I always assumed that shoulder length was the universal baseline for long hair, but after hanging out in hair care forums it seems that a lot of people think hair isn’t long until it reaches at least mid-back. What say you, dopers?
Beyond a certain length (waist or butt length) it falls off, right? I’ll go with waist length.
I think you left out some options. Shoulder length is too short to qualify as long but anything longer than that qualifies in my opinion. Mid-back is getting into the “really long” category. Butt length is Rapunzel territory.
I voted waist length … my first wife has ankle length hair … a friend of hers was dragging hair …
Anything from the armpit to June-Carter-Early-Cher-Long
I always thought it was past the shoulder blades, only to be greeted with horror by a stylist when I walked in. I had told her that my hair wasn’t that long. At least to get it styled, if it’s to your shoulders, then it’s long.
I included armpit length, which is in between shoulder and mid back.
So apart from voting, no one’s gonna discuss why our definition of long differs so much?
If we’re discussing “long” as solely in a “short” vs “long” binomial choice, then I’d say shoulders, because I really only use “short” for those styles which don’t reach to the shoulders. But if we’re getting more detailed than I could be talked into a lower definition.
Shoulder length seems to be medium to me. At least to the armpit if not below is where I would place it.
Isn’t there such a thing as “medium length”? Google “medium length hairstyles”. That would be just above to just below shoulder length.
In my book, it isn’t really long until your stylist begs you not to have her cut it because it’s so beautiful.
(I cut it anyway) (more than once)
At the place where I get my hair cut, “long” is shoulder length, “extra long” is mid-back, and “ultra long” is waist or longer. This enables them to charge more, but they’re worth it (although I don’t know why it’s harder to lop a couple inches off my waist-length hair than it would be if my hair was shoulder length).
My first thought, before I saw the options, was shoulder blade length, so I chose armpit as that was closest. Just hitting shoulders is definitely not long hair. It’s not really short either, I would call it medium length.
I don’t see why there’d be something like a universal baseline. How long hair is worn and can be, in some cases, worn varies in different regions of the world.
I agree that shoulder length is just medium hair, but I think “arm pit length” is a bit too long for the cut off. Shoulder length is just shy of the cut off (assuming it’s not an up-do).
Though I do agree with the implication by the OP that it’s different for men. For men it’s long when it starts to have that shape that’s more than just shaggy. Shaggy is medium, and short stays on the head completely.
Women (still) don’t tend to wear the shortest styles that men do.
If it’s an up-do you can’t tell how long it is. And what do you mean by"the cut off"?
PS joke–if it’s cut off it’s not long.
Mid Calf to Ankle length
There are waaaaay too many contexts for this poll to really work.
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are you talking in relation to stylists or hairstyles? In which case, there are specific terms for each length of hair, and if you’re setting up an appointment, they’ll want to know what they’re working with, and “long” generally starts applying as soon as the hair is past the collarbones.
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are you talking about populations with strong religious or cultural associations? Because what’s “long” to an Amish person or a Pentecostal Holiness person, or someone from a rural or Catholic area isn’t remotely going to match “long” for people with neutral associations to their hair length.
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are you considering different hair types? “long” on someone with kinky hair or very curly hair could be dreds or an afro or simply really really dense hanging curls. Does that count as long, even if the length is all spiraled or kinked up?
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personal biology. To my mother’s eternal sorrow, neither she nor I have the type of hair that is strong or thick enough to grow long and look at all presentable. (I grew up in a culture that equated thick luxurious waist-length hair with Godliness). So “long” for me on other people is longer than waist-length, because of how I was raised, but “long” for my own self is long enough to pull it back with a banana clip or a ponytail elastic. Both of those are probably fairly off what the averaged answer for “long” hair.
I look at shoulder length as the dividing line between long and short hair for women. Maybe it’s better described as medium length. Below the shoulder blades I’d start calling it really long hair. By mid back or below I’d call it really hot.
What’s to discuss? “Long” as applied to hair is a relative thing (check a dictionary and see how many definitions use the phrase “longer than usual”) and what we measure against is cultural.
I’d go with longer than shoulder length. Armpit length is very long.
I voted armpit length; it’s the closest option to what I perceive as long hair on a woman.
The question is an arbitrary one, similar to the one of where exactly outer space starts. A rule of thumb for me has always been that on a woman, hair becomes “long” roughly when it reaches the tips of the shoulder blades. The length of her neck may play a part in the perception of this, though. Armpit length may also be a good rule of thumb. Someone else may have a different standard.