Top Stories

Long-Haired Men Describe The Times They Were Mistaken For A Woman

Long beautiful locks are something I've always wanted to have. In fact, a few years back I tried to grow out my hair, but it was a disaster. It took a year to grow three stringy inches.

I've always thought that dudes with glorious manes had it made. But apparently they suffer from "identity" issues, not of their own making. Let's discuss...

Redditoru/mistermika06wanted all the boys out there to share a few tales of mistaken identity by asking:

Long-haired men on reddit, what are the weirdest encounters where someone has mistaken you as a woman?

I've never mistaken a gender from behind. I also don't just assume anything until I have a full profile. Remember when Brad Pitt sported those gorgeous blonde waves of Heaven? There was no mistaking him from behind.

Not Again

long haired man GIFGiphy

"I was washing my hands in a public restroom and an old man walked in an said "Oh sorry Miss" and scurried out before opening the ladies room and I heard him yell "OH not again." Maybe not the most weird but I could not stop laughing."

- HaV0C

Hey Sexy

"Years ago I was cat called by a passing car of bros who yelled, "nice butt!" I wasn't built back then like I am now, but younger, skinnier me still had a damn dumptruck."

- EquivalentWorking529

"This has been my fear recently. I over developed my lower body a few years ago so everything below the waist is seriously built. I haven't had a haircut since before the pandemic and add a mask covers my facial hair I notice I get looks from men and women when I walk into stores."

- CharlieTuna_

Back in the Day

"Back when I was 10 or something, I was in the local YMCA swimming pool minding my own business. Suddenly these two girls maybe 3 or 4 years older than me ask "excuse me, shouldn't you be wearing a shirt or something?" Then they heard my voice when I responded, and started cracking up, as did I."

- MalcolmKicks

Learning Lessons

"Someone grabbed my butt at the bar in a nightclub. I'm 6'3 and have pretty broad shoulders so I'm not sure how drunk they were to make that mistake, just cause I have longish curly blonde hair. I turned around and he apologised and said he thought I was a girl as if that would have somehow been ok. Opened my eyes to the kind of harassment women must get all the time at a club."

- shoddygorgon

bad spin

jimmy fallon lol GIFGiphy

"I was in college at a party. Hair down, was wet from a shower. Some frat dude walked up behind me, grabbed me by the butt and spun me around. "You want a piece of this!?" Was the first thing that came out of my mouth. To this day I've never seen a more horrified moron."

- currentlyafk13

Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

kiss off...

shampoo GIFGiphy

"Opposite problem. The time there was some woman, who had hair exactly like mine, sitting on a park bench. I had wandered off somewhere and my wife, thinking it was me, came up behind her and decided to give her a big kiss on the top of the head."

- IlCorvoFortunato

Cut It

"I had long hair at 15-17 because my older brother did and his hot gf was always gushing about how hot it was and not enough guys had long hair. Got mistaken for a girl twice. Once at a petrol station the guy gave me change and winked while saying "here you go sweet heart". He was totally hitting on me!"

"Then a few days later when delivering pizza to a family the kid looks at me all confused and says "Mummy is that a boy or a girl?" The mum says "That's impolite". Then after the door closes I hear the kid say "ok but WAS it a girl or a boy?" The mum replied " I really don't know." Cut my hair the next day."

"My brother had a photo of me from that time on display for a couple years. He told me some of his friends asked if I was one of his old girlfriends. I was greatly offended until I actually saw the photo in question and holy crap I definitely looked like a girl! Thankfully he lost that photo and other photos from that time aren't so bad."

- kormarttttt

"ARE YOU TALKIN' TO ME?"

"At our high school we had an ultra strict rules lawyering woman who monitored the halls and would stop people constantly for anything and everything. Was walking down the halls in high school when I got a "Mam", "Mam", "Maam", "MAAM". Finally she grabbed my shoulder. Now, I had a very baritone voice, even back then."

"So I turned around, exaggerating my deep voice even more and gave her the most booming deep "ARE YOU TALKIN' TO ME?" I could muster. She looked utterly deflated. Absolutely 0 energy or fight left in her due to the embarrassment. She very sheepishly said that I needed to cover my book (it ripped literally 15 minutes earlier) and fled the scene with her tail between her legs."

- Dubanx

Mommy!

"Once (when my hair was slightly shorter) I was taking the metro to DC when this kid and his mom got on a few stops after me and sat in the row right behind me. The kid was talking a lot about nothing, as kids tend to do when they first learn to put a full sentence together. I could hear him over my music."

"Then, he starts talking about some "Hey! The girl up there has more hair than YOU, mommy! Look! Look, her hair is longer than yours. You're not looking mommy!" I turned to look out the window as we exit a tunnel, then he says, "WHOA! She's a Boy."

"Never mind, mommy!" I locked eyes with the mom who just laughed and told the kid to sit and be quiet for a while."A few minutes later, he asks his mom how boys can grow longer hair than girls to which mom says "I don't know, but I can always buy some more hair if I want it to be longer. I don't always have to grow it all by myself." The kid was stunned."

- KillaKanibus

Hey Dude

jared leto mars GIFGiphy

"Dude slapped my butt and called me a fine looking wh**e. So I punched him. I think I'm slightly better looking then just fine. But after that I grew out my beard and no one has slapped my butt again yet."

- Koobitz

1989

"In 1989 I was still getting wavy perms because my Mom liked them. (yeah yeah, Momma's boy) It had just been done and my hair was almost curly. I was driving to Pitt for school and some guy drove up behind me honking and flashing his lights. I pulled over and he jumped out and as he ran up to my car I was opening my door. As I swung my legs out he saw that I was a painfully skinny guy and stopped flat."

"I said, "what's the problem?" He stammered for a second and replied, "I think you have a flat tire!," got back into his car, and drove off. I kicked the tire. It was fine. I had no idea what had happened. I just thought he made a mistake. In retrospect, years later, I often wondered what was really going on. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened that day if I had been a woman."

- raydude

The Duo

"I was young at the time. My mother and I got pulled over for a "investigation" by a well-known less-than-noble officer who liked his women's age on a clock. He asked my mother for her license, proof-of-purchase, and all that good stuff. We exchanged glances, and I saw his disgust as he realized I was a dude. He probably thought we were a mother/daughter prostitute duo, because those were very common in the area. Boy, did he have a surprise."

- Abyss_Ruler

Hey Lady

"I've been catcalled from cars who only saw me from the back a couple times. Once at a bar a friend and I were at table, a old dude walked past us, again I had my back to him and he said "evening ladies" to which I responded "I'm not a lady". Guy got super embarrassed, we got a kick out of it."

- kirkrjordan

It's Miss...

Flaunt Long Hair GIF by VPROGiphy

"Ma'am? Ma'am? MA'AM! That's the men's room! <pause> Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

- ErWenn

At the Game

"Alright, so this was way back when I was in High School and had been growing my hair out for a few years now. So to set the scene, me and my family went to a baseball game and my older sister got to bring her boyfriend along with her. Now, after the game, we were all walking back to the parking garage, so big procession of people leaving the stadium with panhandlers everywhere, as you'd expect. That's when one of the panhandlers calls out to my sister's boyfriend, "Hey man, you've got two girls hanging off you, surely you've got some spare change for me."

- Ellis_D-25

Even Worse Bro

"My brother was thin and had long hair when he turned 21. He was standing next to the table when a dude walked by and and squeezed a cheek. The grabber realized he was a man and got all freaked out and was like "ahh man. I thought you were a chick. I'm sorry. We told him that still wouldn't be cool even if he were a woman. The bartender "asked" him to leave."

- Redd889

Cafe Days

"Almost 20 years ago I was in a redneck town in the middle of the night with a female friend. We go into this coffee shop and this guy standing in the doorway says all lecherously "Hey ladies!". I say "Evening," and his eyes get huge and he bolts out the door. We go in and this immense man yells out "HE SURE TOLD YOU! HAHAHAHA! We just got our coffee and donuts and got out asap."

- Solobotomy

That You?

Confused Picture GIF by BlueyGiphy

"Not me, cuz I'm a girl, but once, my aunt saw an old picture of my parents and asked who the ugly girl with my mom was. It was my dad. The picture was taken when they were teenagers."

- wh*re_of_Tartaurs

HER?

"When I was about 13 I had a long muff of hair and a part time job pushing carts at the grocery store. A coworker and I were pushing in a big load of carts and this older dude comes up and says to my coworker "I bet she's making you do all the work!" and then walks away. My coworker turns to me and says "did he just call you a girl?" I was slightly embarrassed but not enough to part ways with that glorified shag carpet."

- LaserTurboShark69

What have we learned? Basic life lesson 101. Assume Nothing! Know you're addressing the person you believe you're addressing. And men with long beautiful hair are still Gods among men.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.