Internet’s Rapunzel: Brazilian Model Grows Over 2 Foot Hair in 7 Years Despite Being Bullied

A Brazilian model-actor has been growing his hair since the past seven years despite being bullied and abused for years. Cristiano Braga, 28, from Minas Gerais, Brazil, has been growing his 26-inch long hair since 2012 and is adamant on keeping his two-foot-two-inches long hair.

According to a report in Daily Mail, his look has attracted a lot of positive as well as negative attention, “some from women who say it’s ‘unfair’ for a man to have luscious locks like his”.

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“Meanwhile men have accused him of wanting to ‘turn’ women’s sexuality due to his long hair,” the report says. Despite all the abuses, Cristiano says he is proud of his hair. He puts in a lot of effort in maintaining it. To keep his hair long and luscious, he uses natural oils such as aloe vera, avocado, chamomile, mint, rosemary, and vegetable”.

“I started to let my hair grow in 2012. I have no explanation for letting my hair grow; I looked in the mirror and decided to grow it, I’ve always liked long hair,” he was quoted by the daily as saying.

“There was a time, as my hair grew, I was quite criticised; people called me a woman, broom hair, scarecrow, they would cut my hair, they said I was ugly, weird,” he added.

He revealed that people call him Jesus, John Lennon, Jared Leto, Axle Rose, Ariel, Merida, Little Mermaid, Rapunzel, among other personalities and characters. He believes prejudice is “something very present in our society and must be fought.” He went on to reveal the strangest question he received so far and that is if he “wore a wig, because my hair glowed a lot.”

Cristiano gets surprised when someone compliments his hair and find it better than theirs because it “demonstrates how low a person’s self-esteem is and needs to be worked on.”

“It makes me very sad when they ask me if I want to “turn” women because I have long hair – it shows that society does not accept what is different from the patterns”, he added. He said that he feels “stronger and confident” with his long hair and believes that his hair protects him from the “bad things in the world”.