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May 14

How and when did short hair become dominant over long hair for men in the US?

Pretty much all of the pre-revolutionary depictions of men in colonial America show men wearing long hair. At some point, this fell out of fashion and short hair became the norm. How and when did this happen? If I had to guess, I would venture that long hair fell out of favor with the adoption of industrial and factory work, where it could become a serious liability given close working quarters with machinery. Am I thinking in the right direction, or was there something else in play, like health concerns or war enlistment? Viriditas (talk) 00:42, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Our article Hairstyle has this: "Short hair for fashionable men was a product of the Neoclassical movement." That would place the transition probably in the last quarter of the 18th century to the first quarter of the 19th century – the same period that wigs for men fell out of fashion. This coincides with the Industrial Revolution. I don't know whether this is a mere coincidence. --Lambiam 03:38, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Pigtails, Queues, and Campaign Wigs of Revolutionary War Soldiers has some information about the wearing of hair tied back into a queue in the War of Independence. I couldn't find a date when the US Army abandoned queues in favour of a short haircut, but our article says it was 1800 for the British Army and 1807 for the Prussians. I believe that the US employed Prussian military advisors at around that time. Alansplodge (talk) 08:35, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

According to The Army Lawyer (March 2012) p. 1 long hair in the US Army was abolished on 30 April 1801, by order of Major General James Wilkinson. It was highly unpopular with the troops and prompted several desertions. Alansplodge (talk) 08:58, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Apparently the regulation didn't apply to high-ranked officers. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:35, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It coincides with the Age of Revolution, which contained the industrial revolution and several other ones. I suppose connecting hairstyle to political climate is a reach, but certainly modifying one's appearance is a way to assert a modern identity (and modern is a word with connections to fashion). C. Northcote Parkinson says that the following time period, from 1850, was an age of uncertainty, mediated by beards. Card Zero (talk) 09:51, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Half Pakistani/Indian, half white

Can a person born to a Pakistani or Indian father and a white mother have the same skin and hair colour as his/her father? 81.152.221.235 (talk) 19:11, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Who are you talking about? --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:18, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I'm talking about, like, seven children with a Pakistani father and a white English mother in the 1999 British film East is East. 81.152.221.235 (talk) 21:33, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Courtesy link: East Is East (1999 film).

OP, see for example Multiracial people, though its bearing on the specific question is oblique. I know from decades of reading and experience that the children of a multiracial couple can vary in appearance from very like the mother to very like the father, because multiple genes/alleles are involved for each of the several relevant characteristic, many of which can be inherited (or not) and expressed (or not) by the different siblings paternally or maternally depending on chance; however, I'm having a hard time finding a good reference in Wikipedia. Anyone else? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.208.88.97 (talk) 23:37, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That movie ought to have been called West Is West! —Tamfang (talk) 02:32, 15 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

There are documented cases of babies born with a considerably lighter or darker skin colour than that of any of the parents.^[1] The article section Human skin color § Melanin and genes has this: "Both the amount and type of melanin produced is controlled by a number of genes that operate under incomplete dominance.^[15]" This implies the possibility of such cases, but does not state it explicitly. --Lambiam 07:10, 15 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

BTW, the actor playing the youngest son in East is East was Jordan Routledge, whose un-Asian name suggests a mixed heritage.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the title of the film is a reference to Rudyard Kipling's The Ballad of East and West, specifically the first line: "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet". Alansplodge (talk) 08:50, 15 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Here is an of image of the Khan family with 2 white girlfriends. 81.152.221.235 (talk) 21:32, 15 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

If twins can look this different, then yes, one child can look more like the mom and one can look more like the dad. 70.24.163.91 (talk) 22:22, 15 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Those twain have definitely met. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:42, 15 May 2022 (UTC) [reply]