As a Male I am blessed and cursed with having hair that grows in many places on my body, most noticeable of these places to the someone passing by is the hair on my head. As a male with long hair I am sure that people notice that before any other aspect about me. I have been growing my hair out since I was 15 years old. During these last 5 years, I have had to deal with onslaughts of people asking me how soon I plan on cutting it and have even had people yell at me from a car, "Get a haircut you hippie!"
In other circles however, long hair on males is not only encouraged but preferred. One example of this is in the heavy metal music community. Men who listen to and/or play metal in a band (called metalheads) are typically expected to have long hair. This is most likely a hangover from back in the 70s when it was more common for males in rock to grow their hair out. Having long hair in metal also has an extremely practical purpose though. I am referring of course to the art of headbanging. Ever since bands like Black Sabbath with crazy front man Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, dudes with long hair have been banging their heads to the mountain moving beat of metal music.
Metal band Amon Amarth doing their signature "windmill" headbanging
Unfortunately, long hair on males still carries a stigma of being dirty or unprofessional. Speaking from personal experience, I have been declined jobs simply because I have long hair and refused to cut it, whereas a female with hair as long as or even longer than mine could get the same job with no problems. Some people laugh at me when I say it, but I firmly believe that just for having shoulder length hair, people will unfairly judge and discriminate against you.
Why do people have negative associations with men with long hair? Will people eventually give males with long hair the same respect as their close-cut brethren or will our society continue to emphasize that males conform to the cultural norm of having short hair?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
On Being American
I'd like to start this entry by saying a little bit about myself. I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is directly North of the border to Washington D.C. Because of this I grew up in a community filled with people from all over the world. When I think of the traditional values associated with being American I feel like my own background is a little bit different.
One of the first differences is music. When I think of "American music" I think of country/western and bluegrass music. The lyrics of these songs reflect the lives of typical hard-working pick-up driving white Americans. When I heard music like this growing up in such an urban and diverse area such as Silver Spring I felt no connection to these lyrics. This made me feel somehow less American, especially considering music that I had gotten into including rap and later metal, had lyrics and meanings directly opposite to the types of pro-America messages found in country music.
Since many of the people I went to school with were only first or second generation Americans, people seemed to put more emphasis on where you were from, not that you American now. I felt weird when I would be among the minority of students in a class to just say "I'm from here" after other students would say "I'm from Korea" or "My country is Peru".
In my mind I often felt like the United States was a meeting place of the world cultures rather than its own distinct one.
The last thing that always made me feel that I am not fully American is that where I grew up wasn't as homogenized by things such as Walmart or McDonald's. I never even stepped foot into a Walmart until I was 15 years old. I feel as though stores like this help remind customers of what American culture is by also telling them what to buy and how it all fits in to the American lifestyle. This was not part of my upbringing.
Since my upbringing lacked some of what seems like quintessential American experience, I always felt that in the eyes of other people in this country I am not seen as completely genuine American.
One of the first differences is music. When I think of "American music" I think of country/western and bluegrass music. The lyrics of these songs reflect the lives of typical hard-working pick-up driving white Americans. When I heard music like this growing up in such an urban and diverse area such as Silver Spring I felt no connection to these lyrics. This made me feel somehow less American, especially considering music that I had gotten into including rap and later metal, had lyrics and meanings directly opposite to the types of pro-America messages found in country music.
Since many of the people I went to school with were only first or second generation Americans, people seemed to put more emphasis on where you were from, not that you American now. I felt weird when I would be among the minority of students in a class to just say "I'm from here" after other students would say "I'm from Korea" or "My country is Peru".
In my mind I often felt like the United States was a meeting place of the world cultures rather than its own distinct one.
The last thing that always made me feel that I am not fully American is that where I grew up wasn't as homogenized by things such as Walmart or McDonald's. I never even stepped foot into a Walmart until I was 15 years old. I feel as though stores like this help remind customers of what American culture is by also telling them what to buy and how it all fits in to the American lifestyle. This was not part of my upbringing.
Since my upbringing lacked some of what seems like quintessential American experience, I always felt that in the eyes of other people in this country I am not seen as completely genuine American.
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