Why would a

man wear his hair long? Really long, almost waist-length?

Because he

sings in a country band on weekends?

Because he's

not, you know, really manly?

Ask Paul Boylen

of Newnan. He should know. His hair was long for 25 years before he had

it cut recently and gave it away.

Boylen's masculinity

is not in question. And on a recent Friday evening, the closest he got

to show biz was to be home screening the movie "Shrek" with

his wife, Wendy.

Now 50, Boylen

is an ex-Marine whose coiffure was dictated by military regulations. He

let his hair grow when he got out of the Corps and into construction work.

Soon he had

two little daughters who told him they liked his hair long. He did too.

No one can

tell him how to wear his hair. Boylen owns his own business, Southern

Framing, and has four crews framing houses in five south side counties.

"I think

construction workers have long hair because they can," Boylen said.

"Probably more men would if they were not restricted" by someone

else's rules.

Actually, Boylen

could site health reasons. His hair and skin are very light, and he has

pre-cancerous lesions removed from his skin annually. "My dermatologist

said long hair protects the skin," Boylen said.

So, why cut

it now? The reason was twofold, Boylen said: "I had grown tired of

it, but also because I have two lady friends going through chemotherapy

for cancer, and I did it as a gesture.

"I think

they liked that I did it," he mused.

Boylen donated

his 16-inch hank of hair to an organization called Locks of Love, where

human hair is woven into wigs for financially disadvantaged young poeple

who have lost theirs, usually due to a dermatological disorder like alopecia

areata. The wigs are custom-fit and vacuum-sealed to the head.

Boylen said

he got the idea after reading in The Citizen about area girls and women

who had given their tresses to Locks of Love, but he had never heard of

a man doing it. Parajon's Hair Studio on South Glynn Street in Fayetteville

did the honors.

Boylen's wife

and daughters, by the way, wear their hair shorter than he did. Wendy

Boylen's is "just past her shoulders," her husband said. The

girls are now 25 and 22. One wears her hair shoulder-length, the other

"cut very close."

The family

wanted Paul's story told "to encourage more people to do this,"

he said. "Most people are not aware that the program exists."

As the scissors

approached, did he have any misgivings? Not for a moment, he said firmly.

"I wish I'd have done it a long time ago," he said. "I

was tired of having to braid it and work out all the tangles."

Now that's

a complaint many a woman can relate to.