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Equal rights issue that is completely accepted

Matt Till

Matt Till

Jun 1, 2002
16,305
111
43
Edinboro, PA
www.myspace.com
#1
Long hair.

It's quite strange, with everybody throwing issues of race/class around, and people making it a game of seeing who is offending who (without asking), I'm surprised this issue is ignored.

Long hair is almost always frowned upon in the job world, ignoring the whole issue of other views of long hair... big scary weirdos, lazy good for nothing drug addicts. The nicest people I've ever met have been people I met on tour, 2 weeks of long hair and beards, and these people (metal guys) were honestly the nicest people I've ever met.

What is this rant regarding? Well, I'll be looking for a job in a month or two, and by then, I'm sure I'll have short hair... why? Not by choice, but due to the fact that I know that if given the choice between a conservative looking young man and a long hair (even nicely dressed), the short hair wins every time.

So, I guess that this is me officially announcing that I'm conforming, I'll make sure to take some nice before and after shots, don't be surprised if I look like :( in the second pic. It's not even about the hair, it's about the lack of choice I have about the issue.

I am by no means saying that there is equality for minorities or women in this country, that may never happen, and they can't just "cut their hair" as an easy out, but at least America attempts/pretends to hid the stereotyping of minorities/women.

I'm a good worker, the hair has nothing to do with it.




P.S. No need for the "long haired freaky people need not apply" joke, I already know. :hmm:
 
#4
Matt Till said:
Long hair.

It's quite strange, with everybody throwing issues of race/class around, and people making it a game of seeing who is offending who (without asking), I'm surprised this issue is ignored.

Long hair is almost always frowned upon in the job world, ignoring the whole issue of other views of long hair... big scary weirdos, lazy good for nothing drug addicts. The nicest people I've ever met have been people I met on tour, 2 weeks of long hair and beards, and these people (metal guys) were honestly the nicest people I've ever met.

What is this rant regarding? Well, I'll be looking for a job in a month or two, and by then, I'm sure I'll have short hair... why? Not by choice, but due to the fact that I know that if given the choice between a conservative looking young man and a long hair (even nicely dressed), the short hair wins every time.

So, I guess that this is me officially announcing that I'm conforming, I'll make sure to take some nice before and after shots, don't be surprised if I look like :( in the second pic. It's not even about the hair, it's about the lack of choice I have about the issue.

I am by no means saying that there is equality for minorities or women in this country, that may never happen, and they can't just "cut their hair" as an easy out, but at least America attempts/pretends to hid the stereotyping of minorities/women.

I'm a good worker, the hair has nothing to do with it.




P.S. No need for the "long haired freaky people need not apply" joke, I already know. :hmm:
Click to expand...

cry more hippie noob.














heh. j/k. the jobs are out there, just gotta be flexible. but yeah, the whole "corporate america" stance on men's hair verges on the perverse, imo. get a life folks.
 
#7
Since getting my job I've been working on becoming the long haired programmer of the office. You know the stereotypical one with the ponytail and tucked in shirt. You might see him when you go in for interviews, good guy, bring him a snickers or something; I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
 
#8
I hear ya Matt. I'm in my 23rd year (between two places) where it is specifically written my hair my not extend below my collar (which I'm violating right now....but not by much), and I'm forbidden from wearing any jewelry at work except a wedding ring. Needless to say, my earring went all those years ago.
 
#9
I used to have long hair. I grew out of that.

Now since I have a hairline like Eddie Munster (more like Grandpa Munster), it's all gone - headblade is my new right hand in the shower. No washing, no conditioning, no combing and certainly no friggin' blow drying. I'm saving money on hair cuts, too. I didn't do this out of fashion, it did this because i'm.... lazy.

:D

Down with long hair!
 
#10
Long hair has been the first real accomplishment in my life. Everything else has been either trivial (i.e. graduating high school) or I'm still in the process of (graduating college).

I will base my employers on whether or not I can grow my hair long. But, going into physics, I doubt they will have much of a problem with it anyway. And besides, I won't be looking for a job for another 7 or so years, so I think by then things will have eased up a bit.

Are hair regulations this strict in Europe?
 
#13
i've heard a bit of interesting info in my life:

apparently, the whole 'long hair for women, short hair for men' thing came out of the Roman Empire. when the men went off to fight, they cut off their hair, thus giving the enemy less to grab a hold of. (ie, enemy grabs a handful of hair, pulls your head down, and decapitates you. or something.)

not sure if this is true... like all recorded history, it's hazy at best. but it does make sense.

so, matt till... you may have to cut your hair, but at least you won't have to fear decapitation by the Enemy Forces in the Corporate Jungle War.
 
#19
I seem to recall Jesus-lovers won the first round, but Ghandi rallied and pulled a "Rocky Balboa" on him. Bombay is once again called Mumbai.

OTOH, the Jesus-lovers have been building their nuclear arsenal for a longer time...

Back on topic, I see the importance of taking a good job, and cutting your hair for it if necessary, but there's also a lot to be said for creating your own ideal career and lifestyle, and making other sorts of sacrifices toward that end.
 
#20
In high school I had to cut my hair for wrestling. So it was relatively short from late fall through the winter and grew a lot longer over the off-season. I applied for a job selling at a shoe store at the nearby mall once during the off-season, and the manager liked me and thought I was pretty smart, but he said they had nothing open at the time and asked me to check back in in a month or two. His only objection about me was my hair; he said it was just too long in the back, too wide … some people, he said, will come in, see someone with long hair working there, and walk out, and he doesn't want that to happen. This was in the mid 1970s. (I didn't check back, not so much because of my hair, but because I decided a job selling shoes 20 hours a week would probably drive me batty.)

In about the 80s, this attitude was becoming less prevalent. There were long-haired guys working normal contact-with-the-public retail and bank teller jobs, even selling cars. It's not the lightning rod it once was (except maybe for people like George Steinbrenner, who insisted that Johnny Damon shave and cut his hair short).
 

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