Are men who wear their hair long and in a ponytail stereotyped? Does age make a difference?

They are stereotyped to some extent, but the total look matters. A guy in jeans and a flannel shirt with a ponytail is a completely different stereotype from a guy in a suit with a ponytail. I think to some extent when a man decides to grow long hair he is probably embracing his perception of that stereotype. The ponytail is a marker of how he wants to be seen, and he will likely be seen that way. It’s just that what he sees as a positive association, many others may see as a negative one.

And yes, age matters. Sometime in a man’s thirties he starts to look a little foolish and desperate with long hair. I say this as someone who had long hair for a very long time an swore I would never get rid of it. I cut it all off just before my 30th birthday.

Hahaha, you’re quite bonkers! & to answer, yes, I think they are now. Give it about 5yrs though & it’ll probably be back in fashion.

Here’s the link to the song Dracool quotes from the musical, Hair.

http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/hair/hair.htm

I don’t think they are stereo-typed. I think it’s kind of sexy!

They are,but they can always conform if they can’t take a good yank on their ponytail ;)

I’m curious what the stereotype is. All of the guys I know with ponytails are ubersmart computer nerds.

Example: Bruce Schneier

Get a damn haircut, hippie.~

It’s funny, when I met my wife I was bald. One of our mutual friends who knew me before we met described her to me as sort of a hippie dude because I had had long hair when the friend met me. My wife thought I was a punk at first instead.

the grey ponytail thing, noooooo

@gailcalled Thanks for posting the lyrics.

Yes I see it all the time. A lot of my customers have long hair ponytails as do my friends and brother. I see it mostly happen with the elite stuffed shirts of society who expect people to conform to their perfect world mentality. Too bad for them as they are sidestepping some really cool and interesting people.

Isn’t everyone stereotyped by the way they look? Clothing and grooming? It is utterly boring to contemplate whether men in pony tails are stereotyped. Of course they are. What is interesting is to find out what different people’s stereotypes are. Sorry if I stepped on any toes. I think I forgot my meds this morning.

@Cruiser What is the stuffed shirts idea of their perfect world?

@wundayatta I thought it was implied but perhaps I should have written the question differently. Thanks.

Dracool—sorry. My fault. I should have seen that.

Looking at my own impressions, and based on people I’ve known, I see white guys over thirty with ponytails (if neatly groomed and clothed) as identifying themselves as intellectuals or having artistic sensibilities, aching to engage in discussions about post-modernism or neural networks. Younger guys seem to more often be identifying with fantasy-genre characters (LOTR, for instance), or abstract notions of other times and places (samurais? medieval figures?). I imagine them tossing D20s in Dungeons and Dragons games.

I recognize that ponytails don’t carry the same connotations in other cultures though (Native Americans, for example).

My hair is ass length and has been since it reached this length (every now and then I still give myself whiplash from sitting on it and leaning forward). All I have had is trims. I also have never colored it, used a blow drier on it, permed it, etc. It is virgin.

For the most part, people (especially the ladies) like my hair. My father did not cut my hair (other than trims) until I reached the age of maturity. He said that it was either a family or Clan tradition… I cannot remember which because he told me this as a teen. He was offered the same option by his parents and he, like me, left it long. I wish I could remember the reason for this tradition, what it signifies.

I have gotten the commie, “fag,” hippie, and various other stereotypes but, really, I have very little grief about it. The only thing that really annoys me is that some people seem to think that my growing it this long gives automatic permission for strangers to touch it without asking first. Usually I have no problem with someone touching it if they ask first.

There are stereotypes about every aspect of a person’s appearance.

@Dracool you will have to ask them if you can get close enough to do so. But from what I do know, a stuffed shirts perfect world does not involve casual relaxation and appreciating the simple honest things in life.

@Harp What are the cultural connotations of long hair with Native Americans?

Oh I forgot age. I am 47 and, so far, do not have hair loss. Keeping a full head of hair runs in my family. If I do come down with male pattern baldness, rather than combing over or other efforts to hide the balding, I am going to shave it off, being completely bald.

As far as coloring as it goes white or grey, I am growing some whites in at the temples. I am not going to color it: I earned every white on my head. My father went white haired soon after my mother’s death and he did not dye it in her honor.

@Arisztid =Me too! ;)

@Arisztid I really don’t know; I’m just saying that I wouldn’t assume that I could make the same inferences regarding a Native American with a ponytail. Or you, for that matter.

@Cruiser But aren’t you stereotyping people by calling the stuffed shirts?

I love to see a man with long hair. I never understood how the fashion changed and guys started wearing their hair short again, but maybe I’m just a product of having gone to high school in the 70’s.
I think that a few of the guys I’ve seen with pony tails do fit a stereo type, but that’s just my perception. I’m frequently not a reliable source.
@Arisztid, I can understand the compulsion or desire to touch a persons hair. I’d never do it however, nor would I even ask. That’s WAY pputside of the bounds of courtesy. It’s on the same level as wanting to touch a pregnant womans belly. I understand the impulse, but that’s a real person standing there, not a mannequin.

@Cruiser relaxation, and appreciation of the simple things in life are not part of corporate culture in the office. ‘stuffed shirts’ do these things when not at work.

My man has long hair – but I have to nearly beat him to deatht o get him to properlly take care of it! He rarely conditions, doesn’t like to brush it (for somereason his hais doesn;t tangle?) & when we go out he either puts it in a pony tail or I flat iron it for him. I do know that he gets strange looks from some older people, but it doesn’t bother either of us

@Snarp Yes I am and needed to help make my point…thanks for noticing.
@trailsillustrated Careful there…I never said corporate culture and Snarp may call you out for stereotyping.

@Harp I wish I could remember the reasoning for having long hair in either my family or Clan, however, I am 47 and my father passed when I was 18. It is not a Rromani Gypsy thing overall but it is either a family thing or specific to my Clan. I wish I had a memory.

@lucillelucillelucille :D

@Trillian I really do not have a problem with most people touching it as long as they ask first. I know that anyone, even a woman, with hair that long is unusual. I think it is well within the bounds of courtesy to ask. :)

@Cruiser mmm I don’t care- but if I rang up my husband right now and asked if he is relaxing and enjoying the simple things in life, .he’d think I bumped my head. If I asked him round 6p, he’d say hell yes.

@trailsillustrated I am just funnin with you as by my own definition I would easily fit that stuffed shirt stereotype tie and all…it’s what I get paid to do. Come 6 pm I got my sweats on and in the basement kicking it out on my electric guitar jamming to good jams with my kids on bass and drums. Come next fall when I buy this company I may even let my hair grow out like I have wanted to for 30 years.

@Cruiser see what I mean hehe

@cruiser-Wear a wig! They are beeeeeeyoutyful!

I had my last real haircut (not counting split-end trims) in the last century. On special occasions I sometimes braid my ponytail, because it helps the whole look neater. Other than that, I usually wear it tied back, or just let it loose. I am over sixty, and have not had to deal with hair loss. The hair closer to my head, especially near the temples, is much grayer than the rest. I still have a lot of brown in my hair.

I think stereotypes are in the eye of the beholder.

@lucillelucillelucille I actually do when I am jammin with the kids…It’s a bride of Frankenstien wig and tied into a pony “cone” gives me a cool Marge Simpson thing going on!

Perhaps my attitude is influenced by the fact that I’m old enough to have seen that musical during its first run on Broadway (with an older man who saw me as a hippie), but I love long hair on men—that is, except my husband. He has worn a long ponytail for ages, and I hate it, whereas I thought it was very dashing on my son (who now has a “fade”). I like the long hair, but I don’t like the skinned-back look.

Here in northern California I have seen ponytails long and short on so many men of all ages and ethnicities, from artists and musicians, classy professionals, and highly placed business executives (e.g., senior VP of engineering at a high-tech corporation) to ordinary white-collar cubicle workers, store clerks, and bums that I really don’t see a stereotype at all. I just see individual choice, as with hair length on women.

Is hair length really an issue? Yet another reason I’m glad I live in L.A.

I don’t think “issue” is correct. I would call it a “topic”. For discussion. Long hair interests some of us. Actually, I’ll admit that it fascinates me. @Dracool, do you want to share your hair length with the rest of the class?

I think long hair looks fine on a man as long as they’re not thinning on top. Nothing says “I’m clinging to my immaturity” more than a ponytail and a bald crown.

My ponytail got cut off at the age of 39.

I have a friend who has Alopecia areata, and lost all his hair many years ago. We have agreed that whenever I decide to cut my hair, we will have a wig made for him.

@Cruiser You said: “I actually do when I am jammin with the kids…It’s a bride of Frankenstien wig and tied into a pony “cone” gives me a cool Marge Simpson thing going on!” I am trying to wrap my mind around that and it is just not working.

@Arisztid Stop trying while you still can LOL!!

A guy with a pony tail makes me instantly think of a chubby dude who spends 19 hours out of each day programming his computer and playing wow in the basement next to his star wars figurines… but yeah… that was just an instant thought…

My husband used to have a long ponytail – he got different comments from people – he has since donated the ponytail for a wig for cancer patients through the American Cancer Society…now I guess his look is more ‘straight edge’...whatever, all these stereotypes are dumb as he’s the same person…

@Trillian My hair is, and always has been, long.