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/
Basic Training
Grooming Standards
Equality
Drill Sergeant
Edited 11 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 457
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I was under the impression that it is to help prevent lice and other communicable things that people may have. I mean everyone is coming in from all sorts of places and it makes sense considering lice and other things can't live in a shaved head like that. As far as the females go, I'm not sure why they don't get shaved from the get go, but I do know that besides being professional, the bun also discourages those same things from being transferred easily.
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Regardless of what any of your commanders, congress, or your parents say, women and men are not equal. Women do not have to sign up for selective service when they turn 18. There are many things that men can not do that women can and vise versa, but actually being equal is just a lie we all tell to ourselves to make everyone feel better.
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Uniformity, cleanliness/more hygienic, team culture identity, and ease of maintenance. They can become an individual again in the range of standards after they become part of the team.
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Having served from the end of Vietnam and into the early 90’s I would say that the haircuts are to establish Esprit de Corp, uniformity and maintain hygiene. Women should not have their haircut. If I remember correctly women are required to keep their hair up and above the shoulder and most women that were in the Army when I was had short hair cut that way to ease wearing their uniform.
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Suspended Profile
This is dumb. First male hair grows fast and you dont have time to go for a cut every week do bu the time you graduate it will have grown. Second females just have to tie hair back which takes 3 secs. Men are jot allowed long hair to tie back. Im going to stop because as I said this is dumb, we all know the logical reasons. I would expect this question from a 16 year old high school boy thats being difficult.
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Equality across the board. You want equal treatment take equal training. I personally had long "pretty" hair and you bet that the Drills and the Barbers at Ft. Bliss loved every second of watching my reaction to it going to the floor. But HOOAH didn't it make me exactly what I was. A newvpiece of clay to be formed from what had been a paisley civilian lump of coal from the Hillsbof West Virginia, into a lean mean fighting machine lol. But seriously a soldier from that day forward. HOOAH HOOAH HOOAH GO ARMY BEAT NAVY
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I have been told it started as a measure to prevent lice in the past. The need has lessened but the practice has not. Since lice don't differentiate between male and female then maybe it's time to treat females the same for hair standards in basic training.
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For one thing, unless it has changed, females, had their haircuts in Basic. Not as short as males but definitely not anything like the 20ft exaggerated length amount stated. Also, would not be Reg. Length. Surprisingly, as an experienced medical professional, you should realize Reg. length and for Basic, buzzed hair is best in case of a medical emergency. No hair to get in the way if there's a cut that's just bleeding or worse. The lack of hair expedites the source, type, and treatment.
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Although this has been a "rite of passage" at least for males, it has been presented that the rationale behind the shaving was the threat of lice. Men have always been a much larger cohort than women and back in the day women certainly didn't expect to be shaved as that would be an attack on their "femininity". Despite the shaving, there was still an outbreak of "crabs" during my basic class.
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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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