Up for a history lesson? but of the fun kind? In today’s post we’ll be covering the history of male long hair and how things have changed over the years to bring us to where we are at now.
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Long Hair from The Beginning
Long hair for men has gone in and out of style over the centuries and it’s clear that politics and the mainstream views of society have played a massive role in dictating and whether or not it’s acceptable at different times. But who fucking cares… Well that’s what we think anyway.
We’re not going to be covering every little detail and period of time where long hair was a thing, but we will be covering periods where long hair was very prominent and what was happening at those times, starting with CaveMen.
Cavemen are the epitome of how simple life is supposed to be for a human. No grooming, no education, no politics. Just eat, sleep, shit, groan & repeat. Doesn’t that sound great?
No, but really. The lifestyle they had was literally just about survival and if we look at the stereotypical appearance of caveman we always see him with long hair and a beard. Why do think that is?
Our best guess is that that’s exactly how he was supposed to be. That’s right, if you take away everything society has built including:
- The corporate environment
- The economy
- Social pressures to fit in
- Clothes
- Supermarkets
- Buildings
- Electricity
- Beauty products
All you’re left with is a man exactly the way he was designed. Please don’t get us wrong, this post isn’t supposed to be a flat out bash on society. There are TONS of AMAZING things that have come from human civilisation.
The main point of this section is just to look at the concept of men’s long hair objectively and highlight that long hair on a guy is actually more normal than wearing a t-shirt is.
We also find it super ironic that something like this is so easily forgotten and over the years in multiple different cultures, men have been made feel ashamed of being exactly the way they were designed, which we just can’t get our head around and is the main reason this blog even exists haha.
Anyway, now that we’re clear on the fact that from the beginning of humankind that long hair on men was supposed to be a thing, let’s have a look at where else we saw this as civilisation developed a bit more…
Men’s Long Hair in Ancient Times
In ancient civilisation there were many different societies developing around the globe all at once. Now let’s remember none of these societies or nations had the internet at this time, yet men with long hair was still a thing. What’s even more interesting is what having long hair meant in each society was different AND so were the styles and ways of wearing it.
If we look at ancient Egypt, the people were considered incredibly stylish and well kept. What was interesting about the ancient Egyptians is most of the men would shave their heads and wear wigs. Now obviously that’s a completely cosmetic addition but it’s what was cool. And not only that, by shaving their heads it prevented them from catching lice and I can only imagine it would have been far less maintenance.
Then if we look at Ancient Rome, it was very common for men to wear their hair long. It wasn’t until Julious Caesar came along and inspired men to wear their hair short in battle so enemies had less to grab. Until then it didn’t it really become a thing and unfortunately Julious idea became a bit more permanent. So even though his idea was smart, we thank god he’s not a social media influencer in today’s world as we’d probably be at war with him right now and most likely losing because his men would be pinning us down by our long hair because we didn’t take the liberty of fighting smart and chopping it off…
Then if we look to Medieval Europe. Long hair was a thing for the rich and the rich only. Typically because long hair takes a lot of maintenance and grooming, if you had no money you had no hope of looking presentable or keeping your hygiene to a good standard.
This makes good sense if the majority of the population have never been wealthy, it could explain why the social norm of short hair being so “normal” is a thing… I mean think about it.
Then if we look to Medieval Europe. Long hair was a thing for the rich and the rich only. Typically because long hair takes a lot of maintenance and grooming, if you had no money you had no hope of looking presentable or keeping your hygiene to a good standard.
This makes good sense if the majority of the population have never been wealthy, it could explain why the social norm of short hair being so “normal” is a thing… I mean think about it.
Men’s Long Hair in The 60’s & 70’s
Now we’re going to press fast forward a little bit to where long hair started making a real come back in society starting in the early 60’s and becoming more prominent leading into the 70’s.
What was really interesting about this time in history was long hair made it’s come back through the influence of bands and musicians. For example, The Beatles kicked things off in the early 60’s with their classic shag mop hairstyles which later grew into uncontrolled flows and facial hair.
There was also Bob Marley who rocked dreadlocks in the spotlight and made them an iconic symbol for reggae music.
During this time as well there were other rocks bands inspiring their fans to wear mullets and the surfer beach bum look was a hit as well.
After the 70’s decade was over long hair for men seemed to start slowing fading into the background again until the age of the internet happened which is where shit has really begun to change.
In the next section we’ll talk a little bit about long hair for guys today and why we believe it’s finally here to stay.
Long Hair For Men Today
There’s no doubt that long hair for men today has definitely made a come back and this time it’s come back with more force than ever before. Due to the power of the internet it’s far easier for people to stay connected with others, find new concepts and get inspired by each other with just the click of a button.
It’s almost like the silo’s of ancient human civilization don’t exist anymore because people are no longer confined to their physical surroundings and are able to join communities and groups of their own choice without actually needing to leave their living room.
There’s also now an infinite amount of inspiration that comes from large social media influencers who all have their own styles and ways of doing things that again, the internet allows people to find with the click of a button.
Unlike ancient times, where long hair for men had a specific meaning depending on what society you were a part of, long hair now has whatever meaning you want it to have. In fact, we’re currently going through an age where’s it’s actually cool to express your own individuality without needing a famous musician or band to say it’s ok to do so first.
Because of the fact that we are so encouraged to be ourselves and do our own thing these days, if society were to turn around again at some point and say “long hair is no longer a thing any more, put it away”, our hunch is that nobody is going to listen anymore because the freedom of expression that the internet has brought about has gone too far and people aren’t conforming anymore.
This is exactly how we like it too and as long as this blog exists we’ll be here to champion the mane hahaha.
So that concludes our history lesson on men’s long hair. We hope you found the points as interesting as we did.
Don’t forget, for a guy to have long hair is ironically more normal than wearing a t-shirt and the internet is most likely the reason long hair is here to stay. If you want to help us confirm that as a reality, make sure you join our Hair Growth Community here.
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Until our next post,
The Man Buns & Manes Team
ROAR!!!
One Comment on “The History of Male Long Hair”
I have been extremely conservative and clean cut all of my life. And now, at 65 am starting my hair journey. Thinking about sporting an earring. Would appreciate your comments and input.