h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Its the testosterone that makes men more "manly" that also makes them bald. Blokes with hairy bodies are more likely to go bald younger.

From a male point of veiw women with good ie healthy hair are better choices as mates true but a better method for men to ensure the passing of their genes is to spread them around as much as possible.

What do you mean by lower on the evolutionary scale??? Is that some pretence at assuming by having instincts, and being animals, and NOT denying the fact...that that is somehow less evolved than creating some psuedo-superior moral high ground?

Indeed. But that's a poor analogy, and one often used by men who don't want to claim responsibility for their actions.

Any intelligent male realises that when you create a child, you are not only supporting the child, you are supporting the mother as she is the one lumbered with providing care (at least for the first 9 months of life).

So you wouldn't sleep with a skanky mare if you can help it, as you don't want her to have your children and have her in your life.

B, appols if i have the wrong end of the stick, but are you trying to imply that blokes with short hair spend less time on it than blokes with long hair? I think that amount of time spent grooming is a personal thing and independant of hair length.

And Saturnine (ain't spoken for a while!), thanks for that, I was hoping someone would post the opposing view so I could follow up with a post saying that, as with so many things, it is probably a mixture of nature and nurture that goes into this.

*waves* I've been here, there and everywhere recently.

As slack a statement as it sounds, behaviour really is a mixture of nature and nurture. To be more precise, I believe that we are born with instincts, that are built on by the surroundings we grown up in, with the underlying Freudian-esque subconscious.

I personaly don't prefer one over the other to tell you the truth.. I'va had girlfriends with long hair and with short hair, and each has it's "advantages"..

I have to say I think long hair looks more feminine, and I enjoy running my fingers through it. I also like the fact that it is less of a hassle to make it look decent (I HATE waiting for a girl to do her hair!)

Short hair has one major advantage, and that is less pulling.. The risk of accidently pulling her hair in situations of a sexual nature is far smaller, and that always a bonus. It does take more work though (at least it did with my ex, who was a hair fanatic)...

I guess it all boils down to which pros and cons you think are more important, really..

Your partially right Saturine, if your living in a society where those things are important ie family and raising you children to increase the odds that your offspring are successful men are more likely to stick around.

And this is where your right if your going to only have kids with one mate you want them to be easy on the eye and good genetic stock.

However as males in a lot of species know you can also improve the odds of your genes being passed on in successful forms (healthy kids) by spreading it around as much as possible.

Thank you Saturnine, for putting far more sensibly, my 'good hair = good genes' theory (Nice to see you back too )

One thing that I find odd is that of you look at the beauty ideas for women, they all seem to have one thing in common: They all make the women more helpless.
High heels makes you unable to run or walk properly. A skirt hinders your movements, and you won`t be all that good at riding a horse. Long hair could often get in the way for a lot of things. A corset would mean you couldn`t do much physical work. I don`t know the reason for this, but it seems to be to run through a lot of the ideals of beauty. Wether it is men or women that dictates the beauty ideals I don`t want to say.
China also had that thing with binding the feet, and there`s an african tribe where the women elongate their neck. Any other non-western things anyone can think off?

I think perhaps it could have something to do with showing off. There are different ways for a man to show he is powerful. Like the chinese guys who grew huge fingernails to show they literally didn`t have to lift a finger, as they had people for everything. Perhaps it is the same thing here, you`re trying to show you can support your wife so she doesn`t have to do anything. I don`t know.

I can run in high heels.

The worsy thing about skirts, are when your thighs chafe. They don't restrict my movement.

Long hair can be tied back. But mine never gets in the way.

I agree that beauty ideals in magazines are often just plain silly. It's a symptom of our "one size fit all" society. But the basics of being feminine to start with, aren't based in constricting ones self. And they certainly aren't based in high heels and skirts. It goes a lot deeper than that.

There is a psychological reason for preference of hair length, and it's pretty simple. When we're attracted to the opposite sex, it's the things that mark us as undeniably different that draw us to each other.

When it comes to hair length, long is considered more feminine, and short (or none at all) is generally considered masculine. So men would be more likely to be attracted to a woman with long hair, and a woman would be more likely to be attracted to a man with short hair.

Of course, a woman who is undeniably feminine in every other way would be highly attractive with short hair, and a man who was undeniably masculine would be highly attractive with long hair.

I'm not particularly muscular and I don't grow good facial hair, so it's a good strategy for me to keep my hair short... nevermind that it's too thick and starts doing retarded wavy things when it gets long.

That sounds a bit circular.

He's basically right though. We seek out genes that are the most different from our own.

Of course, that sends us straight onto the topic of incest. So let's not go there...

Or sheep-shagging

Well, to be fair, do have different genes...

It's not so much genes I'm talking about... just sexual differences. Women want manly men, and men want womanly women. Hair is just another way of expressing that.

Though my wife and I come from completely different gene pools, we look so much alike people have mistaken us for siblings... so the different genes thing doesn't always apply.

I knew a family where the husband, wife, and children all looked alike. It was a bit freaky.

So guys want long hair because it is feminine. But why is it then considered feminine I would ask.

Habit. We're used to seeing long-haired women and short-haired men.

Few things are manlier than the military, and the men in service all have a regulation crop. The opposite of masculine is feminine, and the opposite of short hair is long hair.

As mentioned, circular. Women have long hair because men are attracted by it. Men are attracted to women with long hair because it is feminine. Long hair is considered feminine because women usually have it.