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A mum has hit back after trolls said allowing her son to grow his hair long was tantamount to child abuse.
Charlie Hayes, from Folkestone, Kent, has let her four-year-old son Jasper grow his hair long and is adamant he should be able to choose what he does with it.
The clothes designer admitted that she expected he would have asked to have it cut by now; however, she said her boy doesn't mind being mistaken for a girl and she wishes people would stop judging him or questioning his gender.
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The 22-year-old said: "Initially I didn’t cut it when he was younger, because I thought chopping boys hair off is silly. I wanted to give him the choice. He likes his long hair and he doesn't want to cut it.
"I ask him in the mornings how he wants his hair. Sometimes he wants plaits, sometimes pig tails or a pony tail.
"He has never wanted to cut it, but as he has now started school, he's realising more people are mistaking him with a girl. People have told him that people associate long hair with girls, but he still doesn't want to cut it."
The mum continued: "He isn't offended by people thinking he's a girl and I have tried to instil to him that it's not a bad things to be a girl or to be mistaken as a girl. He only gets frustrated when people say long hair is just for girls, but he's not usually bothered and will just politely correct people.
"I'm so proud of him, he's a lot braver than others that's for sure.
"I predicted that he would have cut it by now but he's proven me wrong and it's become part of him now."
But while Charlie and Jasper might be happy with his look, people online have been critical, equating his hair with child abuse and making homophobic comments.
Charlie said: "I have received the worst reactions online. People in person are really positive and are usually happy to be corrected when they mistake him as a girl.
"The negative comments are on the internet and a lot more recently as well. I get waves of awful comments.
"People have very extreme homophobic ideologies about him, it's unbelievable as he is four years old. He doesn’t understand these things that people are saying, he doesn’t care about sexuality or gender he's just young child that likes long hair.
"Some of comments can range from people telling me it's child abuse and that I am confusing him and he will get bullied. People also tell me he will grow up to be gay or transgender, it is really extreme."
While the comments are undoubtedly upsetting, Charlie said they won't let the critics change who they are.
"He is very confident and very emotionally matured," she said. "He's happy and he thinks he is the most beautiful boy in the world and I agree with him.
"Just let kids be kids. He doesn't see the world in boxes that society puts people in.
"If he likes something, he doesn't care what it is, he likes cars but he also likes his long hair he's just a child."
Topics: Parenting
Jake Massey