A "man with long hair" is a man that has head hair that has been grown past his ears and that commonly rests as cheek-length (when the tips of the hairs reach the cheeks of the face), neck- length, shoulder-length and sometimes growing past the shoulders and resting on their back.
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The idea of man with long hair has developed over thousands of years. If you believe in cave-men, well, they had long hair because they really had no choice; there are many biblical references to long hair (such as the story of Samson and Delilah (excessively long hair as a weakness) and whether Jesus actually had long hair and whether long hair is acceptable on Christian men) and many religions and beliefs and movements encourage the growth of long hair (and often, beards) on men to express a spiritual connection and understanding of what is around them.
More recently, the 1960s saw the Beat Generation - a group of "new bohemian libertines, who engaged in a spontaneous, sometimes messy, creativity", and who encouraged a new generation to express themselves through their appearance and language, especially through long hair, which was almost seen as an extension of their rebellious and spontaneous attitude to life. The 1960s opened the door of confidence for men to 'go back to their roots' and wear their hair long, not being the conventional short-haired, usual man. With long hair, they were expressing something unique.
However, long-haired men (and women) slowly began to seperate in these recent generations: "there were certainly some stylistic differences between "beatniks" [the Beat Generation] and "hippies" — sombre colors, dark shades, and goatees gave way to colorful "psychedelic" clothing and long hair, which became the "hippy" style. The Beats were known for "playing it cool" (keeping a low profile) but the hippies became known for "being cool" (displaying their individuality), through physical appearances.
Nowadays, long hair on men is seen as a 'different', and often 'cool' thing to do. (That Beatles mop-top is quite in.) Many people may immediately associate them with the apparent image of Jesus from thousands of years ago, or hippies from the 1960s, or rockstars from the 1970s and 1980s (music taste is a very strong stimulus), and most popularly, people who fold themselves in the culture of motorcycles, a rockstar lifestyle on the road, husky voices and stubble to match. The hippie-rockstar lifestyle.
However, many of these stereotypes can be offensive to men of today, and even of then. But the strong theory remains that men with long hair express something unique and sensitive within, even if they don't know it.
Written by Raine, the fanlisting owner