I have curly hair and straighten it once in a blue moon (think about once every two years).  Well I recently transfered schools where I knew no one and where no one had ever seen me with straight hair.  So, one day I decided to slave over the flat iron for about one hour (literally) and when I was finish my hair was pin straight and about twice as long.  I was really interested in the reactions from other people considering that the 'hottest' style among high school girls seems to be long and straight.  Well I walked into school and all my female friends complimented me on my 'new hair' and even went as far to tell me that I should do it everyday!  Well, my mind registered an outomatic no to that one.  But my male friends (being bluntly honest) reacted very differently and in a negative way.  One friend looked highly confused and inquired 'is it permanent?'  But I thought this was interesting and wanted to report my findings!  Go curls!

It is interesting the the guys would be more interested in the curls than the girls.   :-/  Maybe the girls are just wanting you to "fit the mold" and the guys are more interested in the "real you"!  ;D

Yes, I assumed that girls in general care more about trendiness, but what surprised me the most was how my guy friends seemed to like the curls better.  I assumed they would like the new hair because it was what's in right now, but it just goes to show you that long, classic, naturally worn hair will probably always be timeless.  And I'm talking about all hair types, not just curly!

What a nice compliment the guys gave you ;D.  They like you just the way you are!  

Interesting that one seemed rather confused with the change -- that may be more the norm when we insist on showing up with different hair styles, colors, curliness all the time.  They never know who they're really dealing with!  Poor guys, no wonder they are so confused and end up saying/doing the wrong thing ;)

I think guys tend to think girls overdo their hair.  Two interesting comments from my boyfriend in the last year were:

"Eeew, why does she have all that stuff in her hair.  It looks crunchy"  This was regarding someone who had product all down the lengh of her hair.  This was a common look, so I never really noticed.

The other comment was "Why is every picture with their hair flying like that"  This was in regard to a Victoria's Secret catalog.  You know how they use those big fans to make the model's hair fly around?  He thought it looked silly.  I think it looked artsy (and I know it's hard to take a pic with hair flying, so I appreciated the technical aspects of the photo.)

But it just goes to show that men and women are "wired" differently.  We've known that for a while but knowing what the other side thinks still surprises me sometimes.

Cynde

A perspective from the confused gender...  ;D

The guys were probably confused and not as accepting of the change because when a lass does something dramatic to their hair, we associate this event as meaning more than a simple hair style change. Our internal warning bells go off that something is afoot. Call us paranoid, but, hey, we're just simple guys.

wrote on Sep 11^th, 2005 at 12:34pm:

A perspective from the confused gender...  ;D The guys were probably confused and not as accepting of the change because when a lass does something dramatic to their hair, we associate this event as meaning more than a simple hair style change. Our internal warning bells go off that something is afoot. Call us paranoid, but, hey, we're just simple guys.

And we're not a really nice gender to keep you guys in a constant state of paranoia and confusion -- and then get mad 'cuz you say/do, or don't say/do what we expect ::)

LOl. Natural Rouge, I'm laughing in front of the computer. You poor men. Yes we are terrible creatures for not tellign you when we do somethign to our hair taht nothing is afoot. Aw. It's good to see a good opinion here form the other gender too. I guess women still manage to be mysterios creatures. Lol.

Poor guys, no wonder they are so confused and end up saying/doing the wrong thing  

Easy gals we don't want the opposite sex to have a reason to blame everything on us, I know I get the blame most usually anyway.

Yes all the problems between men and women originate with hair :P. Just kidding.

wrote on Sep 14^th, 2005 at 12:59am:

Yes all the problems between men and women originate with hair :P. Just kidding.

LOL! Ahhh, but whose hair?  ;D

wrote on Sep 11^th, 2005 at 12:34pm:

A perspective from the confused gender...  ;D The guys were probably confused and not as accepting of the change because when a lass does something dramatic to their hair, we associate this event as meaning more than a simple hair style change. Our internal warning bells go off that something is afoot. Call us paranoid, but, hey, we're just simple guys.

I'm going to agree with Rogue here, I think a guy would wonder about the "special occasion" because why else would a gal drastically change her hair? All my life I've lived around men so they've really affected the way I think. This is going to sound a bit too generalized, but women tend to get bored with appearance much more often than men (I don't quite have it figured it out yet). Genetic, eh?  

Both genders have different and valid reasons for liking or disliking monotony and repetition in general. Women dislike monotony/repetition and tend to inject more variety and new experiences into their lives, hence much ado with hair, clothing, makeup, and other things that are "accessible for safe daily tinkering". It could also be the nature of women to tinker with things, to touch them, to mother inanimate objects, or oneself. Doing your hair is like doing your doll's hair. You're tending to something, whether or not it's alive, tending to an activity.

Men seem to like monotony/repetition because it's a constant and comfortable reassurance. Bear has a tendency to use a comfy pair of shoes, a favorite coat, whatever it is, until it dies or falls apart. I gave him a painted wooden tab that he kept on his keys (and all the paint chipped off until it was unrecognizable) until it broke in two.

We are definitely wired differently, but there's a lot for both genders to learn. I think it's fascinating that women constantly change but I love how much men make sense. ;)

Fiore, way to go! :)

Perhaps the guys "sensed" the high maintenance of straightening your hair.  Am I right NR that high maintenance women tend to worry guys?

Thanks, Anais, for saying the things I was thinking, but failed to describe in an adequate way. I can sympathize with your bear about "favorite" items. :)

ChiliPepper, I had not considered nor even thought of the "high maintenance" angle. Considering these fellows might not have a great breadth of experience in gender relations, I doubt they were thinking high maintenance, either. Now, as to running, screaming from high maintenance, I can honestly say I've not had that issue; namely, because in past relationships I tended to be the more high maintenance one while she was less.  ;D

That's interesting that your experiment ended up like this.  When I dyed my hair black, the girls were usually said, 'WE WANT IT BLONDE AGAIN."  And the guys were like, "HOT."

I could pull off both pretty well, I guess.  Look, here's a picture of it!

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/1658/blackhair6zw.jpg

Yep - you are one of the lucky ones that can pull it off!  I look soooo wrong in black hair.  

Cute picture!  Thanks!  :D

Lookee you!  You look so pretty.  Have you thought of modeling?  

Cynde

Awww *blushes*

I really, really miss the black.  It was just way too much money to keep it up.  I have a "neutral" base for my skintone (not pink or blue) so I can pull off a bunch of colors.

As for modeling, I don't think it's for me.  But I do have a few friends who do.  They're all gorgeous!

Wow, Pan you look fabulous with black hair and with blonde hair!!   :o

Wow, panpeus, I have to agree,
HOT!

But you do look great with the blonde too.

Panpeus, I did a similar experiment. I dyed my hair black, but it turned out dark, dark brown. Many people didn't notice or at least didn't say anything because I had started brown to the change wasn't as drastic as blond to black.
I did have a few people become distressed and ask when it would go back to normal. Unfortunatly, it didnt' stay as short a time as it should have. It said it would only stay abour 12 to 14 washes. Here it is a year and a half later and I am still growing it out.  :-/ Now I know.
Meg

Wow!  The black looks great!  I just look all washed out with dark hair :-[

In high school I went thru a black phase, everything was black- clothes, shoes and yes, hair!  I still wear a lot of black, but keep my hair its natural shade now.  My grandmother used to tell me that I looked like I had a lump of tar on my head, not a great compliment, but was probably the truth!  :-/

As for the whole guy/girl thing, he (hubby) is definetly the one who is "steady", like Anais said, he will hold on to everything he owns to the last thread and not change unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.  Me, on the otherhand, I'm as flakey and flighty as the day is long!  I'm constantly on the search for better, different, more interesting things...the grass is always greener, ya know!  If my hairs long & straight - I want it short & curly, if it's brown - I want it red, I want bangs - then I don't, then I do, then I don't...I'm a certified, bonafied nutcase of a woman!  I hope in my next life I come back as a (long-haired) man, at least I'll be sane then!  ;)

...when my male friends come  to me complaining about their relationships, I just look at them and tell them "I told ya women are nuts, what are crying to me for!"  At least they get a laugh!  ;D