and also explains why there are different standards between men and women. Basically your appearance should be maintained within acceptable limits to conform with gender stereotypes.
According to the military a man should look like a man and a woman should look like a woman. Its pretty stupid I know.
That is also why you can for example get exceptions to beards in the navy because that is the acceptable look of a seaman unless your beard is patchy in which case it does not look good and you need to shave.
Also you are required to be able to wear all equipment such as gasmask and headgear.
In fact in the US military women are not allowed to shave their heads in the first place.
Well initially it was meant to give a sense of uniformity and sameness. The military has a long history of drilling soldiers to being cogs in a machine and removing their self worth and their percieved uniqueness. It is just one part of the way they mentally break a soldier to be fit for combat, I believe women need to do it during training in my country but not sure about that. I guess the idea of mentally breaking women or forcing them to give up their hair would go against our feminist driven society?
Long hair is forbidden for a variety of reasons, most important of which is depersonafication. When your friend dies on the battlefield, its better you don't recognise him because everyone looks the same. The same isn't expected of women because women are not front line fighters excluding a few exceptions for publicity. Women make less effective soldiers and are far more valuable to the repopulative potential of a nation. Women are not put into a situation where people have a high risk of dying for these reasons. In the vast majority of cases, women even being allowed to join the military is a publicity stunt and nothing more. And the few countries where it isn't a publicity stunt, are pacifistic.
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Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
I know for a fact that women need to cut their hair initially when they join the military when they go through their training or else they won't be admitted. They can grow their hair out later but are required to put it in a bun as soon as it gets longer than ear length. Actually the length of a woman's hair, if she happens to have long hair, is a good indicator as to for how long she has been serving.
@Azulet you must have been really bad at compression in school. Women are *REQUIRED* to cut their hair short when they join the military. Do you understand what that means? Besides no one forces you to join tge military, if you like to have long hair just don't join the military. 😏
Women who join the military here do cut their hair. I once read an article on it where a woman shared how much everyone cried after losing their long hairs, but they eventually got used to it.
It is just something society has taken for granted. Women have long hair. :/ It might also be done for identifying a woman from a distance, I don't know.
@Azulet hair is very very valuable for us Desi girls and we take pride in our thick and long hair. It's a crucial part of beauty to us and... We just value it a crazy lot. You won't understand it if you don't belong in our culture.
In the US Native American males are no longer required to cut their hair as it has been proven their heightened senses are reduced when their hair gets cut off.
Also, bugs like head lice is a major reason why short hair is required in places where a lot of guys live close together. This is not true in all prisons as the one I worked at for five years only required the prison population keep their hair neat.
I've never realised this... I guess the military just maintained the same rules for hundreds of years because there's no real reason to change it. Women with long hair were seen as feminine and men with short hair were seen as masculine
I think it's because men always used to have short hair while women long hair, long hair is simply more desirable on women so I believe army/military isn't "stupid" to ignore that the woman also have a life outside the army.
Army/military still respects that there are both men AND women. They don't have to "mash" everything together into they.
Men who are interested in being a military usually have very short hair and don't like long hair, too I think they just keep it that ways (for men) because men aren't that interested in having long hair anyway.
Women are allowed to because I think if not a lot of them would be really angry and there would be very few women who would want to go in the military.
It is a legal dress code which men must wear specifically regulated hair depending on branch of service and exempted for Special Forces. It has nothing to do with choice. Women are not subject to the same rules but must wear their hair up when in uniform. Failure to follow dress code results in jail time and a bald head. If anyone thinks males wear their hair voluntary like that then I suggest you watch the first 15 minutes of "Full Metal Jacket" and focus on the faces as not all were actors.
"a lot of them would be really angry and there would be very few women who would want to go in the military." Considering they consistently underperform on physical and group exercises - is that a bad thing?
@Dreamweaver671 Must depend on the country then because on mine military guys are all about being manly and they think guys with long hair are gay / pussy so I highly doubt they would want to have long hair.
@Benedek38 No, that wouldn't be a bad things. Women are physically weaker and the exercices they have to do are much easier but they earn as much as men for doing less, too for doing the work of 1 men they need at least 2 women so no that wouldn't be bad.
I would currect you. Women would be ideal for tank crews. They are on average shorter, and tank crews don't need to use their physical provess to survive. They would also be good for piloting, as that doesn't require a lot of strength eithre. I don't know which sex can take the Gs better, but I'd wager it's about the same.
I worked with several NATO countries and their regulations were even harder than US. But I grant that there are surely some countries that have only hygene standards.
@Benedek38 Problem is that you don't chose where you go before all the exercises to see if you're able to go in the military. I don't know where there's more women but I doubt most want to be in a tanks... Too I know in my country there's some military jobs where women are forbidden to go (like in submarine and other important / special mission).
"Problem is that you don't chose where you go before all the exercises to see if you're able to go in the military." Well, everyone has to go trough basic training, after that, they can be sent off to do something.
"I don't know where there's more women but I doubt most want to be in a tanks..." They don't, but logically, that is the best place for them in combat roles. Tanks have a really small interior, so tank crew members are usually ont he shorter side - Russian tank crew members were usually 160 cm, no more than 170.
"Too I know in my country there's some military jobs where women are forbidden to go (like in submarine and other important / special mission)." That's weird. I guess it is because they'd be at risk of being raped, or even regular sex could result in them becoming pregnant. Submarines often stay on see undercover for months or even years.
@Benedek38 if you make the test being the same for both men and women, women aren't going to make it and if you force them to cut their hair they wouldn't want to go to the military so
Wow that's so short O-O Even in my country girls aren't that short most are 165 cm and more. They should make bigger tanks.
In some mission they're forbidden because they have their period which can result of being found because of the sent of blood. For submarines officially it's because they fear the woman would be pregnant before the mission but I honestly think they fear the risk of rape / sexual harassment more (especially nowadays). Though they don't want to admit it.
Tanks kind of had to be that small, because that way they were more durable and less easy to hit. Plus cheaper. Nowadays they make them bigger, but you still don't see a lot of tank pilots above 185 cm. by the way Yuri Gagarin was 157 cm. Didn't stop him from being the first man in space. As for Russian tank pilots... Let's just say the size is deceiving. I would much rather fight a 190 cm man than a 165 Russian tank gunner or pilot. They tend to be fueled by vodka and Napoleon complex - it's a pretty effective mixture.
"In some mission they're forbidden because they have their period which can result of being found because of the sent of blood." I don't know if that's true. Sounds kind of hogwash, no offense.
"For submarines officially it's because they fear the woman would be pregnant before the mission but I honestly think they fear the risk of rape / sexual harassment more (especially nowadays)." Oh, that happens either way.
@Benedek38 Though Russian are taller than French (and Eastern European in general are usually much taller than other European country except for Scandinavia).
That's the excuse they use though anyway most women don't even want to go on mission so... This stuff is what a military guys told us.
How? Women aren't allowed on submarines it can't happen. On other mission maybe but not in submarines.
"Oh, that happens either way. " "How? Women aren't allowed on submarines it can't happen. On other mission maybe but not in submarines."
> I meant rape and sexual assault. When deployed, tensions are high, and male soldiers often can't deal with it easily, so sexual assaults are sadly commonplace. As well as beatdowns.
That's just to keep straight posture. I think it's taken from US military, it's called ''square meal''. You eat your meal with a body straight, head not leaning. Lift your hand at mouth level and eat.
I suppose because they want women to join the military and the shaving a girls hair would put them off. I know the idea of somebody shaving my head makes me want to cry as my hair is part of my femininity to me.
women in general look more professional with longer hair. I could never salute an LT rocking a man bun, it just doesn't look right. also, for women who choose to have short hair, it cannot be shaved on the sides. I believe it has to be a minimum of 1/8 of an inch
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Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
That's because military acknowledges the differences between genders and it's a traditional institution. What else are people will complain about? Women wear bras and men don't? How about it's not fair women get their periods and men don't?
@Drifting_tiger You misunderstood me. I don't blame anything on men. I'm saying let's with happy with our differences and stop demanding equality. I'm a woman and I don't want to be a man. I want men to be men. Act and talk like men.
Periods are a biological reality due to the unique ways in which mammals have evolved
Bra's serve a functional purpose. To which extent, you probably have a higher authority on the subject.
However having long hair does not serve a functional purpose on the military. The only conceivable argument i could think of, is to grow a massive afro and use it as a bush camouflage
They took away boy scouts but still have Girl Scouts... thats just wrong and fucked up. Feminism are ruining everything for boys. Why can't boys just be boys? When I was in Boy Scouts all we did was wrestle and throw rocks and mud at each other and take are shirts off and run in the woods.
Yeah exactly. It's ridiculous. In girl scouts, we made bracelets and projects, we did things like camping.
My mom led my group, and we actually went and we picked up thousands of bottles from the Michigan International Speedway, we got free camping spots there, we returned the bottles, we'd get several thousand dollars and then my scouts group would go and we'd rent several rooms in a hotel for a few nights, one with a water park, or we'd use it for trips like to the zoo. Donate to charities. Went to the mall.
We found out my moms most trusted aid was embezzling money, I forget what happened because I was so young but I think she went to jail. I know we didn't see her after that.
But boys should be allowed to have their own groups still. Cuz it's crazy that they aren't allowed to anymore.
A friend of mine who serves as an artillery men as an NCO who is in command of a lot of people does not have very high opinion of female active combat personals in the artillery regiment.
For one, upper body strength and endurance can mean the difference between life and death. And in this department female soldiers lag massively behind. Try loading 46kg shells continuously for half an hour. And you have to be pretty careful as they fuses on these projectiles are quite sensitive (IE you don't want to drop them). But his army experimented on having female artillery personals, and it turned out to be complete failure.
Not only they lack the physical requirements to be an effective artillerymen, their attitude are mostly abysmal when sh*t hits the fan. And that was only in peaceful training scenarios. They lack the willpower to get them and others through really nasty odds.
Having said that, there are areas where female excel at. Such as topological observation
@Energiya me and this young lady were talking! But you came out of Fucking no where confusing me and shit. We aren't talking about Hair anymore! We talking about Boy Scouts!!!
Shame on you. Make the difference between true feminism and the other hateful scum. People are far more different and complex than your simplistic gender roles, you might not like it but it's how it is.
letting women to join the army is another politician's gender empowerment policy to win votes. Then girls join the army. okay 99 men and 1 girl. Men are super horny because they havt seen girls for a long time. Then we have some men failed to control himself and made a sexual harressment. Why is the temptation at the first point?
double standards but the word of God (english speakers=king james bible and NOT these modern satanic counterfeits that come from the vatican) it states that men should have short hair and the women should have long hair
Our hair has to be a certain length too. It can't be less than 1/4th an inch or something like that, so we can't shave it like males either if we wanted to. & a lot of males have the middle long and slick it back.
Oh. And the front and back can't have more than an inch difference for females. If shoit's short, it's not allowed to touch the collar of your abu top. No locks are allowed, all that jazz. Don't act like we only have 2 regulations when it comes to hair because it's not true. I always got shit for my hair.
For the most part I think it's tradition. I think there may also be something to be said about maintaining some traditional gender norms in order to be less alien to other cultures that the military encounters.
In military long time ago men wasn't allowed to have long hair in case the enemy would get behing you and would try to grab your a hair in order to stab you in the neck with a knife that's why men can't have long hair but with wommen I have no idea how it works
If you think humans can get along without militaries, you are naive. A future where we don't need militaries is even grimmer than the one where we do. Watch the movie called Serenity to understand why I said that. Or just ask me.
@Benedek38 dont call me naive. I know exactly to what degree humans are violent and fucked up creatures. don't mistake my hope for stupidity. Its precisely hope that makes me want to do something about it instead of accepting war as the way things have to be. We CAN reach a state of affairs where violence is minimal, but we have to all pull together. Glass half full dude.
Minimal isn't no violence. No violence doesn't mean no wars. Women fight wars with each other all the time, yet rarely touch each other. Just because no blood flows doesn't mean there isn't a war.
And the question isn't whether we can achieve minimal violence, but whether we should aim to minimize violence. Maybe the route to minimizing violence is through letting some violence happen. Lesser evil and all.
@Benedek38 and I'm not responsible for you not making sense. Whereas I can read what you wrote, you still didn't make any coherent statwment thats relevant to the topic. If you dont want to try explaining yourself again, then just leave it at that and I'll go on not being convinced you know your ass from hole in the ground. Am I clear?
1) You said you want a time when we don't need militaries, AKA when there are no wars. If that happens, that means something altered human nature artificially to be more compliant and peaceful. That sounds distopian and horrifying.
2) First you said you are hoping for no violence, then you said you are hoping for minimal violence. I was calling you out on this contradiction in your views. "Minimal isn't no violence."
3) With "And the question isn't whether we can achieve minimal violence, but whether we should aim to minimize violence. [...]" this, I was trying to say that combatting violence is pointless, because violence is a sympthom. If you want to minimize it, you have to make people content and happy, and give them an outlet for their violent tendencies.
You can say that what I said is irrelevant, I don't give a shit about your opinion. I was trying to start a discussion, and you were rude. From that point on, clearly I have no intention of engaging with you. This was hopefully my last comment, don't answer it.
I think it's wrong these days Men are starting to grow their hair out longer more than people know. I'm joining the military I have long hair, So I have to cut it I think its idiotic I'm mixed nationality as well American European basically. So I actually can rock long hair lol, I will grow it back out though as soon as I'm out of the military.
Military women meet set standards and the ones I worked directly with hated dealing with hair longer than mid back and often kept their hair at the minimum length of below the ears.
You still haven't figured that out? They are women they are always right and let's just be honest, I don't think that if a woman is not allowed to have long hair would chose to come to military. That's of course not for all of them but most of them. Also they rule the world... Peace!
I guess its because men have naturally short hair but if women are allowed to have long hair color tingent that they put it in a bun then men should be allowed to do the same...
Because women are women. Also, because they don't go to the front lines often. Also, long hair on a man is sissy. Short crew cut is for a real fighting men.
As you can see, the hair was wrapped up. Why? Because anyone in a life and death combat will grab your hair and kill you somehow. This is why men have to cut their hair.
i would assume men and women that are not on the battlefield like officers, engineers etc. do not have to shave their hair. I would say troops that would actually fight all have to, it's just barely any women do that.
I suppose it may be a compromise so as not to put of women who would consider a military career but would not cut their hair which to many women is a symbol of femininity
No women in the military, no double-standards in regards to hair-length... Hair is the least of our concerns when it comes to females in the military though.
They always want to talk about equality but don’t let men grow there how out like women can. Beards is understandable but hair shouldn’t matter as long as it’s well maintained in my opinion.
Because filthy cis male hair is obvious patriarchal propaganda and women deserve to have the right to have the hair they want because they are superior beings #feminism#feminazi#matriarchy
I don't know, but probably because nobody wants to look at a bald woman. 😂
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Anonymous
(45 Plus)
1 y
It all falls under (for the USAF) AFR 35-10. Women can have their hair long as long as they can put it up in such a way as to have it above the collar.
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