Why shouldnt close-mindedness extend towards Sikhs? The point being made (I believe) is that long hair on men makes them look (to certain others) like idiots. If they tie that long hair up in manner of a current style-trend, then unlike ‘fades’ and side-partings etc (1950s male haircuts) they are deemed especially affectatious, feminine, precious self-conscious, etc etc. if only they’d do the side-parting short thing they could redeem their vile selves. Basically all of the US/UK stereotypes still apply towards men with long hair since the days when it somehow became verboten. I’d be interested to know if, say, Swedish, Spanish, Japanese or Native American men face the same prejudice?
Indian males seem to have similar issues.:
http://mysay.in/2013/06/27/man-with-long-hair/
^The writer of the article assumes (hilariously) that Western males don’t encounter the same prejudice. I started growing my hair out at 14, because I liked to have long hair, partly as I identified with rock music other than the new mod revival craze whichI saw as conformist (irony!)
From 14 – 30 I was ocassionally accused of all kinds of things – all on account of being a male with long hair (either loose or tied in various ways. Strange men would (only ever when they are in groups or with a girl/girls) literally bray from across a bar or someplace : “Ha, what the F*** do you think you look like?”. Often this was aggressive as well as mocking. Sometimes the two are hard to separate.
What was always true in their mind is that I fully deserved it. Growing up in the industrial Midlands piss-taking was and is common among friends and colleagues. It’s expected and often forms the greater part of any conversation, also a lot of fun yet it needs to be done right, like sarcasm, it’s a fine line. Yet when strangers feel obliged to sneer and make it known to your face it’s a whole different thing. Feels horrible. Especially when they themselves are partaking of a growing social fad of sneering at people who somehow failed the style-test.