QuoteReplyTopic: Age limit for long hair? Posted: May 27 2003 at 6:05pm
Does anybody here believe that there is a certain (or general) age after which long hair should not be worn? If so, what do you feel that age is? Or, do you feel that there is no age limit?
Do you know how other people (in your real life) feel about this issue? If so, have you discussed it with them? Has anybody changed anybody else's mind on the topic?
turquoise_girl
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There are so many men and women with gorgeous white long hair...I hope to be one of them eventually! I have plenty of gray right now but do not color it.
I think our elders with long white/gray hair look stunning!
LetGo...sweetie...let go of mommy's hair...
grenwich
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Of course, I don't feel that there is any age limit to having long hair. I didn't think that anybody here would. But I have known people who do think that there is a general age limit, so the concept strikes me as preposterous. I think this myth stems from dogma which was perpetuated to ensure that all women were coralled into salons before they became black sheep for life. I'd like to think that the myth is dead but I know I'm talking to the converted here. That's why I asked if anybody here knows any people who still believe the myth.
My personal answer is NO WAY. However, I have run into myriad numbers of people who say, "I turned X age and HAD to cut my hair" like they thought the hair police would come and get them. A girl younger than me cut her classic length thick brown hair into a bob when she hit early thirties. WHY? "I'm too old for that." Girl at work, older than me, probably 48 or so. Said she felt like it was expected of her to cut her long hair when she hit 40.' I swear it's a social conspiracy headed by the salons!!!!!!!!!
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
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My mom, grandma, aunt....I think it's a 50's generation thing. They all think it is what you do when you turn 30. As though turning 30+ means you are too mature to be wasting your time with the silliness of long hair - they think it is something that should be reserved for the very young immature. My Mother in law and my mom always comment on how nice and neat my hair looked when it was short. Again......I think it is herd mentality. I bet if I asked them why they thought this, they would said "that is just the way it is!!"
On another note. Last CHristmas eve morning I went jogging in my sister's neighborhood. I forgot to put my hair up and was running with the wind at my back so my hair was in my face. Well, I got to the corner of a major traffic area and was joggong by a gas station. As I passed it and looked over, there was an older woman walking toward me from the gas pump area. She must have been pumping gas and saw my struggle with my hair. I was a little freaked out because she came right at me on the sidewalk. Well, she pulled a red claw clip from her long white/blonde hair and handed it to me. I couldn't tell she had long hair as things happened so quickly, but it was gorgeous and blowing in the wind now with no clip. I was really touched and the rest of my run could not have been better. it was one of the nicest christmas gifts I have ever gotten.
So yes - I think long hair is noble as you get older.
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! :-)
Look for beauty, and you will find no intelligence. Look for intelligence and you will find both.Proud member of the Cult of All Soft
princessmonica
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this is just i have realized and see if anyone else agrees. we as society but emphasis on long hair as being ''young''. i don't think until you get older you really learn how to cherish and take care of long hair. when you are younger you want to follow the trends. i'll be 29 on june 2nd. through the years i have put my hair through a lot. i have permed, cut, colored, straighten and teased my hair over the years. don't get me wrong i'm not saying everyone younger doesn't know how to take care of their hair. some of the younger posters than me have taught me ALOT.
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
Uzi
DaveDecker
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I swear it's a social conspiracy headed by the salons!!!!!!!!!
It isn't a conspiracy -- it's a "business plan."
(ugh). A heinous one at that.
Uzi, I like your attitude.
If I piece together a bit of what Jacqui and Lyris write, the "50's generation thing" would seem to have rubbed off onto younger generations, judging by the dearth of long hair in Lyris' corporate setting. I wonder about the attitudes of the younger robots, er, bobbed-haired women at your corporation, if they are at least tolerant of others who have long hair, or if they are both spiteful and verbal. Comments?
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!
DaveDecker
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Welcome to this site! Hope you will enjoy participating in our community here.
Your hair sounds very nice! At 57 with waist-length hair, you are a rare and precious breed.
Very interesting comment you make... "I've noticed it's only the women who themselves are confident who compliment me." It makes sense, and it belies the notion that the short-haired-and-direct-hateful-comments-toward-the-long-haired must be confident. Ha.
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.
Look for beauty, and you will find no intelligence. Look for intelligence and you will find both.Proud member of the Cult of All Soft
princessmonica
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i know this is is kind of off the suject but i think hollywood has made it bad for long hair women. [and men] what i mean is they go get their hair cut people follow them. [hair that is] all of a sudden it's reported short hair is in long hair is ''outdate''. if people follow trends then they go get their hair cut. when celebreties get tired of it short they just go put extensions in. watch a lot of the ones that have gotten a ''new do'' will put extensions or grow it out after summer.
note: some people just like their hair short. my mom likes it for her better short. this is just my point of view.
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.
Why should there be an age limit on long hair? Who makes the rules? I have read about men and women in India who have ankle length hair,-(or even longer!!!)- who are older people who have grown their hair all there life! Each woman should be her own queen, her own leader, her own guru. There should be no limit on how long or short a woman can wear her hair at any age. A woman should have a right to wear a long dress or a short mini-skirt. A woman should have a right to wear much jewelry or no jewelry. A woman should have a right to have many tattoos or no tattoos. A woman should have a right to make love with a man or with a woman. A woman should have a right to have ten kids or no kids. A woman should have the right to work outside of her home or be a housewife.
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