As a male with mid back length hair, I never hear any put downs. It is not an out-dated practice and still practiced in many music cultures and in many societies. The fact that someone has told you long hair on a man is inappropriate means that the party telling you that is stating their own personal preference.
It is an opinion gotten in the eyes of the beholder!
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.