Short Hair=Masculine?

I read an article about the actress Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies on the Today website. (http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/22/10479650-potter-star-emma-watson-says-pixie-haircut-sparked-lesbian-rumors) The actress notoriously "morphed" overnight into a mature, beautiful woman and all of the sudden was posing in Maxim Magazine and being placed on hottest women lists. Once she finished the films, she decided to chop off her long hair and got a pixie cut. Suddenly the sex symbol was being questioned if she was a lesbian. Rumors were spreading that the haircut was her "coming out" and admitting to the world her true sexuality.

I found this absolutely ridiculous that a short haircut is associated with masculinity and lesbianism. Many beautiful straight women have short hair and many beautiful homosexual women have long hair. The endless progress of trying to break gender stereotypes is completely demolished when people are ignorant and then broadcast their ignorance for all to read. My guy friends told me they didn't like Emma's haircut, because she "doesn't look like a girl anymore." This infuriated me, because how on earth can she be considered to look like a man? Why is long hair associated with femininity and why do men feel threatened when women cut their hair? What is ironic about the situation is that two of those guy friends have much longer hair than considered "normal" for men. And when I asked them about their hair they could not come up with an answer as to why it was okay for them to have a more "feminine" haircut while women cannot have one that is more "masculine." While most men and most women have shorter and longer hair respectfully, different hairstyles should not be a reflection of sexuality. In fact no physical quality should, because people should be able to present themselves however they want without feeling like they have to present their sexuality.