Shaved heads in basic training; is this mandatory? If it is, then why and why only for males?

Shave them all of you want to be an equal

Females want equal treatment, they should get it in all aspects of military standards!

Cause girls are special, silly.
sarcasm off

I think equal grooming standards should be the norm. For one thing, changes in body armor would be unnecessary, thus saving money....

HEADS ARE NOT SHAVED! They are given buzz cuts. I will leave it to wiser heads than mine to debate the issue as to whether females should also be subjected to it. I am against it.

It's a double standard .. If women want to be treated equal on all fronts, they should do the same things that are required of the males. I am a 28 year army veteran and don't think that shaving of the heads is a requirement, simply cut the hair to military standards and regulations.

I don’t think it’s nexessary to shave women’s heads. If a woman can meet grooming standards with a regulation women’s haircut I think that says a lot about her attention to detail. Plus, I just think it looks bad when a woman shaves her head. I’ve served with marines and the females always looked impeccable with their hair pulled back into a tight bun. To me, it shows a level of pride of appearance a male can’t reach.

Holy Crap Pile ! Are you A Woosy? Do You think. Their at the Hilton? It is a right of passage ! Hair cut standards For females are in place .suck it up butter cup! Drive on private Pile!

For males the head shaving serves 2 purposes. 1. Everyone starts out equal. The most hansomest jock in the history of his high school is just as unattractive as the nerd from the chess club when they come out of that Barber shop.
2. It's about hygiene. When I went through boot camp At MCRD San Diego in May 1980 and we had our head shaved it was a bit shocking to see the condition of the scalps of a number of my fellow recruits. It was alarming and disgusting.

The system of shaving men's heads and not shaving female heads has worked for several decades now. Why on Earth should we screw with it?

Let’s say we all go to the firing range one day to qualify. The instructor tells everyone wearing glasses or contacts to correct nearsightedness to take them off, and anyone who has had eye surgery to correct vision has to wear lenses to put it back to their old strength. When asked why, the instructor explains its so we’re all equal. You have to use what you’re born with. It’s not fair to people born with normal vision for people to wear glasses or contacts, or to have surgery.

Everyone would say that is nonsense and unfair. Not everyone is born with normal vision, and the corrections only make things equal. They don’t give glasses wearers an advantage. If anything, it’s the opposite, it’s harder to shoot and they fog up sometimes.

This is a lot like men claiming women have some perceived advantage that makes things easier, be it haircuts, fitness standards, or whatever. Sometimes, like the basic (not job) fitness standards, it’s biological, other times it’s societal. It’s all, like the glasses, nonsense. I didn’t find basic training any easier because I didn’t get my head shaved, and it wasn’t an expectation. Women who had such styles were, correctly or not, perceived as lesbians and at the time, there was a lot of prejudice against LGTQ. They couldn’t even serve openly. Men did not have this expectation. They would not be made fun of. A man with a shaved head is and was much more acceptable for society as a whole. A man with a shaved head would never have his sexuality and masculinity questioned for that action. There is a reason some women wouldn’t serve if they had to shave their head, and it has nothing to do with their fitness for the job, or really even if they are okay with gays or not. Women simply value our hair more, generally, and there is a long history behind that.

Now, things have changed, gays can serve openly, and there is less prejudice, which is great. And, more women have shaved or partly shaved heads. I don’t know that we’re to the point, though, where the price paid in terms of blowback for that shaved head would be so small as the males price for a shaved head. Maybe one day we will be, and then it would be time to examine the issue again.

None of this is to say men don’t have societal expectations that aren’t to their benefit or unfair. Of course they do, and that isn’t right. But, guys, there is a reason women are telling you you don’t want our equal burden in this dept. Trust us, that perceived easiness of our lives is not there on the balance.