I love having long hair but I get very anxious when I'm in public

So I'm a dude and I've been dealing with this problem for a long time every time I go out in public. I've always wanted to grow my hair super long (to my nipples or over) but usually end up cutting it when it's tiny bit over my shoulders because I hate the looks people give me when I'm in public. I rarely see any guys with long hair in my town, everyone usually has short hair and I've had some comments before people saying I look like a chick. What bothers me the most is when people look at me I feel like they're thinking the worst possible shit in their head and making fun of me, even though in reality it's probably not true. That's why lately I've been trying to not look at people otherwise I start to overthink. I really love how it looks on me and my family has said nice comments about it but when I go in public I feel like I turned into this ugly monster and I see myself in my head how other people see me and it feels like the spotlight is at me and everyone is saying mean shit in their heads. Thank you for reading.