Posted on Apr 12, 2014
Shaved heads in basic training; is this mandatory? If it is, then why and why only for males?
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So I was in basic training land today to help with some medical stuff. I couldn't help but noticed all the shaved heads all over the place and then the females with 20 ft of hair. In an era where we are screaming equal treatment; is this equal?I am also wondering why does a new private have to get his head shaved in the first place? Why not just a haircut within Army Standards?
Have the lines between male and female been erased? Are they trying to be erased or are we picking and choosing which ones we want to erase? Why does a male soldier have no choice in keeping his hair but a female does? If you love Liberty you will vote below.
ADDED: Could this be considered a form of hazing with the crackdown on hazing since this is obviously not a requirement but more of a tradition? I'm not saying I think it is I'm just asking the question. If it's not required and it doesn't apply to everyone.
*****UPDATED******
Well, well, well what do we have here?
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/careers/2015/01/08/rtc-boot-camp-haircuts-navy/21439483/
Have the lines between male and female been erased? Are they trying to be erased or are we picking and choosing which ones we want to erase? Why does a male soldier have no choice in keeping his hair but a female does? If you love Liberty you will vote below.
ADDED: Could this be considered a form of hazing with the crackdown on hazing since this is obviously not a requirement but more of a tradition? I'm not saying I think it is I'm just asking the question. If it's not required and it doesn't apply to everyone.
*****UPDATED******
Well, well, well what do we have here?
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/careers/2015/01/08/rtc-boot-camp-haircuts-navy/21439483/
Edited >1 y ago
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 458
The Romans required their soldiers to have short hair (in a time when long hair was the norm for men) to disallow the use of their hair for leverage by the enemy. Equal rights means everyone is treated the same in my book. Men and women should have the same PT standards etc. I am was tickled by SSG Woods' comment though. I also agree that it would be a logistical nightmare to give a every recruit a regulation cut. I just wish the politicians would stop trying to dismantle my Corps all the time.
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The hygiene argument is moot if females are not required to shave their heads. And if it's about character (re)building, females should insist on equal treatment.
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Haha. I just wouldn't have joined if I had to shave my head. I think a lot of females would feel the same. It would be a major recruitment issue.
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Donate the females long hair to the organization that makes wigs for cancer victims that lose their hair during treatments.
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I suspect (without researching the subject) that shaving the heads of new recruits was originally intended to reveal the presence of lice. That was a big problem, even in “polite society” in earlier times, thus the practice of wearing white wigs to mask the presence of vermin in a person’s hair. Today it also serves to reduce all recruits to a common denominator, so that no one can be seen to be superior in any way to anyone else.
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Having walked both sides of the rank structure, the one thing I vividly recall after walking out of the room after the 4 swipes with the cutter was how you couldn’t really recognize folks...we all looked the same, in a way, everyone was on an equal playing field and it was our performance that mattered for the next 9 weeks.
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When I joined the Army in the 70's, a number of us asked the drill Sergeants (at the end of Basic and still asked in a respectful manner). The answer they gave was 2 reasons. Most important was the prevention of head lice (and there were a couple that did have head lice, they made us powder our bunks with lice powder) The second reason was tradition, kind of to mark the transition from the civilian world to the military world.
We had no gripes as everyone got their head no shaved, just down to the nubs.
We had no gripes as everyone got their head no shaved, just down to the nubs.
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Are you kidding me?! Female soldier here. Y’all are required to shave your heads, we are required to have our hair one solid color. During basic at least, because after basic we can all do whatever *within regulation* we want with our hair. I pay good money to keep my hair blonde, even though it’s naturally red. When I arrived to basic, my roots were showing. I was told I had to buy box hair dye (SO bad for your hair) and return to my natural hair color. I did as I was told and didn’t complain about it. Sounds like you men should just shut up and shave your heads, just like us women have to shut up and dye our hair. And quit playing this “what about equality” BS card. Men are not women and women are not men. We have different standards when it comes to certain things because WE ARE NOT THE SAME. this is not to bash one gender or the other Or to play favorites, it’s just truth. Shave your head, dye your hair, it’s 10 weeks long, suck it up and deal with it, then move on with your life.
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