Age limit for long hair?

I understand what you are saying PrincessMonica, it makes sense to me.


My attitude is, women should be free to wear our hair the way we want, the jewelry we want, and have tattoos if we want in the workplace as well as at home.
Is that a reality in all circumstances? Maybe not, sometimes you have to compromise.
But I am only willing to compromise so much, so often. I've got my rights too, and we CAN instigate change for the better at times. We DO have some power, maybe more than we know!!

tina and jacqui you both make good points. when you have jobs hair, piercing and tattoos make a difference. i have a cousin who has very long hair. but her hair wasn't the problem. at one job they wanted her nose jewelery out. during work she took it out. she would come over after work and to me it looked odd with out her stud in her nose. she then found another job. although the interview they said nothing about the nose pierced. she had it in. when she got the job they mention her nose. they didn't want it in. she fought that one because it was working at a salon and others had piercing that worked there. she quit when she had her baby. but she had to go back to work because she got a divorce. they didn't have a problem with the nose but her tattoos. so she wears clothes that cover them. as for me i don't work. i have tattoos, some piercing. [navel and ears] when i have to go to my stepdaughters school meeting or other stuff i cover them.

This might be a bit off topic.
When I was right out of college - I cut my hair into a professional, short style as a sign(to myself) of my drive, desire and maturity. I don't regret the move at all as it enabled me to feel the part of professional woman. I had been in grad school for 4 long years. My wardrobe consisted of jeans, sweats and t-shirts for that entire time. My hair was past bsl and had been for a long time.
I wanted to shed all that snake skin and move on to the next level of me. I was able to get a job fairly quickly and really think that my "changed look" helped me.

I know this probably offends most of you.....I wish it were different. But when you are sitting across from a 60 something Senior Architect, who is probably dying to say "don't you worry your pretty little head about those columns darlin"....you don't want to be thought of as "darlin" or "hon"....you want to be one of the guys. You just want to be noticed for your input .

I had to earn my badge as a contributing being in the workplace before I could allow my appearance to be as I wanted it to. Now I wear my hair as I wish.

I think that long hair does signify youth....just as yellow and fluffy down defines a baby chick.

Anyone want to oppose this thought? I'm up for some good debates!

jacqui

oops!

Dave

You mentioned the bobbed robots of the corporate world.....
Well they must have downgraded the software in the corporate androids I work amongst, as I am surrounded by women sporting what I can only describe as "short, back'n'sides with wisps".
Just marginally different from the male androids.

Aaaaarrrggggg!!!!

We recently had some training on body language and learnt about "mirroring" behaviours in order to make others feel comfortable and create a positive impression. Then I looked around me and saw the sameness and blandness of hair-cut and clothing.
I guess that class was unnecessary in some respects, huh?

There is also the fear of standing out and being an individual at work. Like a big rock being thrown into a pond. You just know that they will pull you out and chuck you elsewhere....

Getting back to the topic, the older I get, the more colleagues and friends seem compelled to tell me that there is something wrong with growing my hair long.
They are visibly irritated, annoyed and in some cases, offended. They are not able to mind their own business, keep their insulting opinions to themselves or respect my wishes.
I have also been told I shouldn't wear bright colours as I get older!!

Even in polite company, my third finger is starting to get a lot of use.

Hi Dave! If anyone thinks less of me because of my hair it's entirely behind my back, because I've never seen the slightest sign of it. My boss was just marvelling the other day how "long" my hair is getting (which is ironic, because shoulder-length is the shortest it's been since I was 15.)

No one really says much about my hair (or anyone else's, for that matter.) It's just there. I don't think short-haired women envy it because they might assume (correctly, in my case) that longer hair requires more maintenance than a close crop. Not true for everyone but certainly for me--I don't even want to begin calculating what I spend on conditioner yearly.

What people do notice, however, is my youth. I was at a charity fundraiser dinner last weekend and this mid-40s lawyer mentioned how my alma mater was once a great force in collegiate basketball "probably right around the time you were born." I asked when that would be. His answer? 1976. I laughed and clapped my hands with glee because that would make me a full five years older than my actual age.

So while some people sometimes think being young in a corporate setting only sets you up for degradation and grunt work, it's all in the way you conduct yourself. Show your maturity in decision-making and it won't matter how long your hair is. I will continue to grow my hair because it's unique yet not a hinderance to my career. AND I like being able to wear a ponytail! I consider myself lucky to work with a corporation that values respect whole-heartedly.

Hi! This is my first visit to this site and I'm glad to have found this topic.
I am 57 years old and my hair is almost waist length. I didn't plan to grow it this long, however. It's been a matter of economics because my hair grows very fast and when it's been short, I've needed a shaping by the end of 3 weeks. It is also very stubbornly straight so I perm due to the tendonitis in my lower right arm limiting consistent usage of shaping during the drying process.
I have been complimented by both men and women on my long hair, although I've noticed it's only the women who themselves are confident who compliment me.
Both of my great grandmothers had long hair to their dying days well into the 80's, one knotting it at the top of her head, the other in braids (as was the custom in the Native American culture at that time). So NO, I don't believe in an age limit to long hair.
Short skirts -- now that's another issue, even though I still wear a size 8!

There is no age limit to long hair as there is no age limit to being beautiful.

I’ve stopped listening to the voices that would cut a woman down after her 30th birthday.
Like, all you are is something utilitarian for those around you and a projection of their ugliness and negative approach to life.

Show me a limit and I’ll help you defeat it.
Show me one who would define limits and I’ll show you a liar and loser.

There are no limits. Period.

Uzi

Jacqui that's a lovely story--thanks for sharing it!

It is so strange to me how drastically hair lengths change with the environment. I graduated from college in December. On campus, some gals had short hair but most still kept it long like in high school (myself included.) Now I work for a fairly large corporation where I am--no joke--the youngest full-time employee at headquarters. I am 22, and almost everyone else in my department is at least 30. I can only think of five other people in this building of more than 900 employees that have shoulder-length or longer hair. This seems almost foreign to me after going to school for more than a decade surrounded by long hair.

For awhile I was contemplating cutting my hair because I'm curious what it's like, but I've decided against that and am letting it grow (aiming for four inches past shoulders.) While it certainly marks me as a youngster in this environment, I embrace that. I like the look of shock on peoples' faces when I tell them I graduated high school four short years ago. Throws 'em for a loop! :-)

I do. As I get older I have a person in my life that insists that I should cut my hair even shorter than it is!! But my kids (who grew up with a mom with long hair and miss it) and my hubby (who insist I grow it out!!!) are all very supportive.

My hubby says he wants me to have beautiful long hair, not a frizzy bubble perm when I am old, and somehow that just sounds nicer.

I did work with a woman who was 55. She told me that she began growing her hair out five years earlier from a boyish cut (in her words) and it was to her tailbone and silvery white. Absolutely beautiful.

My mother was in her sixties and had waist length hair, that story is on another post. She cut it and regretted it soon after.

As for me, I hope I acheive my goal. And I do plan on keeping it long.

wittils