musterion
Well-known member
I tend to agree. My understanding of the word translated "long" in the passage from 1 Cor. 11 condemning men having long hair would be more accurately translated as "fixed".
Thus, the actual point of condemnation for men is having elaborate hairdos. Sampson and in general the Nazirites shows that it is not length of a man's hair, but ornateness that is in view. A man's hair is not his glory, while a woman's hair is. A woman can cover her glory as a sign of submission, or she can remove her glory. To remove her glory (her hair) would be dishonorable and shaming, which most women would not want.
For men, it is against nature to focus on what is women's glory, but it is perfectly natural for women to be concerned about it.
Sampson being a notable exception for reasons wholly unrelated to Paul's instruction, I still believe feminine length of a man's hair is strongly discouraged in the Body of Christ. Note that women are told not to put effort into externals such as plaiting or adorning their hair, 1 Tim 2:9 and 1 Peter 3:3. Length wasn't the issue for them, apparently. If women are not to have ornate hairdos, then the length of their hair is not the issue but what they do with it was (is).
But with men, the injunction seems simple, flat and closed to interpretation: men in the Body are to have neither ornate nor femininely long hair.