Why are men required to shave their heads in basic training but not women?

BackAlleyKittens · 2021-10-27T16:08:27+00:00

"We demand entry to the boys club for equality"

"Change the rules for us"

Alkoholisti69420 · 2021-10-27T17:28:16+00:00

In the Finnish military the hair regulations are the same for males and females, both can grow their hair out (It just needs to be in a bun) or shave it. Basically any tidy hairdo is allowed, but not dying your hair

furchfur · 2021-10-27T17:09:59+00:00

Do they still force male prisoners in the USA to have short hair?

HesperianDragon · 2021-10-27T15:05:20+00:00

Tradition mostly.

motosandguns · 2021-10-27T16:05:20+00:00

Because we still want our female soldiers to appear feminine. Plus, nobody expects them to serve on the front lines so the indoctrination it takes to run directly into machine gun fire isn’t needed.

Tanman55555 · 2021-10-27T20:42:10+00:00

Imagine having long hair in war.

aigars2 · 2021-10-27T20:54:08+00:00

You know how it goes. Men have to shave heads. Women most affected.

PeanutButtHer · 2021-10-28T03:56:10+00:00

To make it even worse, women can have just about any hair style they would like, however men have more boundaries to abide by. Recently the US military OK’d women to be able to buzz their hair, something I see as good. But men could never get away with having the longer hair that women have. True equality would be the same hair standards for both sexes, but recently the standards have changed to give women total freedom while not doing anything for the men at all.

_italian_dude_ · 2021-10-28T07:53:55+00:00

they shouldn't let males and females soldiers have long hairs. They should both have to shave their heads

UnitedTrenton12 · 2021-10-27T16:04:21+00:00

When your fighting you don’t want the enemy to grab your hair that’s the reason females they probably don’t expect them to go in a fist fight

returnofthemash · 2021-10-28T16:08:30+00:00

Yup, same here for us. We have a mandatory draft in our country for men. But women can still sign up (And EASILY climb through the officer ranks)

And during basic training, women get specialised areas where none of the guys can enter (this is very fair to me).

But like women don't require to shave their heads.. like what gives? Also their military fitness standards are much lower yet they can get into more "elite" units that have really tough fitness standards for their male counterparts. It just seems really bogus.

cornman1 · 2021-10-27T15:42:15+00:00

It is a two way street...women don't get their heads shaved in Boot, but they also cannot get their head shaved...at least it was the regs while I was in the Navy.

qqqqtrdr · 2021-10-27T16:24:02+00:00

So for women to keep their hair they need to put it in a bun in back of their head and tie it tight with 50 to 80 bobbi pins for ceremonies and sometimes for some jobs, and women are required to pay for their haircuts but men dont need to pay for a buzz.. At least that the way it works in the Navy. So basically if women dont get short hair they will tell them how the must keep it in their class-As. They must on their own dime pay to get it that way.

SageBus · 2021-10-28T01:58:23+00:00

For the same reason men have to wear tie and suit in corporate environments, and women can rock jeans and a t-shirt and nobody can say shit in the same environment.

returnofthemash · 2021-10-27T15:36:02+00:00

[permanently deleted]

togotfury1983 · 2021-10-27T20:35:42+00:00

The same reason the physical requirements for women are lower than means. They want to fill a quota and forcing women to shave their hair would result in Ewing women signing up

CJPsalm139 · 2021-10-27T18:23:14+00:00

No idea. I think it's just meant to say "keep it out of the way" so like, women can put it in a ponytail, or a bun or something, but it can't just hang there. For men, It's probably just the easiest way to do it. Short hair is 9x easier to take care of.

old_gamer_guy_USMC · 2021-10-28T10:33:46+00:00

I could tell you but I am sure I would get banned. Reddit moderators are easy to upset.

Why do men have their hair cut like that to begin with? There is an actual reason besides the basic idea of making them more similar to lower their self segregation etc... think of the hair as a grab handle in combat. In war there are no references and no rules really. You use any method that has you winning.

Women like their hair as being bald is normally not a look most women are comfortable in.

Make of this what you will.

Here's to not getting banned, mods if I said something bad let me know and I will delete this.

illchngeitlater · 2021-10-28T16:20:19+00:00

Because men like women with long hair. Its part of the sexualization of women. Not a privilege

ignatztempotypo · 2021-10-29T05:08:32+00:00

Because vagina

Felarhin · 2021-10-27T18:54:49+00:00

I think people who are interested in serving their country need to understand that more soldiers is the last thing that America needs. The are serious and grave threats to the health and future of the county right now and an armed invasion by a foreign military is not one of them. You might well see combat in your life time, but probably not in the way you'd like to.

Insidious-Sid · 2021-10-28T02:59:07+00:00

They shaved heads for two reasons.

Head lice, and other problems associated with troops having hair.
All bald men are considered equal.

Equal.

minkeymagik · 2021-10-28T03:38:30+00:00

Shaved no. But a terrible cut yes.

Hair is identity, they seek to strip you if individual identity in boot camp. And then let you have it back slowly when you are done.

Starmind0 · 2021-10-28T07:03:12+00:00

Because sexism. They don't have reasons, they just discriminate to make men these stoic machines with no right to decide for themselves. Meanwhile female soldiers are treated as, well, soldiers. Not property of the army.

oafsalot · 2021-10-27T17:12:22+00:00

Basically because it's customary. It does have a psychological purpose, and basic is about finding out who would cut it in the military, but that's no reason to treat men and women exactly the same, they're different and come with different useful qualities.

ryanbuddy04 · 2021-10-27T21:07:22+00:00

Pretty weak reason not to join ngl

But the shaved cuts are to make the men look uniform. Females have regs too like not being able to have hair that touches the shoulder in ACUs. They’re now allowed to have ponytails and cornrows though for whatever reason.

ginger0114 · 2021-10-27T22:15:39+00:00

Uniformity. Tradition.

I can only speak about british forces.

So,

Females, at least now a days, also have the option to have it cut, if its already short.

Just like males, if it's long are allowed to tie it up in a bun.

As longs as its neat, they don't really care** after the initial hair cut in basic, where you either shave it or tie it up.

**to an extent, has to still be natural colours, smart, if you're not growing out, it is not allowed to cover your ears etc etc.

pencilcasez · 2021-10-28T03:55:22+00:00

Females have to shave their heads in ranger school.

In the military, females need to be easily identified and vice versa. Officers are addressed as Sir and Ma’am. You do not want to mess this up, especially when speaking with someone high ranking.

BuzzOff2011 · 2021-10-28T05:11:36+00:00

Of course not you idiot! Terrorists can't pull on women's hair that's sexist!

Cxrxna_Virus · 2021-10-28T06:06:38+00:00

Might be because women don’t look as great bald compared to men

Komrade97 · 2021-10-28T08:04:17+00:00

Prior U.S. Army

Originally men were required to have their heads shaved to reduce the chances of diseases, as well as prevent head lice amongst recruits.

Its just "tradition" now. A right of passage. All soldiers are to look the same

As for the women they need to have their hair in a bun / braided.

It's really not a big deal... don't read so much into it. The fact that that bothers some of you is a bit sad, grow up. It's hair, it grows back. It has nothing to do with being sexist. It's just the way it is. Men can grow their hair back out to the length required by their respective branch / countries military.

usku · 2021-10-27T17:00:31+00:00

Mostly because women never ever get lice.

Edit: are you all really so god damn ignorant that you actually need to have sarcasm spelt out for you?

Shaving heads for soldiers goes way back just for lice. Of course women get lice.

Sheesh.

MOMICANTPOOP · 2021-10-27T20:06:05+00:00

Men figured out how to remove how we dress from being a distraction from our mission. We haven't had time to adapt this mindset to women because we don't know exactly what the rules should be concerning females in the work place since the problem is so new. (50+ years is new historically).

Big_Shot12 · 2021-10-27T20:10:34+00:00

Yeah like women mostly have longer hair

Title	Why are men required to shave their heads in basic training but not women?
Author	returnofthemash
Upvotes	465
Comments	215
Date	October 27, 2021 2:36 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/qgy4ly/why_are_men_required_to_shave_their_heads_in/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/why-are-men-required-to-shave-their-heads-in-basic.1081545 https://theredarchive.com/post/1081545

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