Why didnt ralph want to tie his hair back?

When Piggy suggests to Ralph that he could tie his hair back Ralph's reply is to say, "Like a girl!" When the book was written boys generally had short hair and people felt that boys should look and behaved in a certain way, which was completely different to girls. When he reached Castle Rock Ralph noted that the the savages, "Freed by the paint," had tied their hair back and were more comfortable than he was. Ralph resolved to tie his own back afterwards.