I see posts sometimes from baby fems, or maybe just even feminists (and also of course from genderists) where this fact doesn’t seem to permeate yet.
in our western culture, men = short hair, women = long hair, right? this has literally nothing to do with biology or even fact. Biologically, men and women grow hair at the exact same rate and can grow hair very long if they simply do not cut it, so biologically men and women can have any length of hair. factually, there have been many periods of time where men’s hair is fashionably longer than, say, a buzz cut (think 70s), and women’s hair is can be fashionably very short (think the 60s mod pixie cut). these fashions don’t change or even challenge the idea of men=short hair, women=long hair, because ultimately that’s not true in any sense except in so far as it’s a myth we’re conditioned to believe, so that we also keep believing the myth of men over women. we see men with long hair and women with buzzed heads in our lives, but we don’t change our gendered perceptions of hair.
The reason we believe men=short hair, women=long hair as a masculine vs feminine ideal is not because...women look better with long hair, or men look better with short hair, or it just "makes more sense." We have culturally assigned value to these “facts” of short hair vs long hair, and masculine ideals for men will be positive and feminine ideals will be negative. Long hair on women means more time and energy on her beauty routine. Women treating her long hair well by styling and caring is “vain” when we want to cast her in a negative light or “beautiful” when we want to cast her in a positive light (and beautiful on women is all about objectifying women for the male gaze). long hair on women is seen as conforming and short hair on women is seen as defiant, but if women have long hair but otherwise act non-compliant or don't invest the "appropriate" amount of upkeep, they'll be seen as slovenly even more so than a woman with shorter hair who is otherwise "compliant". on the other hand, short hair on men isn’t seen as conforming as much as it’s seen as a non issue, and long hair on men is seen as a choice, one of conviction or style, progressive, artistic, etc. This is culturally as a whole, not per individual. their extremely conservative dad may hate their long hair, but culturally they are not punished. Additionally, long hair on men does not come close to the standard of upkeep we expect from women. what is seen as well kept hair on men (basic combing, very natural) is seen as unkempt in women (are you going to do anything with your hair??).
at any moment, culture can shift. it can shift that masculinity is long hair and femininity is short hair. the values and connotations would not shift with it, instead they would morph to conform to the ultimate myth of men over women. Long hair would be seen as a sign of sexual potency, virility, dignified, or maybe we would relate to a warriors spirit or we would expect men to braid it or color it in some way to signify something alluring about himself. it doesn’t matter...it literally could be anything. women’s short hair would still relate to beauty, would relate to meekness and piety, would be about constant upkeep. imagine if women were expected to shave their heads...they would be expected to do it every day, or else be seen as unkempt. are men expected to do that now, even when expected to keep a buzz cut? any amount of hair would be a sign that she’s “letting herself go”. long hair would be seen as defiant and aping men. meanwhile a man cutting off his long hair would be seen as an act of heroism: he’s standing against cultural norms, he’s making a statement. and in the end, haircuts for men will still be $10 and haircuts for women would still be $40.
This is only one example, and does not only apply to superficial, appearance based norms. It extends to how we perceive the exact same personality traits between men and women. A man and a woman could behave exactly the same in demeanor, but a cultural narrative will develop to explain how it's different between them, and that narrative will benefit the man.
the myth is malleable because it’s cultural. there is nothing innate in you that is masculine or feminine because those are just cultural values we assign on anything at any moment when convenient and anything assigned feminine will always be about women and will always be negative, and anything assigned masculine will always be about men and will always be positive or neutral.
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