Long hair is by DESIGN. And this is in mind for BOTH sexes, for hair length has nothing to do with the distinction between the sexes. At birth, boys are born with about 10% less hair length than girls on average. Actually, it is even a less than a 10% difference. The average hair growth rate between males and females over a ENTIRE YEAR’S TIME is only 2% greater in females, or barely any difference at all. Lastly, the genetic code implanted by the CREATOR HIMSELF has mandated that MOST women can grow hair to a longer length than MOST men. Even so, men are NOT designed with unnaturally super-short hair, which is on the contrary, a forced manmade concept. It is not in the genetic code and neither is baldness for that matter.

The point is that women are designed to have a little more hair length than men, not alot more. Females, if they don’t interfere with the natural disposition of the hair, should have the ability to grow waste-length hair. Males, if they don’t interfere by constant cutting and super-short hair (which leads to and causes scalp and follicle damage), should be able to grow hair about 50% to 75% the hair length of women or say mid-back. After all, even the low elevations of the corners of the hairline of the neck prove that men are supposed to wear hair to the base of the neck at the very least, or shoulder-length hair. Here is the way we are DESIGNED to look:

These photographs make it quite clear. The females have very pretty long locks indeed. The young men have a natural longer hair length, but quite a bit shorter than the young women, perhaps 30% to 50% shorter. If other men gained the courage to grow their hair to the lengths of these fine young men shown herein, then there would be far less scalp and hair loss problems in our modern, plastic society. Besides, long hair adds considerable beauty to one’s appearance, whether male or female.

Prior to my recent open heart surgery I was instructed not to shave my chest. The reason is that razor blades cause micro-abrasions. Bacteria lodge in these damaged areas leading to surgical site infections. Instead the pre-operation technicians now use a specialized clipper that does not cut the hair all the way to the skin surface. I already new about the bacteria problem caused by shaving and I demonstrate in Our LONG HAIRitage how unhealthy shaving and close-cropping the head really is.

The signs of infection are easy to observe on a shorn man’s head. Pimples and swollen reddened skin can be readily seen on their necks and beard regions. For example, while standing in line at places like the grocery store, take a moment to look at the back of the man’s neck in front of you. Infectious pimples along the hairline will be staring back at you. Repetitive shaving is abusive and can lead to permanent scars.

The 100% cure for razor induced infection is to wear longer hair and beards.

Besides this, since there is no hair to protect – sunburns leads to wrinkles, leathery skin, and even skin cancer. Although it is okay to trim the hair and beard, care must be taken not to cut it too short. At the very least and for the sake of your very own health, wear it at a length so that it protects the ears and neck. Hair looks far better than pimples and skin eruptions.

Research scientist Dr. Loren Pickart of Skin Biology, Bellevue, Washington discovered Skin Remodelling Copper Peptides (SRCPs) during his search for methods to reverse the biochemistry of human aging. He found that SRCPs reverse many types of skin damage as well as the repair of other tissues in the body such as bone, the intestinal tract and hair follicles. Dr. Pickart believes that excessive hair cutting and short hair lead to skin damage and baldness. He understands full well that longer hair is healthier and posted a page on his website in support of Our LONG HAIRitage:

http://folligen.com//sigler-long-hair.php

After going to the link above, you should spend some time on the other pages of Dr. Pickarts extensive site. He relays the truth regarding the real causes of skin damage (many of which are manmade just like hair loss) and has many natural products available to heal the skin and hair follicles.

In an email correspondence, Spanish scientist Armando José Yáñez Soler, congratulated the author, Roger Sigler, of Our LONG HAIRitage.  In his paper, Cultural evolution as a possible triggering or causative factor of common baldness, published in Med Hypotheses (2004), Soler relates that longer hair prevents baldness. He says “common baldness is a degenerative process derived from certain inadequate practices, such as excessive hair cutting or certain types of haircuts that prevent contact among the hairs themselves.” By certain types of haircuts, he means short hair and stresses that sebum (oil) flow must not be deterred! The sebaceous gland within each follicle produces the oil called sebum. The sebum must maintain a proper inward flow towards the base of the hair follicle or papilla where it delivers the stem cells needed for hair construction . The sebum then needs a place to go – this is outward flow. “Sebum has two ways of being eliminated on the outside. One is a longitudinal way, sliding along the hair shaft (from the base of the hair shaft to the tip of the hair), and the other one is a transverse way, transferring it from one hair to its neighbour.” Long hair “allows the elimination of sebum” and is indeed the pathway for proper oil flow.

Soler goes on to say that military personnel, skinheads and others who wear short hair “can induce problems with the sebum flow.” If the normal elimination of sebum is hindered, this leads to blockage and a chain reaction of degenerative effects. There is a “decrease of the production pace and blockage of stem cells, preventing arrival to the dermal papilla, leading to the process of hair shaft miniaturization in all cases of common baldness. The blockage of sebum flow provokes oxidation and an increase of free radicals and higher sebum viscosity.” This and other ill effects due to super short hair eventually leads to cell death – apoptosis!

To summarize, longer hair provides the space and pace for the proper removal of oil from the follicles.

The full paper, parts of which are quoted above, can be viewed and printed from his website:

http://www.againstalopeciaandbaldness.com/index.asp

To see his hypothesis and a nice video cartoon that shows proper and improper sebum (oil) flow, go here and click “Hypothesis”:

http://www.againstalopeciaandbaldness.com/

Or the Abstract on PubMed can be found here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15142661

Occasionally, someone makes a comment that long hair on a man is effeminate. True history teaches otherwise. The ancient Spartans, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hebrews, Vikings, Celts, Scandinavians, along with Native American tribes and several other nations testify to the abysmal deficiency of this argument. Even the early Christians and the white Christian founding fathers of America, with ponytails dancing in the wind, wore long hair. These people were hardly effeminate. In fact, most people within these groups abhorred effeminacy. The long-haired men loved their long-haired women, who generally had much longer hair than them, even waist-length.

On the contrary, it is and was common practice now and even in the 1970s-1980s that most gay men wear really short hair even when longer hair styles are popular. In fact, there seems to be a connection between homosexuality and super short hair, buzz cuts, or a shaved head. They certainly have an addiction to the razor. A long haired friend in the gothic subculture emailed me an interesting internet article written June 22, 2007 by an openly gay man named Robert Kesse (It is entitled, Psychology of the Haircut Fetish); for full article go to

http://haircutfetish.wordpress.com/

Kesses’s research into the haircut fetish included his very own therapist and other psychologists. Their diagnosis was unanimous. Kesse relates

EVERY SINGLE ONE of these mental health professionals picked up on something that I realized was the underlying factor at the heart of this fetish: a fear of emasculation. At some point in these men’s lives, their subconscious mind made an intrinsic connection between their masculinity, and the length of their hair. They may have felt effeminate in some aspect of their lives. Almost all of those who have this interest are gay men. Society usually associates male homosexuality with effeminacy.

The remarkable thing is that nearly all who have this HAIRCUT FETISH fear emasculation, and MOST ARE GAY. This does not mean all are gay. But it does suggest an unhealthy psychological disorder. So in a gay man’s mind, real men wear real short hair. But is not the homosexual act itself, which emanates from a man’s heart, effeminate? The outward appearance does not change a man’s heart. And what about the heart of those with buzz cuts? Are these buzzards not the ones who attempt to STEAL what is not theirs? Stealing is what they do as they peck and pluck in an attempt to force long hairs to cut it off? 

It causes me to wonder who originally instigated the unnatural fanatical haircut rule in the modern military, which has been passed on to civilian society. The long-haired heterosexual Christian founders of America focused on the hearts of those they commanded, just like all the long-haired men of ancient times did. However, a misplaced focus on shearing a man’s head hair may originate from someone (probably gay) with a haircut fetish. Most enlisted men are not gay; however, they may be suffering under the edict of one pschologically disturbed man …. Mmmm, I wonder. I guess I will have to research this too.

The truth is that most long haired men are not gay nor are they effeminate. On the contrary men with long hair are at peace with their sexuality, and practically all are heterosexual. Manly long hair (and facial hair too) are, as Bob Marley rightly believed, like the mane of a lion. The early Christian Nazarites would have agreed with Bob in this accord.

The main constituent of hair is the protein, keratin. Proteins are large molecules composed of small organic molecules called amino acids. Proteins include enzymes and specialized cells used to build structures such as hair. Enzymes are catalysts that facilitate chemical reactions. Hair formation begins with linking amino acids together by chemical bonding.  Linked amino acids are called polypeptide chains. Protein structures associated with hair formation can be disrupted by denaturation when a polypeptide chain unwinds or changes shape. When this happens, all the tiny protein structures and chemical reactions associated with the formation of hair (follicle, bulb or root, papilla) can no longer function. Exposure is the cause of most hair loss. Exposure includes super short hair because it exposes the scalp, abusive excessive cutting, chemical agents in many hair care products, chlorine, sun damage (over-exposure). Short hair, having less weight, leads to weakened muscles (protein) of the scalp. If you change your ways, you can save your scalp and hair, and as an added bonus: prevent skin cancer.   

denature – to change the nature or natural qualities of (Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary, 1984). Another way of putting it is, doing what is unnatural. Get the facts, buy the book!

Maggie Mulhern, Beauty & Fashion Director at Modern Salon magazine promotes longer hair cuts for scalp health.

She rightly relayed that Our LONG HAIRitage discusses hair and scalp issues from the root up including nutrition, shampoos, chemicals, hair length, and even has an impressive historical section about longer hair cuts.

It is hoped that every salon will eventually understand how longer cuts reduce the risk of hair loss, baldness, skin cancer, barber’s rash, and other disease. For the full story and more information about Modern Salon magazine go to http://www.modernsalon.com/blogs/editors/maggie-mulhern/Our-LONG-HAIRitage-143836956.html

Womens Lifestyle Magazine, Grand Rapids, MI supports Our LONG HAIRitage. In their January 2012 issue, Marianne Bockhiem writes “If you are perpetually perplexed by your hair, fear hair loss, or are passionate about the subject of hair, then this is your book. Our Long Hairitage is a tapestry of scientific facts, historical information, and advice that will make you rethink how you are caring for your hair and scalp.”

As an esthetician, commercial makeup artist, and CEO of Intelligent Beauty LLC., Marianne Bockhiem has been waving her magical mascara wand and dressing others for nearly 20 years. She’s been seen at L.A. Fashion Week and Fashion Group headquarters of N.Y., and teaches in Grand Rapids Community College’s fashion department. During our telephone she said she loved the book, especially the great detail and historical information contained in Our LONG HAIRitage. It is a wonderful thing when females support long hair on women and men alike for the betterment of health and beauty for both sexes.

Roger Sigler

In my book, Our LONG HAIRitage, Bringing Peace and Health to Your Head, it shows how and why long hair is far healthier than those who crop their heads. I am not the first to understand this concept. Natural health advocate, Bernarr Macfadden said the same thing over a hundred years ago. Here are some remarks from his books:

“The principle reason why a woman’s hair is stronger, and grows longer than the opposite sex, is that it is allowed to grow long from very early youth.” But “when kept closely cropped as in boys, conditions” become “decidedly different.” The scalp is weak because it is trained to become thinner and less “blood is attracted to it.” This is why males are more liable to lose their hair than females whose hair is more “strongly rooted and nourished (1).”

He also encourages daily massages of the scalp, which include pinching large swaths of the scalp and pulling and brushing the hair. Pulling and tugging temporarily adds weight to “exercise” and strengthen the scalp. It is of utmost importance, to keep the subcutaneous fat layer (that rests on the scalp) loose and pliable (2). Of course, just the extra weight of long hair does this all day long. Nevertheless, extra tugging will even strengthen your scalp more!

Although Macfadden’s books are somewhat dated, he came to the exact same conclusions I have. And like him there really is no excuse for premature baldness. He thought the average length of American and English men’s hair is 6 to 8 inches; however, he said we all “kowtow” to a dumb “custom” to keep the “hair much shorter than these lengths” (2). So get educated, tell your friends. Is it not time to educate all these crop-headed conformists out there? By understanding the truth will allow you to not only defend long hair, but to actually promote it with sound science. After all they are the ones promoting baldness out of shear ignorance.

In fact his last words in his 1899 book (1), “Don’t wear it [hair] too short” says it all, if you really want to have a full head of hair for life.

(1) Bernarr Macfadden, Macfadden’s New Hair Culture: Rational, Natural Methods for Cultivating Strength and Luxuriance of Hair, 4th Edition (New York: Physical Culture Publishing, 1899).
(2) Bernarr Macfadden, Hair Culture: Rational Methods for Growing Hair and for Developing Its Strength and Beauty (New York: Macfadden Publications, Inc., 1924).