How many times throughout history have bullies sought to humiliate and dehumanize their victims by forcing them to grow their hair long? I doubt this has ever been the case.
Yet, how many times has the opposite been done, where thugs and bullies sought to humiliate and dehumanize their victims by chopping off their hair, or even by shaving their heads? Over and over again this has been a tactic used by vile archators against their victims. It has been done in Nazi concentration camps, U.S. government's Indian "schools", prisons, etc. Some of you history buffs may have lots more examples I'm not aware of.
Why is this the case? What gives the bad guys this idea repeatedly throughout history?
I understand some people, many people, choose short hair or a shaved head. I would never seek to force them to grow their hair out, even though the opposite is so often the case.
This is why I see long hair as a way to feel my own liberty, and why I don't cut it off. To me, it would feel wrong. I would feel less free. It would feel like giving the bullies what they want. Plus, I just like long hair (on everyone, regardless of how they believe it looks on them).