In the early 1970s I was a young teenager who was completely caught up in the Zeitgeist. I admired the long-haired rebels and radicals who were engaged in protesting the establishment and developing the counter-culture. I didn’t really know what any of that meant, but to me it was all about empowering youth and declaring our independence from the adults—my parents in particular. 

As with any normal teenager, I was trying to grow up as fast as I could. And because it annoyed my parents, wearing my hair long was its perfect expression. That, and it was de rigueur among all the teenagers who wanted to be cool. So, the longer the better—or in the immortal words from the title song to the 1968 Broadway musical HAIR, “Oh, say can you see, my eyes, if you can… then my hair’s too short!”

It drove my parents completely crazy. They could not understand why any male would want to wear long hair. We fought about it all the time. 

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