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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
