MovieChat Forums > America's Sweethearts (2001) Discussion > why do women think that scruffy LONG HAI...

why do women think that scruffy LONG HAIR GUYS are romantic?

posted 14 years ago by LTUM
9 replies | jump to latest

this is something i have wondered about for years, and now i am asking: women i hope you will explain this to me.

why is it considered 'sexual' or 'romantic' or whatever if the guy in the movie is foreign with long hair (and maybe a beard, sometimes, maybe not)

it has become a cliche, but the cliche must be based in truth. i can give a few examples, but there are manymany more.

the hank azarra character in 'americas sweethearts'
olivier martinez in 'unfaithful'
this guy in 'greetings from the shore'
fabio was the 'standard' for romance covers for decades
romance covers STILL have the guy (usually) wear flowing locks

i just plain don't get it. is it a visceral feeling? is it some kind of butterflies telling the woman 'orgasms will be better and more frequent if the guy has long hair'

....or is it the bad boy syndrome as in 'my mom said long hair men are rebels so they are naughty, and nice girls shouldnt talk to naughty boys...

i am completely baffled. i hope someone can help me understand.

(and dont say 'its the personality that counts or some crap like that. i am refrerring to the documented stereotype, as illustrated by the cliche, and NOT referring to your personal story of experience or whatever)

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"Where.... can I put my ash?"

[–] PlatinumScreen 14 years ago

hmmmm. good question ltum. let me say up front that men with long flowing locks are the scourge of my earth and fly in the face of all that is manly and rugged to me. daniel craig's hair in casino royale should become the law of the land for all men LOL.

it has to do maybe with getting back at daddy who probably had short hair and mommy who was married to a man with short hair.

it has to do maybe with sex seeming dirtier and raunchier and his long hair tickling her face during the act.

it has to do maybe with the hollywood training of girls to believe that the ultimate in sex and romance is to be bedded by a long haired lover from some distant land and then come back home to her normal, boring life but even when she's 65 she will smile to herself as she recalls her long haired lover as she's making fried eggs for her normal, boring husband.

it has to do maybe with the societal blurring of the lines between the sexes meaning ultimately men have to become androgynous beings to attract women because women don't want john wayne anymore. they want hugh grant with his floppy girly hair.

it has to do maybe with women thinking a long haired man is more like her so he would be more "sensitive" and "caring" than a "brutish" short haired man who would order the beef for her in a restaurant when she wanted fish.

why would a man want to look less than a man and why would a woman want someone on her arm who looks more like her than not? who knows.

short haired guys RULE!!!!!!! i don't want a man with hair that looks like it would get caught in a belt if he was fixing my car and i would have to free him and then fix the car myself. hahahaha

just some thoughts from plat :)

[–] LTUM 14 years ago

I AM GLAD YOU LIKE SHORT HAIR DUDES. I STILL WONDER WHY LONG HAIR IS THE CLICHE FOR ROMANCE THOUGH............. oops, caps

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"Where.... can I put my ash?"

[–] PlatinumScreen 14 years ago

seems to me hollywood uses this cliche to differentiate a female actress's love interests and it has seeped into the public consciousness and is perceived as the gospel truth. the short hair normal guy vs. the long hair hot lover. if they cast the same type of guy, the female character wouldn't appear to be making a change.

life imitating art.

[–] LTUM 14 years ago

that's an interesting point, that there wouldnt appear to be a change. but i am wondering why it started, how it started. i cant see that it was arbitrary, to choose long hair, so i want to know why they chose THAT demo specifically.

what you up to today

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"Where.... can I put my ash?"

[–] PlatinumScreen 14 years ago

i think they chose that demo specifically because hollywood tends to make normal things and people appear to be lesser than and boring to suit the plot. short haired guys are portrayed as status quo and ho-hum and a woman can't possibly have a tingle going up her leg for him, so they have to throw in someone really dark and mysterious with hair in his eyes so she can have that orgasmic rush that she is really truly living her life and couldn't before with short hair man.

it's all messed up to me.

what plat doing today? i was thinking of asking a buddy o' mine if he wanted to do some geekin' with me. :)

[–] movieperson113 14 years ago

Um Hank Azaria has "long hair" in this movie? Maybe in the front but that's not a good example. If you're comparing him to Seth Green then yeah it's down to his knees. I think if it was long like Walken's hair then you got something there.

I understand the point, but Azaria's not the best example. If anything Jones was swept away by his faux accent and that he was more than willing to play with a married woman.

[–] a_rarden 13 years ago

I admit that I love foreign accents...specifically the British and Australian accents. But that's on both men and women. I just love the accents. So, of course, when a cute guy has a british accent, it makes him even more attractive to me.

But I've never really dug the long hair thing. I admit, some guys DO look attractive with long hair, but in my book, even those guys are limited to the men who keep it tied up in a neat pony tail (like the young model in Stepmom...the one she hires to meet the daughter outside the school).

I can't really explain why. I suppose I may have a tiny idea deep in my subconsious about "long hair = naughty rebel"...but I'm not into the rebellious guys either...I don't like to get into trouble! :o)

Like I said, some guys look good with it, others don't, in my opinion. And, in response to your final comment, in the end, it IS all about personality to me. I don't like cocky, arrogant people (men OR women), and regardless of how attractive they may be at first sight, my opinion can and does change instantly when I speak to them or hear them speak to others. Oliver Martinez is the perfect example...I hated him immediately after he uttered his first words in Unfaithful!

[–] robble-1 8 years ago

I have no idea. I like what I consider a more manly look myself.

[–] liscarkat (16968) 2 years ago

The only guy in this movie with scruffy long hair was Christopher Walken, and none of the women were romantically interested in him.