Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Do you have long hair or wish to have long hair?

What do you like or dislike about it?

I love the way it feels on my back, particularly in the shower and I love the way it curls up when wet

I hate Brushing the knots out or pulling a really long hair out of my mouth when eating dinner

I have had long and I have had short over the years.

Short it quick and easy to take care of but, for me, I always have to "do something with it" for it to look good.

The longer it is, the better it looks a la natural but the more work it is to keep it clean and tangle free. (But you get discounts when you buy conditioner by the 45 gallon drum LOL!)

For many years now I have kept it between shoulder and mid-back in length and that seems to be the best compromise (though I still wear hats, headbands, or head-scarfs to keep it out of my eyes and mouth).

I would love to have long hair, Mine has always been short, I come from a conservative family - That means the same haircut!
I'm growing it now but it just takes so long, I would be happy even to have hair as long as my Avatar - (its almost that colour LOL)
Love,

Tali

Mines been long for years it used to be the case that I hated how slimey and greasy it got it didn't look very good because 12 hours after washing it needed it again.

now it's pretty good it doesn't get greasy like that.

it's only annoying when i'm working in a dirty environment and I don't have a hair tie and I unintentionally get it in nasty stuff... Or when bugs fly into it >_<

I tried for a number of years to grow my hair long. But mine was very thick and curly so it would never hang very straight. To make matters worse, when it was long I suffered from terribel psiroisis on my scalp.

To be honest, I never connected the psiroisis with the long hair until I was into my 20s. A hair dressor suggested it. It really worked.

I did try a sort of androgonous cut for a while, rather like Mia Farrow had at the time. But I tend to think its about attitude really.

I love to have hair like Virginia. But' let's face it, she's a one-off.

Well, I've been keeping my hair REAL short the past few years, during the last of my denial phase, and it's grey and thinning, too, but I'm growing it a bit longer now (just started), and I'm thinking of trying for a sort of short-ish andro style that could go either way, at least until I'm out everywhere.  At my age, I don't think long would look that good, anyway...

I love the way my hair feels when it's touching my shoulders and back.  Always have.   

The only real hate I have about long hair is taking bites of it when I'm eating.   Gods forbid I forget something to tie it back with when I eat!   Oh .. and I hate when your banks are JUST long enough to tickle your nose all the time.

*used to have extremely long hair*
1) any form of "hair in food"
2) getting caught into stuff (i refused to be a 'lady' and had a habit of getting my braids snagged in treebranches -.-)
3) sitting on it
4) oil doesn't get out of it easily
5) takes 2 boxes to dye :P
6) wind being nuts and you end up with hair in your face unsure where it started from.

K i'm done invading the girls room now

Hehe ... Ok ya .. the Wind thing ... I forgot about that! :D

Combine that with eating outside ... makes for a bad meal! :D

I've worn my hair long most of my life. I just love it. Sure it gets hot and gets in the way sometimes but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's part of who I am.  I love the way it drapes down over my shoulders and breasts.  I like the way it frames my face and the way it looks so feminine, which is why I've always worn it long in the first place.  When I started transitioning it was definitely one of the little things that made it easier.

I love the length I have and if there's anything I hate it's how long it's taking to get the length I want - but it's not long enough yet for me to catalog any downsides. right now it's all good.

well, with the exception that there are bits of it that are not long enough to make it into a clip or pony tail and so they tend to hang out oddly when i have it pulled back.

Mine is to my shoulders now and I love it.  I do not plan on getting it cut ever.

But I really hate tangles.

I never really had many knots to worry about, except when I sleep on it when it is wet, and dries overnight. That's really the only time when it's a nightmare. I don't really let it grow too far beyond my shoulders though.

Quote from: blondwidowspider on August 15, 2010, 08:17:56 PM
I never really had many knots to worry about, except when I sleep on it when it is wet, and dries overnight. That's really the only time when it's a nightmare. I don't really let it grow too far beyond my shoulders though.

How long have you been on hormones and how old are you you look great.

When i was younger i used to wear it long and never gave a second thought about it.

Then i got a little bit older and went with a traditional men's short haircut - I was in the button down business world, and long hair wasn't going to work.

Now that i'm considerably older, and aware of my transgender status - i can't grow hair on parts of my head anymore, but i want long hair again!!!   :-\

So to answer the original question - YES!

I can't wait till my hair gets longer. I haven't cut it in 1 year now and many more to come (except a short trim once a year).

Yesterday during yoga and zumba I noticed myself in the mirror and I was seeing more girl than usual and I think it was that my hair was so much longer. Kinda nice. =)

long hair is just trouble...which is why i've cut it this year before summer hits.

and now i changed my mind and want to grow it long again...

ears make great hairpins most days, the wind is the enemy of anyone with long hair not much you can do but grab a ponytail holder or stuff it in the back of your shirt. the hair brush is still my enemy as i have very fine wisppy hair, doesn't matter if i justs brushed 5 mins ago some days it just  ties its self up, but thats why the gods gave us ponytail holders and thumbs (i.e. Braiding), one other thing i've notice exspecially with me and my g.f. both having long hair..... shower drains(ewww), and vacuums clogs them right up.

When I started transition, my dream was to have long hair.  It is a two edged sword... maintenance etc, but I'll forever claim it's worth it.. at least for another decade, guaranteed.  ;)

One of my milestones about two years ago, was when I jumped in my car, and shut the car door, and my head didn't move... to the center of the seat with the rest of my body.. my hair was caught in the door!  As I was screaming "ouch".. I had a smile the size of the moon!

Melan

Mine used to be pretty even, but I got it layered a few months ago... the stylist took a little bit too much off the length in some areas.  In the back it goes a bit past my shoulders, but in the front it hangs around my chin.  I often keep it tied back (I wear it that way at work) but I think it looks better that way right now.  Once it gets a bit longer, I'll get it evened out again and wear it down outside of work.  A current exception is leaving it down while I run!  It feels so nice to have my hair bouncing around behind me on a cool evening.

The bad parts, as mentioned, are wind and eating :P  Since I'm not long enough in front to tie everything behind yet, wind ends up blowing hair all over my face and I sometimes take a bite of more than just food.  C'est la vie.

I've always liked my hair long. I did do a choppy layered short cut at one point which was nice but..

I like   :):

a) framing effect of long hair
b) styling possibilities
c) swinging my hair around and feeling very girly

I dislike  >:(:

a) wind blowing hair all over waywardly
b) chewing bubble gum and snagging a hair in my gum by accident he he he... it's happened! :embarrassed:
c) going to turn my head and finding that I can't b/c I'm sitting back on it
d) greasiness

Right now my hair is bangs in the front and long to the middle of my shoulder blades in back.

I have long curly hair, which poofs out very easily.
http://i.imgur.com/bgx3J.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/bgx3J.jpg)
EDIT: I didn't realize how large that was. Gotta click the link instead, I didn't feel like making a thumbnail.

I was attempting to grow it out even before I opened up and finally accepted that I was never male, but my mom always forced me to cut it until I discovered how to take care if it properly. I had always just brushed it out dry with the wrong brush and ended up with a jewfro.

I love the compliments I always get for it. Almost every girl I meet loves it and wishes they had my hair. I've spent a few hours relaxing with a girl I just met running her hands through my hair like a comb.
I love the way it feels on my head and around my face, and the way it drapes down over my shoulders. I love how beautifully it flies when I'm banging my head to some Metallica or Society's Plague. I love how it straightens out when water has weighed it down enough, and then curls right up into little ringlets as it dries.

I haven't even figured out how to really do anything fun and stylish with it yet. I haven't let anyone touch it since I had it cut up in 2004. I just throw on Metallica's Whiplash in the morning. I shampoo it once a month, sometimes less, but it gets really frizzy and the curls just don't want to work for weeks after.

I hate the wind and I hate fans.
I hate foods that don't require me to lift my chin to consume them (grapes and popcorn are the best)
I hate seat belts. I have to somehow figure out a way to drape my hair over the seatbelt and hope it doesn't get caught when I'm trying to look towards my blind spot, or behind me as I back up.
I hate trying to brush it out in the morning. A handful of conditioner (non-silicone based) to lubricate the hair and I'm still getting knots and tangles.
I hate the sheer amount of money and effort it takes just to make it not horrible.
I hate that the hair alone doesn't net me more ma'am's.
I hate how it snags on the 5 O'Clock sandpaper.
I hate looking to the side and nearly ripping my scalp off because I was sitting on my hair.
I hate the constant fear I live in, darting eyes left and right to make sure nobody's trying to hide scissors or clippers.


Despite all the hates, I wouldn't trade my hair for anything.


Well almost anything... I'm broken and I want to be fixed NOW! :|

for girls having problems taking care of their hair...long hair is harder to take care of and you have to take care of it -- otherwise you will end up with greasy/knoty/split end/etc. hair that makes you look worse than with short hair.
from personal experience, the trick really is to regulate the amount of grease/oil on your hair. the oil is produced by the root of your hair naturally, and given time it will eventually cover the entire strand of hair by spreading itself over the cuticles. this process works when your hair is short, but over a greater length your scalp will be full of grease before the oil ever reach the end. so you end up with greasy scalp and dry/split ends.
the solution is to shampoo your hair regularly at the scalp and apply conditions at the lower end of your hair. of course you'd have to figure out the type of shampoo and condition that works for you via trial and error!

**used to have hair down to hips. **

I really liked my long hair and wore it super long for about 5 or 6 years (in boy mode as well).  Recently I got it cut short and spiky/funky and really am enjoying the easy maintenance and style.  I do miss the long hair and wonder if I made a mistake from time to time...

Ditto on the hate - wind, hair in mouth.  I also have pretty thin / fine hair so having it be sooo long was just too much weight and i never found a long-long style that made sense for me.

Loved how it made me look and feeling it on my shoulders and back was nice.    Also I liked having "options" on what to do with it (braid, pony, piggy, up, bun, etc...) but usually after brushing it I just pulled it back into a ponytail - easy and quick no fuss.  But boring too...

Short is nice for a change for now.  It can always grow back.

Cheers
-Raya

I have shoulder length hair and love it. It was longer but I was the victim of a gastly hair cut a year ago when a stylist essentially went nuts with my hair and gave me a mullet. Hideous. I wore a hat to cover it up and didn't want to leave the house for weeks unless I absolutely had to. Now, it is getting back to where I want it even though it is a pain for all the reasons mentioned by the others here.

My issue is that my wife says women over 50 shouldn't wear long hair and if I let my hair get any longer, I risk looking like a bizarre spectacle. I dunno, I see older women with long hair and they don't seem like they are being bizarre.

Maggie

Quote from: MaggieB on August 26, 2010, 07:09:17 PM
I have shoulder length hair and love it. It was longer but I was the victim of a gastly hair cut a year ago when a stylist essentially went nuts with my hair and gave me a mullet. Hideous. I wore a hat to cover it up and didn't want to leave the house for weeks unless I absolutely had to. Now, it is getting back to where I want it even though it is a pain for all the reasons mentioned by the others here.

My issue is that my wife says women over 50 shouldn't wear long hair and if I let my hair get any longer, I risk looking like a bizarre spectacle. I dunno, I see older women with long hair and they don't seem like they are being bizarre.

Maggie

I see it all the time.

I keep mine at long bob length and love it on windy days when the wind fluffs it up around my head and sweeps it across my cheeks.
I would so love to have a head of thick GG hair so I coull pile it up and perm and really style it but its just straight

I love my long hair, but I hate that it's dry and gets frizzy without washing it every morning. I have thyroid issues, and that is part of the problem.

Products that work well one day don't seem to work another day, so I'm always searching for a solution.

It's not straight either, it's wavy, and that's both good and bad.

Thank you everyone for your replies  ;D

I love my long hair but worry that some day I'll have to wear a wig... There are a few gals at my apt.s that wear wigs... The only one that really bothers me is this lady who shakes her head and her wig turns half way or completely around covering half or all her face and then we all pretend not to notice while she fixes it

I've had very poor experiences with wigs.    They get hot and the hair doesn't move naturally in a breeze and they're difficult to exercise in.  They also tend to look like wigs because of the size of my head.

I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have hair loss issues to the point of ever having to wear one. :(

Long hair is always beautiful. The natural feel outweighs the pro/cons talk. You could wake up everyday and let it go and it would still look better than shorter styles. lol... well... if you learned how to keep your hair out from under you while you sleep.

Or learned not to roll onto your s.o.'s long hair...

Quote from: Dee_pntx on October 10, 2010, 12:47:59 PM
At night I put on a loose pony holder, twist the tail 2-3 times then take a very large bobby pin and pin the twisted tail to the top of my head.  It keeps it from getting all tangled / knotted up at night.

It's really annoying when you're laying on your hair and you try to move you head and you can't without sitting up first.

I tried that, yet the pin usually breaks.

My hair is long enough to just scoop up over the pillow. When I turn at night, I'm usually awake enough to scoop my hair the other direction.

Guess it is habit after a few years.

I've been putting my hair into pigtails when I go to bed, so it's not tangled in the morning.

A silk pillowcase supposedly helps when trying to avoid tangles, I think I read that in a hairstyling book.

Well I actually never wake up with tangled hair. Ill tell you what I do, but then again im not saying its right or even good, all I know is i dont have that problem.

First off, people wash their hair WAY too much/often. YOu should only wwash your hair 2 times per week. And use a conditioning shampoo. Shampoo strips your hair of the natural oils and other stuff that it NEEDS to be healthy. Second of all use a GOOD conditioner. ALso, sounds loike your hair is dry. Go to the local CVS/Rite Aid or whatever it is called. Look for something called Hair Mayonaise, this is a deep conditioner, there is also one that is like an olive oil gooey stuff. Also, Bed Head conditioners are EXCELLENT!!! thats about it. Now remember, i do NOT claim to be anywhere close to right, its is just my himble opinion

Thx for the recommendations, Superkitty, it always irks me when I go look at conditioners for dry hair, and I read the ingredients, and I see ALCOHOL listed....that just drys your hair more!

I have done a hot oil thingy, and it didn't do much, I also have a jar of olive oil mayo that I occassionaly use, but it really doesn't do much. Now I'm only washing like once a week, the rest of the week I wet it, towel dry and apply a leave in conditioner.

Quote from: NikkiJ on October 15, 2010, 11:25:53 AM
Thx for the recommendations, Superkitty, it always irks me when I go look at conditioners for dry hair, and I read the ingredients, and I see ALCOHOL listed....that just drys your hair more!

I have done a hot oil thingy, and it didn't do much, I also have a jar of olive oil mayo that I occassionaly use, but it really doesn't do much. Now I'm only washing like once a week, the rest of the week I wet it, towel dry and apply a leave in conditioner.

get the organic hair mayonaise the olive cholestorol is bunk. Also, use only warm, NOT hot water in the shower, and HEAT from blow dryer and straightener is really bad. everything I have told you is literally ALL i know about hair. really have no idea how to do anything witrh it, warshing it, conditioning it, putting a towel around it, taking the towel off 30 minutes later, and gently running a brush through it,,,,and where is falls it falls!!! lol

Currently have medium-long hair. I'm a fan..  :) mostly.


Pros:
~It suits me.
~I love the possibilities.
~I feel more feminine because of it.
~I adore the feel of it, particularly on my neck and cheeks.
~I have less anxiety and feel more 'secure' because of it (weird but true).

Cons:
~Knots & tangles suck.
~Humidity sucks (I live in Florida yo - weep for me).
~Reading is beyond annoying without real hair clips or pins (ears don't suffice).
~Strands of hair coming off in the shower & getting frakkin' stuck on your hands/body (Arrg!!).

I'm a cisgendered male, but I have long hair, so I feel like I can reply to this.

I like it 'cause it looks better on me than short hair does. I look like a complete moron with short hair.

But I hate that on windy days, it blows all in front of my face and I can hardly see and I feel kind of stupid with all of my hair in my face like that.

So it's getting windy in the Fall ... so I've found a new hate .... Hair blowing all over and getting stuck to my lip gloss.  How annoying!

My hair is now at the length where the ends end up in my mouth or up my nose. Yea, gross..Can't wait until it gets longer!!!

Quote from: Dana Lane on October 18, 2010, 07:10:48 AM
My hair is now at the length where the ends end up in my mouth or up my nose. Yea, gross..Can't wait until it gets longer!!!

Oh it never stops getting in your mouth or up your nose :P  , regardless of length.   You gotta love it though! 

I like it if I'm not paying attention whilst eating, and next minute, I'm chewing on my hair... yuck, lol.

I've loved and wanted to wear long hair for as long as I can remember (I was never really a hippie-- just a girlish guy, I suppose). I started letting mine grow as soon as I managed to move away from my restrictive parents (at 18 or so). In eager anticipation, I even stopped to picked up a couple of packs of jumbo brush rollers while moving. I've always considered the down sides: hair in the drain, the car door ouch, after shower get ready time, etc. the price you pay something I love.

I have tired of wearing various lengths and styles, though, but I just change them. After growing mine to nearly waist length for years  back in the '90s, I decided I wanted a perky little wedge cut, a style I'd never worn. Lately I've been considering going blond.

I also love wearing wigs-- unless it gets too hot and itchy-- and I have several. That's one in my avatar photo (with the gray top). It's actually nice quality Jacquelyn human hair wig I bought on eBay several years ago. I like it because it's close to my own color, but thicker and longer than mine these days (my own hair's about shoulder length right now). If you get a good wig and fit it well, you can avoid a lot of the pitfalls like slipping and scalp irritation. Hairpieces can be a better way to go and are often more convincing if you just want more length, more on top or a little color contrast. In fact, which a good hairpiece (or clip-in extensions) you can pretty much have your cake and eat it, too in the short vs. long hair department.

Lyric

I like long hair, but my hair is a huge pain when I try to make it all nice, plus I'm just too much of a coward to wear it like that anymore.

However I do keep my hair a lot longer than I used to (thankfully I'm not in my high school marching band anymore, where males had to keep their hair really short, which although I loved my experience in that band, it was a total nightmare for my gender identity). Partially because I look like a little kid when I wear my hair short, and I already have people mistaking me for a fifth/sixth grader with my hair as it is. (I am 21, and yes it is true. I was asked for a kid's menu very recently, the kid's menu was for kids 11 or below) There is also the fact that it is more on the feminine side (in my view) and I like it that way.

What fruit can we eat to change our long hair style? A plasmatic force is often ignored as a quantum force, when water sublimates to float in air. Quantum computers control these quantum forces. We don't always use quantum numbers.

That's been a fascination in zeus and pandora themed augmented reality. Meditate with virtual reality to change appearance. The programs grow into databases, so the fruit may seem like mundane nanobots. The truth is more like nanonature in how the augmentation is done.

Search, a common sensed reason why we are here is when we registered, the date. These dates are like hairgrowth in how they appear stored into computer memory. Each cell on natural hair is like scripture of the past.

Long hair and perfect tense, talked the growth. We used obvious pronoun. How is eve like pandora; did pandora have a fruit? When you buy your shampoo and conditioner, check the label to see if you use a eve fruit or a pandora fruit. The fruit you put into a jar they relate to pyxis, an attic jar possibly filled with fruit. With the pantry in the attic, a pull-down stairway for example, this style exists in already built kitchens.

I doubt pixies of quantum computers are the only ones that like fruit and compare it to quantum friend or quantum strange. Which one is long?

Love long hair.  At first it was a pain, now i am used to it, just another daily thing to take care of it.

The best part is when you let it all down and it tickles your shoulders and back as you move your head side to side.  Also, my fiance likes the smell of it, hes always sniffing my head... weird guy. 

Another bonus is that not only does it feel good on your skin, it feels pretty good on someone else's skin if you know what I mean.. HEH. 

I got extensions on Tuesday. Loving them =) Sucks they only last 2 months haha

I prefer it longer on me but it looks better shorter.

Long for me was touching my neck and it was close to long enough for a pony.

Oh but DHT has taken a good portion of my hair and it just looks better short.  I went to a beauty college for a haircut  and showed a picture of a lady with a pixie.  After one hour and several people I got a male haircut.  My beard has been permanently removed over my ears and yet I still was given straight sideburns even though the model had a slant on the sideburns for her pixie.

Androgyne dropping in here.  ;D
I have never had my hair short, so I do kind of wonder what it would be like. I think it would be fun to be able to gel it and stuff. And when it gets tangled (and oh boy does it get tangled! Yay for curly hair?) I sometimes think 'maybe I should just shave it off, this is way too much work', but... I wouldn't be me without my long hair. People wouldn't recognise me for a start, and I am now an expert at walking in the wind without being able to see a thing. I suppose it helps that it's long enough to tie into a knot if I need it out of the way, but still. I wash it properly maybe twice a week, and prior to that I have to spend about an hour trying to brush it through. Not all that fun.
Oh, and I realise when I tie it up that I actually use it to hide my face a lot. If I'm embarrassed, upset or contemplating, down come the curtains! So this hair does have some use after all.  :D

Summary:
GOOD
-Looks cool
-Means people recognise me
-Can hide face if need be
BAD
-Painful arduous brushing sessions
-Unable to see in high winds
-It attacks people if I turn around too fast.

Quote from: Jerica on October 21, 2010, 03:22:03 PM
I got extensions on Tuesday. Loving them =) Sucks they only last 2 months haha

I noticed on another thread.  They look awesome!   Very natural looking.  I may have to start traveling to get to your stylist up there she seems amazing!

Quote from: Epigania on October 21, 2010, 10:44:53 PM
I noticed on another thread.  They look awesome!   Very natural looking.  I may have to start traveling to get to your stylist up there she seems amazing!

Hehe thanks. It wasn't my usual stylist though....but a lady I met that is going to Evergreen Beauty College in Everett. I just posted a video log about my experience so check it out

Quote from: Jerica on October 21, 2010, 03:22:03 PM
I got extensions on Tuesday. Loving them =) Sucks they only last 2 months haha

They look beyond amazing! Wow, make me think of getting some. A friend of mine has been trying to talk me into letting him do it for months now. Did you get your sewn in?

Quote from: Dana Lane on October 22, 2010, 06:56:57 AM
They look beyond amazing! Wow, make me think of getting some. A friend of mine has been trying to talk me into letting him do it for months now. Did you get your sewn in?

Yep sewn in. Check out my VLOG about the whole experience if you're curious

Eating your hair... It's bad enough to realize that there is a hair in your food... But then you realize that it's your hair and it's still attached to your head... not only that, It's pushing against your nose, caught in a tooth and tickling your throat  :P

Hair extensions, oh yeah. I use to get them. here is what youll need to know. they get dry and frizzy really fast. you only want to wash your hair every 7 to 10 days using a gentle shampoo. and of course a goog conditioner. dont use hot water in hair. instead use lukewarm. you are also gooing to want to use a deep conditioner every 5 days. do not use heated dryers, curlers, or straighteners. The better quality hair the longer it will last. if your using blonde, make sure it is a natural blonde not bleached. good luck! and sewn in xtensions are less damaging than other kinds! let me know how they hold up against getting dry

I used to have long hair and was always very proud of my crowning glory (see pic) and not having to wear a wig. Unfortunately with the chemotherapy it all feel off. It  has regrown again but lighter, curly and grey. Luckily a lot of mature and confident women of my age wear their hair grey and short. So I learned to style it that way and still manage to pass without having to wear a wig.
Life is good.
LL&R
Maebh

Well...I've had long hair before and I can't wait to grow it out again. 

LOVE: Styling it and putting up in top ponytail...I think that is uber sexy!  And whipping it around a lot making it tickle the back of my neck.

HATE: Well I have a stupid callac (spelling?) on the front right side of my head so when my hair is long there is like this tiny part where the hair is growing in a different direction making it look all messy.  Straightening it sometimes helps, but not often!

I miss my long hair. I let it grow from age 17 until probably about age 25, by which point it was nearly to my waist. Then I cut it off because I had gotten tired of taking care of so much hair. Now, it's back down to shoulder length since I started growing it out again about two years ago, and I'm much happier.

I let my hair grow out shortly after the avatar photo, twelve years ago, and it has reached its maximum length, the middle of my back. Being filthy when I get home from work each morning, I take a warm shower, brush the ground-in grime from my nails and hands, shampoo and condition my hair. Then, on the advice of a stylist friend, I put on a leave-in conditioner after the shower, and comb it through my hair. That's it; I put on a hair band and it air dries.

When ready to go out, I run the comb through again (the leave-in conditioner makes that easy), and put it in a pony tail. Some friends came by impromptu this weekend, and said I should wear it loose more often, but the pony tail is the result of a compromise with my wife and youngest daughter. It sometimes bothers them that I have the longest hair in the family. For work, I have found some sports elastics that hold it in place against everything except an industrial strength fan blowing right at me. I don't turn over in bed without waking, so it's no real bother to turn and flip my hair out of the way before going back to sleep.

I always wanted long hair as I was growing up, and my mother would threaten to tie it in a ribbon. That wouldn't have bothered me, but I grew up in very up-tight times in a tough, "blighted" neighborhood, so I eventually complied with her wishes. She also called me strubbel kopf, German that implied my hair looked like a haystack. The college barber ignored me requests and gave a haircut, I later found out was called a Princeton, a kind of crewcut.

I find my pony tail as easy to care for and as consistently neat as any style other than the crewcut. The latter is important to me, since I will not fix my hair in a mens room. I do not feel like I belong there and try to get out as quickly as possible; I avoid locker rooms at all costs.

Since I first discovered the concept, I knew I was transgendered. Had there been an internet and a Susan's Place, I might have transitioned. Instead, I early decided to keep it a tightly held secret, and to express my inner self quietly. My long hair in the pony tail does that. As others have said, I love the way it feels on neck, shoulders, and ears. Some of my shirts with lowered necklines let me feel it when fully clad (fortunately, outside of head and pubic areas, I am virtually hairless), and let my necklace be seen.

Hair in the mouth at mealtime is definitely an annoyance, but not embarrassing, as when my wife finds one of my hairs in food I've cooked for her. In fact, she will call to my attention, long hair she finds anywhere except on my head. So I am careful to clean the tub after showering. That also avoids the problem with clogged drains. In fact, any loose hairs I find in the house, go straight to the trash.

I don't get hair caught in the car door, but I do catch the pony tail in my purse strap. And I did have to do some thinking to make pony tail compatible with a yarmulke (probably very few of you have that problem).

My real regret is that I lack the knack and opportunity to try it in more styles. I looked up online how to make a bun, and have done that, but been unsatisfied with the result. Maybe I am just not creative enough.

All in all, I am just so thankful every day that I have lived long enough to experience long hair. I am so glad it is wavy. It is such a gift; I just love it.

S

I love my long hair. I grew up being forced to have super short hair by my grandparents, usually so short I didn't have to wash or comb it. I started growing it out in 2003 and after the first year of hearing that it looked awful on me and I was going to hell because of it (seriously), everyone got used to it.

The long hair isn't really that much more work unless I'm doing something to get sweaty, then it just tangles like crazy. I also absolutely hate the wind, my hair is thick, but fine and wispy too, even the slightest breeze destroys it. It's woth it though, I love my hair color, somehow I'm the only natural blonde (not counting one second cousin) on either side of my family; I get quite a few compliments on it.

Currently, my hair is a few inches longer than it is in my avatar, it's arrow straight. It used to be fairly wavy, I miss it :( This pic is from when it was at it's longest in 2005?, I'm about an inch away from that length currently.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi879.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab352%2Fsometimesara%2FMe%2Fhair-1.jpg&hash=8c51932804d74243a71fa637dc80a505f8415197)

Me, 20 years ago, or thereabouts...

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdl.dropbox.com%2Fu%2F5369016%2Fgemma-1990ish.jpg&hash=0711e9bc727afaf6100be82198ca4a4a6cfdb0ff)