A Rant About Hair

While reading a blog yesterday, one commenter stated that she didn't like men with long hair; that she preferred the "clean cut, All-American looking" type.

Now, if she'd just said she preferred men with short hair and left it at that, I'd have had no problem with it, as we all have our individual tastes. But there's nothing guaranteed to set me on fire faster than the above phrase, which is inane to the point of meaninglessness.

I've never quite understood this expression. Why is there an assumption that men with long hair don't keep it clean? No one assumes that about women with long hair. I take every bit as good care of my hair as would an average women with hair the same length as mine.

And what in the world does "All-American looking" mean, anyway? I didn't know that American men were the only ones in the world to have short hair or that having short hair distinctly marks a man as American. I can assure the commenter that many completely American men have long hair.

She said she prefers the "ALL American" look -- can one look partially American, in varying degrees of "American-ness"? And why is it so important to look "American" in the first place? I wasn't aware than attractiveness had a nationality.

Thoughts?