That’s what it is for me–I don’t need the eye pulled down to my doubly chin and sagging face. Short hair at least pulls the eye up to my eye level.
This may help, even though she’s gorgeous either way. See how the pixie cut keeps your eye up by her eyes, and the longer makes your eye sweep down her chin and neck?
http://www.hairextensionsnews.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/21b85_240-sevyveg-natalie.jpg
If I have long hair that’s full at my shoulders and lower, it pulls the eye down to less flattering areas.
Short haired twenty-something woman here.
What I want to know is, why do so many guys have short hair? They would look much better with long hair, IMO. I just don’t understand why they don’t all mold their appearances to my own aesthetic preference …
I know, huh? They must all be gay.
Thanks for saying this. I’m an averagely cute 28 year old with short hair. I get told all the time, directly and indirectly, that what I really ought to do is grow my hair out so that I’m more attractive to whoever is telling me this. The thing that gets to me is they seem almost offended when I say I’m not interested in growing my hair long. It really does feel like I’m being rebuked for not doing something women need to do.
Dude, if you like long hair so much, grow it yourself. I think it’s gross, annoying and not much fun. I hate when I’ve got these dirty dead strands sticking to my body on a hot day. I hate getting it caught on chairs and doors and purse straps. I have waiting hours for my hair to dry. I hate not being able to dye it or get new haircuts when I feel like a change. Most importantly, I think it looks terrible on me.
I think part of it is that we are most concerned with how our own faces look, and men are more interested in a “total package.” My small-but-interesting features get lost when I have long hair. And most importantly (to me) my eyes lose their sparkle. They are pretty eyes, but they are small and deep set. With long hair they don’t look like much at all. With a really short haircut they are showcased like jewels. I think men can get over that because they are looking at my body, oogling my long hair, whatever. But I feel dowdy when my eyes aren’t being showcased at their best. I work all day and have stuff to do, and when I do this stuff it’s most important to me that people are looking at my face.
Anyway, I’ve decided to give long hair a shot since I haven’t tried it since freshman year of high school and I feel like you ought to try stuff you hate now and then just to make sure you still hate it. I’ll post some before and after pics in a few months.
A girl I had a crush on in middle school had beautiful, long, blonde hair. Then, one day, she cut it short into a bob. Our short-haired teacher congratulated her on her more ‘modern’ style cut (this was early '90s.) I hated her new look.
OTOH, I tried to grow my hair long in my early 20s. It only got just past my ears. I can only imagine what a hassle actually long hair can be.
I once heard a woman say only really good looking men look good with long hair and I feel the same about women with short hair. The above linked photos of Natalie Portman are Exhibit A. Halle Berry might be Exhibit B.
I hope any woman I am with when I am old doesn’t chop off all her hair, but she probably will.
The problem with men and long hair is that a large percentage of them don’t take care of it and are balding so it ends up looking like an aging baboon’s tail.
Ha!
It’s also why so many overweight women wear their hair short- you wanna keep people’s eyes going up, up, up!
Are you talking to me? I like boobies as well but not on myself 
I noticed today that I could make a good educated guess on a woman’s age just by looking at her hairstyle.
Well, yeah. If any guy started suggesting I should get implants, this is exactly what I’d tell him.
Up until a few months ago my hair was past my butt (I chopped a bunch off and now it’s just down to the middle of my back). I liked it, my husband liked it, everyone else can eff off. I’m letting it grow out again, mostly because I trimmed it so short I can’t do my favorite updos anymore.
I never found it difficult to take care of; it’s reasonably thick and kinda sorta wavy, so I can just wash it, blow-dry it (takes about 5 minutes), put it up or pull it back, and go. When my hair is short it flips out in weird directions, requiring a curling iron and gel and hairspray and all kinds of hassle to make it look presentable.
I’ve never understood why it is that the market is glutted with cosmetics and clothing and plastic surgery all intended to help women “look younger” yet long hair is “too young-looking” for an older woman.
(I’m keeping my fingers crossed that when I get old my hair will come in snow white, like my grandmother’s. So far I’ve found one snow white hair, so I’m hopeful!)
I’m 35, btw.
I’m wondering if this “short hair = older woman” is a US thing. In Britain I see far more young women with short hair (myself included), and loads of British style icons have short hair - Sarah Harding, Agyness Deyn, and of course Posh.
My hair’s been every length from waist-length to a Posh-style crop, and went from shoulder-length to short a few months ago, after I got married. I’d been keeping it long for the wedding beause short hair really wouldn’t have worked with the frothy champagne silk organza extravaganza I’d picked for my wedding dress, but it was driving me mad. I don’t have good hair - it’s fine and frizzy, with too much wave to be straight and not enough wave to be curly - and it was a huge relief to cut it.
Mind you, my hairdresser and I had such a row about it - he didn’t believe I really wanted it short - that I haven’t been back to him since. My new guy is much more adventurous, and just last weekend cut it in a Sarah Harding-esque style which I’ve discovered to my delight dries in the loveliest 1920s style waves when left to itself. Low maintenance and pretty - win!
Mind you, the response from my friends has been mixed, to say the least. My husband likes it, but then he’s always preferred the elfin, cute look over your typical Glamazon. My female friends and gay male friends love it. My straight male friends…reacted with almost-universal horror. There’s even a certain amount of resentment towards it - they seem to suspect that I no longer care whether they find me attractive or not.
As I matter I fact I don’t. It’s got nothing to do with being married though. I’m just old enough and confident enough now to be more interested in looking the way I want to look, rather than how I think guys want me to look.
Around here the “cutting-hair-short-at middle-age” rule is so prevalent that the few older women with long hair really stand out and I tend to remember them for a long time. Practically every 40+ female relative I have once had long hair, and now no-one has. Old women with free, long hair tend to look nasty for some inexplicable reason. That’s why women cut it short, this is what people tell me and I agree. (I love long haired women, and find many middle-aged women appealing - but the two don’t mix, IMHO)
I had hair down to the middle of my back that I usually kept in a ponytail until I started chemo and went bald. Now that it’s curly, I’ve chopped it off a couple of times, but I’m going to grow it out now. I want to be my German grandmother with a braid of snow-white hair wrapped around my head.
How short is considered short hair?
Is a chin-length bob considered short or medium?
Posh = Do Not Want in any hairstyle!
The other two are kinda ok, but their hair isn’t too short.
I just turned 44 and my hair is usually around 33 - 36" long. A few years ago my older sister informed me that NO ONE over 40 should have long hair. Ah ya, OK. So, she is going to be 49 this year, and guess who is growing her hair out for her new boyfriend? hmmmmfff! She had the really short mom cut/perm thing going for a long time, and now her hair is past her shoulders again.
I keep mine long for me. I like it in a braid, and wear it that way 99% of the time. As I get older, I am thinking of wrapping it around my head, or putting it in a bun.
MY HAIR…not the best picture, because it was just out of a braid and not combed, but you get the idea. It is just below my butt, and on the way down to my knees. I am 64" tall.
Well, it’s ridiculous to think women of any age should adhere to any rule. My mother , who is 76 years old, has never dyed nor permed her hair. She has always worn it long and it is still midway to her back. It is totally grey but she likes it that way and she’ll give you an earfull if you criticize it.
Me, I’m close to 50 and I’ve gone between short and long my whole life. I like trends and I usually cut my hair in the style that I like. Right now it’s shoulder length and I like that I can pull it back with pretty barrettes. My husband loves it long, too and wants me to grow it out more.
Like I said, I like it long but there are short styles that I want to try. If I don’t like them I’ll grow it out again. I really don’t care about any “rule” that I must have old lady hair. I’ll admit to covering the grey because I don’t want it, but that’s just me. Every woman is different and every woman should have the hairstyle she wants. No rules need apply.