# "old" and "young" women's haircuts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321 "2017-09-14T15:16:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/41 "2017-09-17T02:06:31Z")
My mother is in her 60s and has always had long hair. She doesn’t make much of a fuss over it and certainly makes no effort as far as sexually attracting men. If anything I think most shorter styles require more upkeep. My wife is in her 40s and if she had short hair she would look really weird. I definitely don’t want her to look like my grandmother in the '80s. Who made this rule anyway? Was it other women (like most things)? Because I doubt there are any men going around who want 40 year old women to chop their hair off, probably about as many who think Scarlett Johansson looks good imitating Hillary Clinton’s style. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/42 "2017-09-17T04:18:20Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > My hair is very fine and thin since a bad perm many years ago. I have been trying to convince my hairdresser to try a pixie-type cut for a year, but she keeps telling me it won’t work. I ask at the beginning of summer so I could decide if I liked it and would have time for it to grow out before school starts, but I haven’t been able to convince her yet. > So I keep getting the same bob I can wear with fabric headbands or barrettes (It’s too windy here to wear it down) and I’m so bored! Unfortunately, it also took me two years to find a decent hairdresser in this town, so it’s not like I have someone else to go to. > Enjoy your pixie cut! Oh, I do enjoy it! I’m sorry your hairdresser won’t listen to you; all I can say is, keep working on her. Who knows, maybe eventually she’ll do it just to prove she’s right, it won’t work! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/43 "2017-09-17T05:10:45Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > So Mrs. Cardigan and her mother are going at it hammer and tongs because of some remark her mother made to her along the lines of _“you should get your hair cut shorter or some style that’s more suitable for an older woman”_. > \*\* > Got me wondering what is meant by ‘older’ and ‘younger’ haircut styles.\*\* My first thought was an ‘older’ haircut style might be something that’s decades out of date, but apparently that’s not it. I am to understand that certain women’s haircuts are simply “suitable” in appearance based on one’s age. Once one turns a certain age the same haircut one wore when they were younger is no longer appropriate. I had no idea this was even a thing. > > Has anyone else heard of this before? And is there any sort of underlying rationale to it? If a woman is married to a man who uses the phrase “going at it hammer and tongs,” and she is in a similar age range as he, she should consider herself in the “older” category. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/44 "2017-09-17T09:48:18Z")
So…her age can be deduced from _his_ turn of phrase? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/45 "2017-09-17T11:23:13Z")
I’m slightly amazed at the idea of anyone /telling/ you to get an old-women hair-cut. But I knew immediately what was meant: short hair makes you look older. My mother chose to look older when she retired: in the culture of her childhood, people with black hair worked, and respected their elders with white hair who were gracefully put out to pasture. But she would have fiercly resisted the idea that someone else was going to define her role by how old she was. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/46 "2017-09-17T12:04:58Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > . If anything I think most shorter styles require more upkeep… That’s the main reason why I now let my hair grow until I cannot stand it anymore. My record is mid-back. I either put it in a ponytail or use a clippie. Sometimes I’ll braid it after a shower. I had pixie cuts as a kid because I used to chew my ends once my hair became chin length. It was the only way to _cure_ me of that. I also had (and still have) a very small face/frame so as much as I hated looking like a boy, the cut actually looked good on me. My hair is currently nearly mid-back length and I’d love to shave everything off just to get rid of its weight. I’m chicken, though, so I’ll probably get a few inches lopped off into a bob and end up looking like my MIL…again. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/47 "2017-09-17T13:53:18Z")
The other side of this is the well meaning pressure to defy convention and NOT get that dreaded woman-of-a-certain-age cut. I threatened chopping it all off for years and would get emailed photos from my kid of lovely women with long grey hair. About a month ago I got it cut into a longish pixie anyway. I have no hair on my neck in the triple digit desert heat, no hair in my face when I lean forward and absolutely no regrets. It looks miles better and takes about 5 seconds to dry. I am a traitor to my demographic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/48 "2017-09-17T14:36:52Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I’ve been scolded about what needs to happen with my hair; people just think they get to make personal remarks about a person when they really need is to butt out. > > 😛 > > do men ever get told they need to change their hair/clothes/whatever? maybe, I don’t know. I do, but only by my mom. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321/49 "2017-09-17T14:41:10Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > My wife is in her 40s and if she had short hair she would look really weird. I definitely don’t want her to look like my grandmother in the '80s. Who made this rule anyway? Was it other women (like most things)? Because I doubt there are any men going around who want 40 year old women to chop their hair off, probably about as many who think Scarlett Johansson looks good imitating Hillary Clinton’s style. I don’t think it’s any better to try to make women feel bad about having short hair than it is to try to make women feel bad about having long hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-and-young-womens-haircuts/796321.md?page=2)