Haircut thread

The haircut thread ("Quizbowl men, get a haircut") refers to a 2018 forum thread on the Hsquizbowl.org forums. The initial post made by Charlie Dees was a somewhat confrontational piece encouraging men of quizbowl to "spend the $20 for a good haircut once every 2 months" and learn how to take care of their head and facial hair. Due to the language used in the post and Dees's various follow-ups (including a post arguing that wearing a hat "probably looks stupid and is probably getting people to make fun of you"), a number of replies were made criticizing the post for being aggressively conservative in view and pushing conformity (e.g. "not everyone has the same opinions about what 'looks good' as you!"). Other replies argued that the main idea of the post was about hygiene in general and making sure quizbowl players were acceptably well-kept. Eventually, the thread developed into a discussion of various issues within quizbowl ranging between the queer representation within the game, the damaging actions and language of men in the community, and, per the tenor of the original post, the importance of cleanliness and being hygienic.

The haircut thread is infamous for its combination of Dees's confrontational posting style and the mix of equally confrontational replies to various points brought up, as well as containing classic examples of quizbowl men objectifying women and associating non-male participation in the game with how good-looking the players are.