Hair Apparent

[Acktion]

I've noticed hair color never means anything in men.

For women, Red heads are hot and fiery, Blonde's are ditzy and slutty, brunette's are portrayed as more serious characters.

But for guys? No meaning whatsoever, Joe has.....brown hair, why? Becaus ewe need to say what color his hair is.

Not strictly true. Red hair (detecting the theme yet...?) is often used to denote a man's (or woman's) ethnicity - "her startling red locks betrayed her Celtic ancestry..."

But you're right, it seems to be less of a defining characteristic for male subjects.

*blink*

You guys have seriously never heard "tall, dark, and handsome"?

Or am I just that old?

Wait... don't answer that!

 

[patientlee]

Standard deviation on that? P-value at the 95% confidence interval of about 0.5? Larger?

Again with the math! I'm starting to get test anxiety just walking in here!

Ay ay ay.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I've noticed hair color never means anything in men.

For women, Red heads are hot and fiery, Blonde's are ditzy and slutty, brunette's are portrayed as more serious characters.

But for guys? No meaning whatsoever, Joe has.....brown hair, why? Becaus ewe need to say what color his hair is.

Yes, this is entirely one of my points, and why I think it is so interesting that we put so much stock in the stereotypes of women's locks.

If a woman has blonde hair, it means that she is like this. If a man has blonde hair, it means nothing. Men are not so easily boxed by something as arbitrary as hair color. I'm a fucking unique snowflake. You can't pin me down! I'm a rebel, like James Dean(brown hair), a Maverick(black), a modern day Hamlet--Jax Teller--(blonde hair).

 

[patientlee]

Yes, this is entirely one of my points, and why I think it is so interesting that we put so much stock in the stereotypes of women's locks.

If a woman has blonde hair, it means that she is like this. If a man has blonde hair, it means nothing. Men are not so easily boxed by something as arbitrary as hair color. I'm a fucking unique snowflake. You can't pin me down! I'm a rebel, like James Dean(brown hair), a Maverick(black), a modern day Hamlet--Jax Teller--(blonde hair).

Thanks for bringing up Jax Teller. My mind is happy now.

 

[Aynmair]

*blink* You know, that's almost EXACTLY what she said!

(she was a blonde and A-Cup btw.)

I'm not blonde, and a 38D. We'll leave my educational credentials and IQ out of this, shall we?

LOL

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I'm not blonde, and a 38D. We'll leave my educational credentials and IQ out of this, shall we?

LOL

Inflation quota?

 

[Acktion]

Actually, (and take this with more than a grain of salt because the caffeine and meds are doing the watusi from my guts to my head again) I got to thinking...

<pause for dramatic eyerolls and facepalms at another "Acktion Thought">

I wonder if the effect of the color of the hair to preconceived notions is directly proportional to the length and overall mass of the coif involved. Hmmm. Something like;

P=(cILn)2

Where;

P = Perception

c = color

I = Intensity

L = Length

n = number of active hair follicles

 

[sr71plt]

When nearly all of the characters in your story are men, the hair color can have a lot of meaning.

 

[lovecraft68]

Not strictly true. Red hair (detecting the theme yet...?) is often used to denote a man's (or woman's) ethnicity - "her startling red locks betrayed her Celtic ancestry..."

But you're right, it seems to be less of a defining characteristic for male subjects.

Physical yes, I think what I meant to say is more along the lines of personality traits.

One thing I've noticed-on average as there are exceptions-red hair on women is hot, red haired men? Generally not so much.

 

[patientlee]

Actually, (and take this with more than a grain of salt because the caffeine and meds are doing the watusi from my guts to my head again) I got to thinking...

<pause for dramatic eyerolls and facepalms at another "Acktion Thought">

I wonder if the effect of the color of the hair to preconceived notions is directly proportional to the length and overall mass of the coif involved. Hmmm. Something like;

P=(cILn)2

Where;

P = Perception

c = color

I = Intensity

L = Length

n = number of active hair follicles

Acktion, I like VARIETY, not VARIABLES!

 

[lovecraft68]

*blink*

You guys have seriously never heard "tall, dark, and handsome"?

Or am I just that old?

Wait... don't answer that!

Yes, but is dark hair or skin tone? Guess it depends if the story is in interracial or not

Now eyes on the other hand.....I think women put more stock in a man's eyes than men put in women's. Don;t get me wrong I notice a woman's eyes, but its just along the lines of "beautiful eyes" women seem to read more into that with men.

 

[Acktion]

Acktion, I like VARIETY, not VARIABLES!

I wondered if you would recognize just where that was aimed.

And yes, that is a pen in my pocket, but I am happy to see you. Why do you ask?

(And yes, my hair was dull, uninteresting brown cut in a low maintenance style that I didn't have to fool with beyond shaking the excess water out. )

(And after LC's post, I'm not revealing my eye color ... wait, is "bloodshot" a color? )

 

[EndOfStory]

Not strictly true. Red hair (detecting the theme yet...?) is often used to denote a man's (or woman's) ethnicity - "her startling red locks betrayed her Celtic ancestry..."

But you're right, it seems to be less of a defining characteristic for male subjects.

Well, in most cases like that, there is (as in your example) information that "forces" the reader to associate the colour with a given ethnicity.

It's fairly rare that "her red locks......" will be presented without that "forced" information if the "point" of the hair colour is to tell the reader about the ethnicity.

Which raises the question: Why tell the reader about the colour in the first place?

Which then "kinda" leads back to the post about "difference=exotic"

which again leads here, kinda ...

minor note: The colour/ethnicity is very rarely used for males, then again I dont read that much literature that features descriptions in that way. I prefer the "blank canvas" for main story leads in the fiction that I read.

Physical yes, I think what I meant to say is more along the lines of personality traits.

One thing I've noticed-on average as there are exceptions-red hair on women is hot, red haired men? Generally not so much.

Could we perhaps get some info from people who read male-description-based fiction?

and it could possibly be used very effectively. People "want" what isn't there

Because it "seems" like there is a certain lack of stories with this. Again, based on my own reading

edit: Gah! Dont try and piece together a forum response when semi-watching a DJ Pool video remix on the other screen. It leads to some very ... garbled posts

 

[Aynmair]

Inflation quota?

1

Would I lie to you?

 

[Aynmair]

Actually, (and take this with more than a grain of salt because the caffeine and meds are doing the watusi from my guts to my head again) I got to thinking...

<pause for dramatic eyerolls and facepalms at another "Acktion Thought">

I wonder if the effect of the color of the hair to preconceived notions is directly proportional to the length and overall mass of the coif involved. Hmmm. Something like;

P=(cILn)2

Where;

P = Perception

c = color

I = Intensity

L = Length

n = number of active hair follicles

You need to add a gender variable here;
To wit, short hair will have a different P result if the equation describes a man or a woman, given prior posts and cultural tastes. "Hair down to his butt" has appeared in exactly 0 Lit stories I've read!

 

[lovecraft68]

Well, in most cases like that, there is (as in your example) information that "forces" the reader to associate the colour with a given ethnicity.

It's fairly rare that "her red locks......" will be presented without that "forced" information if the "point" of the hair colour is to tell the reader about the ethnicity.

Which raises the question: Why tell the reader about the colour in the first place?

Which then "kinda" leads back to the post about "difference=exotic"

which again leads here, kinda ...

minor note: The colour/ethnicity is very rarely used for males, then again I dont read that much literature that features descriptions in that way. I prefer the "blank canvas" for main story leads in the fiction that I read.



Could we perhaps get some info from people who read male-description-based fiction?

and it could possibly be used very effectively. People "want" what isn't there

Because it "seems" like there is a certain lack of stories with this. Again, based on my own reading

edit: Gah! Dont try and piece together a forum response when semi-watching a DJ Pool video remix on the other screen. It leads to some very ... garbled posts

In my opinion I think the reason there is not much done with men's features as much as women's is unless it is GM the male's appearance is no where near as important as the women's is in erotica-especially in stroke erotica- just as they are in porn videos the men are "place holders" for the hot women to have sex with.

Not saying all stories and that everyone writes that way, but it is the case in a lot of stories here.

 

[Acktion]

You need to add a gender variable here;
To wit, short hair will have a different P result if the equation describes a man or a woman, given prior posts and cultural tastes. "Hair down to his butt" has appeared in exactly 0 Lit stories I've read!

Mmm. Don't recall seeing that on Lit stories, no. In fact, the only place I can remember reading such a line verbatim was probably Laurell K. Hamilton.

I suppose rather than squaring the result to arrive at P, we could change it to a logarithmic function of g(g-1) where g would be tied to the gender wearing the coif in question.

 

[SecondCircle]

I think woman use their hair a lot more for style and appearance than men do. Well, usually. A lot of guys just make sure it's neat or whatever, whereas a woman spends time getting that hair to look just right. And usually you never hear a guy talking about a bad hair day.

Not saying ALL men are that way. It's just the most common way I've seen. But there are men who style their hair or color it or what have you. I would just imagine it's not to the extent woman do.

Thus when a woman walks in, one of the things you notice is her hair.

I guess.

 

[slyc_willie]

minor note: The colour/ethnicity is very rarely used for males, then again I dont read that much literature that features descriptions in that way. I prefer the "blank canvas" for main story leads in the fiction that I read.



Could we perhaps get some info from people who read male-description-based fiction?

and it could possibly be used very effectively. People "want" what isn't there

Because it "seems" like there is a certain lack of stories with this. Again, based on my own reading

edit: Gah! Dont try and piece together a forum response when semi-watching a DJ Pool video remix on the other screen. It leads to some very ... garbled posts

When I write first-person stories from the man's point of view, I don't usually describe the main character all that much. I like to leave that up to the reader, in case they want to place themselves in the role.

For third-person stories, I like to think I balance out between describing both men and women. Key words being "I like to think." But, as a man writing mostly heterosexual stories, I tend to focus on the appearance of the women, at least when I see the scenes in my head.

 

[Gunnlaug]

And usually you never hear a guy talking about a bad hair day.

Yep. But loads of guys have 'I used to have hair' days *sob*

 

[slyc_willie]

Yep. But loads of guys have 'I used to have hair' days *sob*

I'm getting dangerously close to that point. I figure I'll end up shaving off what little there is and get more tattoos.

Not on my head, though. *shudder*

 

[EndOfStory]

In my opinion I think the reason there is not much done with men's features as much as women's is unless it is GM the male's appearance is no where near as important as the women's is in erotica-especially in stroke erotica- just as they are in porn videos the men are "place holders" for the hot women to have sex with.

Not saying all stories and that everyone writes that way, but it is the case in a lot of stories here.

Definitly, no argument from me on that.

On the other hand, I must admit I can't quite stop thinking about the "what if" part of it now

It's just one of those quirky areas where you dont quite know what the result will be if you do write something with it included.

Heck, it might turn out to be a "link" type of info that helps diverse readerships relate better to a fringe story category that they would normally be a bit more likely to vote negatively on.
If that makes sense that is

 

[Acktion]

Yep. But loads of guys have 'I used to have hair' days *sob*

Nah. I just do a "combover" from my shoulders if I want to look like a chia pet again.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think woman use their hair a lot more for style and appearance than men do. Well, usually. A lot of guys just make sure it's neat or whatever, whereas a woman spends time getting that hair to look just right. And usually you never hear a guy talking about a bad hair day.

Not saying ALL men are that way. It's just the most common way I've seen. But there are men who style their hair or color it or what have you. I would just imagine it's not to the extent woman do.

Thus when a woman walks in, one of the things you notice is her hair.

I guess.

I'm from the school of-and before I say this I am prefacing it with this is how I was raised and its my take, I am not demeaning others, just want to clear the path of the PC ranters-

For me guys that style their hair and spend as much time in the mirror as women are "pretty boys" There's days I shower at the gym and just run my fingers through mine. As for coloring it? I am not that vain and fact is if my old man found out he would buy me a dress.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I think woman use their hair a lot more for style and appearance than men do. Well, usually. A lot of guys just make sure it's neat or whatever, whereas a woman spends time getting that hair to look just right. And usually you never hear a guy talking about a bad hair day.

Not saying ALL men are that way. It's just the most common way I've seen. But there are men who style their hair or color it or what have you. I would just imagine it's not to the extent woman do.

Thus when a woman walks in, one of the things you notice is her hair.

I guess.

More importantly, when making a man appealing in a story or in visual media, it is customary to skip over just how that man got such a luxurious hair-style, unless one is going for a metro dynamic. It makes them less definitively masculine.

Legolas handily dispatched a foe with his knife before transitioning seamlessly to his bow, with which he put two arrows into a pair of targets more than twenty feet apart, all in the span of a few instants. Turning for a second, he admired the handiwork of his human companion, who was some distance away, out of earshot, hewing his way through a contingent of fierce warriors. "God, look at the way Aragorn's hair shines as he battles those brutal Uruk-hai. He is a dark spirit of vengeance falling upon a sinful world."

"Aye," agreed Gimli, working laboriously to dislodge his axe from the stubborn skull of a fallen orc who had wrongly assumed his reach advantage would win the day. "But we're lucky we caught up at all. We almost lost 'em to the river, what with how long it took the ranger to blow dry that hair!"