the mudpond

It's good to let things breathe in your imagination because often your initial response to it is not the best thought-through response. I savour little glimpses of life. Mine and those of people who turn me sideways and around. Friend or stranger. Even a child. (the world looks different from down there) Sometimes an author, photographer, artist. I let things saturate and incubate here. Hopefully, deeper meanings can percolate up and flower.

Name:
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A stray cat.

6/17/2005

Long Hair Male

TOPIC DU JOUR: Long Hair Males :D

In Christ's time, males with long hair were the norm. Later, they became symbols of asceticism.
When self-mortification was the path to enlightenment. When simplicity was embraced as a virtue.


Diefenbach and Fidus at Hollriegelskreuth, Germany, 1887
Posted by Hello

For the Sikhs however, long hair was a symbol of faith to keep the God-given form intact.

In the sixties it became the language of a subculture. In the communal culture of Hippiedom, long hair was a
style that allowed males to identify with a group, at the same time express their individuality.

For Hippies, long hair was a nomadic culture with values of peace and eroticism. How ironic and bizzare that long hair turns out to be the originial form of the Bobbit syndrome. Legend has it that Delilah chopped off Samson's locks, the secret of his strength.

A hippie is defined as a young person who defied established customs and adopted an unconventional mode of dress. It signified a disdain for convention. Long, centre-parted hair left untied and natural-looking, looked Bohemian.


It made a strong statement. Reflective of nature and getting away from established rules. It identified with 'letting go'. Unrestrained, long hair allowed a transformation of self, a romantic concept.

And then, in the seventies, angry Punks adopted this style.
And it lived on in the 90s with their sub-genre Goth lovers of metal, fetish and horror.

In the dawn of the new millennium, male long hair is nearly always tied up into a pony tail. Severly restrained. Smoothed down with gel. DISCIPLINED. New art language? A
fashion statement? A personal philosophy rather than group-bonded?

Today, long hair as a cultural language is a shadow of its rich and romantic past. A thin watered-down form of its old colorful past. It is rarely ever complemented with dress, values and lifestyle the way it used to be.
Today, it incurrs different stereotypes: Grunge, Skateboards, Surfer, Biker, Rock, and often, Gay, Drugs and most unfairly, even AIDS. Somehow, long hair associations tend to be negativley perceived, to the exclusion of all its other rich cultural aspects.

What does the long hair Malaysian male in the new millennium really identify with? What does his long hair symbolise?

Personally, I prefer how it looked in the old ancient days, circa 1887. Long, luxurious free-flowing locks. Contemplative and Reflective. Complemented with the easy-going free flowing clothes. No artifice, no restraint. Man and Nature. Untamed. WYSIWYG ;P

So, forgive me, I'm just being a silly nostalgic.

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9 Comments:

Blogger thquah said...

Long hair in our weather is a NO,NO for me.Too hot.I am always short and neat.LOL

3:36 PM  
Blogger ThatJames said...

I've worn my hair in a myriad of differents lengths. Recently I tried the long hair again. But the weather these days are just crazy - so I lobbed it all off in the end! :)

4:26 PM  
Blogger lucia said...

nowadays as some people said "the world is upside down" meaning men keep long hair while women keep short hair.

at our recent penang bloggers meet, i notice 3 men has long hair! (over shoulder).

you blog about men with long hair. i was going to blog about women with long hair since that day when drliew blog on women with long hair but kept putting it off. maybe one day i will.

11:38 PM  
Blogger percolator said...

th,
Yes, here in KL it's a no, no for me too. Besides the heat, I swim nearly everyday, it'd be a real hassle. I don't really like spending too much time on hair, Im not at all vain this way. I no use gels, sprays, sprtiz, not even hair dryers for years now!

james,
Me done all lengths too. Had long ponytails pre-puberty, after which, collar length page boy for most of my sec school days, really short cropped for most of my working life and also because I used to hike daily. Until I decided I simply MUST have long hair as a woman, to experience its sensuality and attraction (lol!) Now, I'm back in practical mode, don't think I'll ever have long hair again, not past my shoulders anyway.

lucia,
A man who keeps his long tresses in tip-top condition - well groomed ie clean, glossy, shiny can look quite attractive indeed. Provided he has a luxuriant head of hair, no bald spots, dandruff, ungreasy etc. Otherwise, it's quite a turn-off for me.
Otherwise, ordinarily I prefer short-cropped men. The hair I mean! lol!

9:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have hair almost to my ass. I've been growing it for almost 5 years. I love it long and loose and flowing down my back!! All men should wear their hair as long as possible!!!!

8:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it inconceivable that Jesus ever had long hair because the OT did specifically mention that as a shame for men but a glory for women.

~wits0~

11:43 AM  
Blogger percolator said...

wits0,
JC is of the new Testament!

11:32 AM  
Blogger percolator said...

anonymous with hair-to-the-ass,
like some sexy samurai? ;P

11:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, JC and all Cs refer to the NT - however JC was born a Jew and had he been spotting long hair apart, from the current convention, then that would most likely have been mentioned somewhere. IMO, i.e. I believe it's in Proverbs that sorta mentioned the impropriety of men with long hairs.

~wits0~

3:35 PM  

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