It’s been a long time since I entered a post to my blog. Due to a message I received today, I decided to write about how I view the wider interest in long hair, i.e. how long hair is perceivedin other countries and what is different about foreign long hair forums compared to our DV community, not forgetting to look at similarities.

Those of you who looked at my gallery in the last few days will have noticed the red-haired girl from Russia, whose hair reaches below her knees. Someone asked me if she knew that her photos were in my gallery, and the answer is YES. The same as when I asked Andrea [arc691] if I could post photos of her ankle-length blonde hair. There is a code of behaviour, which people should abide by, namely that if using another person’s photo, ask their permission. I don’t know how many people stick to this rule, but I do. My profile and my gallery is something I take seriously because it gives me the chance to continue with my project, which is to inspire Czechs and Slovaks with their hair-growing journies.

People write to me and tell me they enjoy seeing photos of long hair. That is all I ever wanted from using the internet to connect with long-haired people. Someone may be having a bad hair day and for a moment they lose motivation and belief in themselves and their ability to have beautiful hair. They click on someone’s profile, view their gallery, and it gives them hope, again. Doesn’t everyone deserve that right to feel good about themselves and their hair? I think it is.

During these past few years, I have worked hard to connect with long-haired people; in Cz, in Svk and around the world. No-one sponsors me. I don’t ask anyone for money. This is my own project and I will continue with it as long as I have the energy, time and interest for it. My travels have taken me to Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and I feel very grateful that I could form bonds of friendship with the long-haired people I met, and later photographed. Maintaining these connections is important to me because support is more important than a photo.

Photographers are looking for more long-haired women to photograph. They want to increase their own fame, or to make money by making a long-hair calendar, website, etc, but what does the woman get from it? A nice memento? In my opinion, that’s nonsense. Why should someone else benefit from the years and care a woman spent on her hair? This issue affects long-haired women in every country. I’ve read about it and I have seen it myself by talking to women who receive offers from photographers.

The easy access of contact with everyone in the world means that long-haired people can be part of something bigger i.e. a national long-hair forum, like DV, or something more international [DV is used of course by many Slovaks also]. It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure they are not cheated by others. I’ve seen this with some kneelengther friends and one floorlengther friend. They were a bit naïve about the internet world of long-hair fans and photographers. I, too, learned a difficult lesson.

I found out that one of my photos of a Czech was being used on facebook by someone from India. Someone also copied one of the videos I made with Eniko last year and was posting them on his German website. When I found out I tried to do something because I did not agree to them using my work and I did feel stupid for not realising that someone could steal from me.

So, I understand very well how it feels when someone tries to benefit from your own hard work. I told my friends in Poland, Romania and Russia to be careful of people photographing them without their permission. Long hair is rare in some countries, but that is not an excuse for being careless. Some of my long-haired friends have withdrawn from online communities because they were tired of people disturbing them with millions of questions about their hair. This was after being quite active on hair forums, though.

Older women will disappear when they become tired of being active and they will be replaced by a younger generation of women who are already trying to grow long hair, like some of their internet idols.  Would the world be boring if more women had long hair? No. Let us not forget the variation in hair colour, texture, type, length and how different long hair looks on a short person, tall person, slim person, fat person, white person, dark person, etc. There is so much variation that long hair will never be boring.

On the subject of what is interesting and what is boring, I noticed that forums exist in different countries and no-one gets tired of talking about hair-related topics. It is a global phenomenon which does not show any signs of stopping. Thank God! I did wonder if people would switch from being interested in long hair to becoming enthusiastic about bob haircuts, or the other ‘in’ hairstyles. When I meet a new person from a different country, I enjoy that feeling of rebelling against what society expects ; in particular the hairdressers and their opinions about long hair.

I hope I can travel to Russia to meet this new friend and my biggest wish is to bring some of these friends to the Czech Republic to meet some of you, who have enjoyed looking at their photos. Luck and fate have been kind to me so far and if I am lucky I will be able to achieve my next dream. I don’t want to speak about it yet because it is still in the planning stages and it will still take a few years before I can begin. Let the dreams of all long-haired people come true. One great way to make this happen is by helping each other with our dreams.

Thanks for reading this and see you again, soon!