OK it seems to be that the as a woman ages, the likelyhood she’ll cut her hair short increases. You usually see older woman in shorter hair, or if they do have long hair they tend to pin it up.
Of course there was that period in the early 80s where short hair (Pat Benatar, Olivia Newton-John, Sheena Easton) became very popular.
But if you were a woman who had long hair in your youth, why did you cut it as you got older? If you’re an older woman who still has long hair, do you pin it up?
I, for one, welcome our short-haired cougars. In fact I prefer it that way.
Geeee-rowwwwwllllll!!!
Personally, I cut my hair short when I’m angry and heading towards depression. I guess I just get so completely sick of myself that I figure I’ll try anything. Which is kind of funny because I immediately regret it as soon as it’s cut. I look MUCH better with long hair.
I might not be your target audience, though, as I’m only 35. 
ETA: I tend to pin my hair up because I work in foodservice.
But why? 
Just 'cause it’s easier to take care of? Or you like the way you look?
I finally figured out how to keep my hair curly, instead of poofy. If I comb it, it straightens out. The longer it is, the straighter and poofier it is. This took me like 18 years to figure out.
I only get it cut about every 5 months. I don’t notice how long it’s getting until the hair on the top starts straightening out and goes into my eyes. Otherwise, it just becomes an extremely thick mass of curls in the back and sides…not growing down but growing OUT.
So, short is the way to go with my hair.
My hair is finer and thinner than it was when I was younger. It just looks better shorter these days.
Because maintaining long hair sucks ass.
I have extremely thick hair. Blowdrying it even when it’s short (jaw-length atm) takes 15 minutes. I could spend well over a half hour, easy, blowdrying my hair when it was long. Your arms get cramped after a while. When I was in college in the dorms, we had the heat cranked up so high that in winter, in Wisconsin, you could walk around in a T-shirt and shorts. I’d wash my hair before bed and go to sleep with it wet, and wake up with it still wet.
It’s heavy, it gets split ends easy, it’s hard to keep out of your face. It gets in the way in sports. (I used to do kendo, and trying to tie down the helmet over a ponytail was a pain in the butt.)
My male housemates in college whined when I cut my hair off. I told them I’d give them the leftovers to take care of, if they loved it that much.
Screw that. Any woman who keeps long hair has thinner hair or waaaaay more patience than I do. I admire her for it, but hell if I’ll go down that path again.
It’s just easier to take care of for me. I had hair down to my waist but I cut it short when I was pregnant. In a fit of freak-out I just snapped the long braids off. Felt free and so easy to take care of!
But it was UGLY AS HELL on me, because my hair looked like Rhea Perlman. Blech.
Now it’s medium length and is finally moving past the Carrot Top phase and I plan to keep it this way. Easier to take care of, less Bozo the Clown. But I still get an itch to cut it all off again to feel that freedom. I didn’t even have to run a comb through it. Just some moussed fingers. I bet I’ll give in within the next ten years. I’ll be fifty.
In addition to all of the above, try having youngsters who think that pulling your ponytail is the neatest toy EVAR!
I am an “older” woman, I guess. Am I? I’m in my early 50s. My hair is just below my shoulders and is thick and blonde (not natural blonde, of course). It’s styled in the hairstyle you see on many newscasters and so forth, not because I want to look like them but because it is a good cut for my particular type of hair. It takes a lot of maintenance, but I like it this way. I’ve had short hair before, but I felt less attractive with it, plus I work out a lot and like to put my hair in a ponytail when I do; that’s actually cooler than short hair. I basically never wear it up otherwise–always down.
Plus, when it’s short I have to have it cut more often, and I hate getting my hair cut.
I’ve generally had it short. I tend a bit to the butch as straight women go. I go to the gym with my husband four times a week, and I like that it gets me out of the locker room relatively fast, so that he doesn’t have to wait forever. The hair right at my hairline is particularly fine and fragile, so that, with any long hairstyle, I have a border of frizz around my face. Mostly, it’s just easier.
Let’s see, when I was very young I had it short because my mother didn’t know what to do with my hair. Once I had the chance I let it grow long, and then longer, and it is very very thick and was thus a lot of work. When my mother was undergoing cancer treatment and I was sucked into long-distance caregiving at age 35, something had to go and it was the hair. After a few years of having it short I am growing it out again because, likeZipperJJ, I am finally figuring out what to do with curly hair, and yeah, two decades to figure it out is about right. My mother, who had hair about the diameter of spider-silk, was right to not try to do anything with it herself!
Even knowing better how to care for it, it its still a lot of work. I have it long now with the understanding that as I actually get old and feeble I will have to keep it short.
I’m 63. I’ve had short hair since I was a child. My husband likes it long. Even though it looks like hell, I now keep it long and down for him.
Some hair, particularly fine hair, does not look good long- it gets weighed down and looks limp and straggly. I wore mine short for years because of that- a good cut and it has body and bounce and looks and is healthy as hell- but now I’m growing it out a bit so I can change it up and I can’t stand this in-between stage.
Some women and men out there think that any long hair on a woman is good. I strongly disagree- damaged, brittle, stringy hair doesn’t look good on anyone, and actually adds years and pounds. All women should be free to have the hairstyle that looks good on her and works for her lifestyle.
Don’t forget the texture completely changes for a lot of women as they age. It gets really coarse as it grays, which doesn’t look great down unless you’re willing to do a lot of styling.
If her lifestyle includes me in a fun manner, it’ll look good to me!
I cut my hair because forEVER I was “Laura with the long dark hair.” When I graduated from college, it was time for a change, and I saw cutting my 2’ of hair as part of growing up. My hair wasn’t super-short once cut, though, FTR; it was a chin-length bob.
Now, at the NOT old (thankyouverymuch) age of 36, I’m too freakin’ grey to have long hair that’d look good. I get my hair colored, which helps, but my hair has definitely changed.
My hairdresser is of the opinion that no woman over 30 looks good with long hair. (Although I think lots of Hollywood ladies over 30 look awesome with long hair.)
I wore my hair waist length from the late eighties until about a year ago. It’s curly and took regular trims to keep the split ends from making it woofy. Mostly, I wound up putting it up or pulling it back into a ponytail or braid to keep it out of my way.
Last year, during a month long stay in the hospital and rehab, I was in no shape to take care of it (not even to pick it out or brush it), so I called my cosmetologist niece in and had it cut to shoulder length.
I LOVE it!
I wear it down almost all of the time now and it frames my face nicely.
missred (47)
On a lot of older women (and men) longer hair tends to emphasize sagging facial skin and make them look older. Hair worn up or in a pony tail for men makes them look younger.
Because ten years ago my neighbor, the chi-chi overpriced hairdresser, put a sisterly arm around me and told me that it ain’t 1968 anymore. I left the hagdo behind and never looked back. Waist length then, collar bone, now and not one of my loved ones seems to have mourned the loss.