The soldier cut is pretty scary looking - which is one of the reasons they are such - especially on little boys.
:dancing-banana::scared2: :gandalf:
Maybe it's what you grew up with. My father was in the Navy, so I grew up with a man's military cut being "normal." As a young girl, I was frightened of bearded men! Later on, I associated long hair and unshaven faces with hippies. To this day, my 84 year old Dad has a military cut, only it is white instead of black! I don't like long hair on men, although I've come to like beards if they are not too long and very neat.
It seems to me that Padre Pio, as a four or five year old, was greatly impressed by the long brown beard of a mendicant Franciscan. He told his mother he wanted to be a monk so that he could have a long beard! His mother laughed and replied, "What do you know about beards? You're a little boy!"