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Can a haircut denote a mid-life crisis?

Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Hair Talk
Forum Name: Hair Politics
Forum Description: The politics of Hair is a slippery slope...
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=8648
Printed Date: June 06 2025 at 10:55pm


Topic: Can a haircut denote a mid-life crisis?
Posted By: phil
Subject: Can a haircut denote a mid-life crisis?
Date Posted: September 29 2000 at 8:55pm
Mel Gibson is in the news lately. Apparently when the 44 year old shaved his head the press immediately jumped to the conclusion that he must be in the middle of a mid-life crisis.

Now, I'm 44 and whenever I do something different with my hair I get that same accusation levelled at me from my wife, and colleagues.

But should that necessarily be so? Can you not experiment as you get older, or more sinisterly, does this only apply to men? After all, no one accuses Madonna of going through a mid-life crisis. Opinions, please.

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phil



Replies:
Posted By: dianefromcanada
Date Posted: September 29 2000 at 11:45pm
As long you don't buy an expensive red sports car and ride around with a very young blonde!! ( sorry had to tease you)

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dianefromcanada

Posted By: Karen Shelton
Date Posted: September 30 2000 at 4:27am
Hi,

I don't think that is means a mid life crisis. A haircut can mean so many different things to a million different people.

A dear male friend of mine is over 50. He had long hair that went to the middle of his back and he had the hair for over 10 years.

Recently he had it all cut off. Why? He had a ton of reasons. I know because I grilled him BEFORE he got it cut to make sure he was really cutting his hair because he really wanted to and not for any other reason. Once he explained I told him that he should do what was best for him and his needs and his lifestyle. After all, it was his hair and I don't want anyone telling me about my hair.

He told me that he was tired of having long hair because of the special care that he had to take with his hair. He goes to the health club a lot and he also swims almost every day. Even with a swim cap the chlorine was getting to his hair and causing some damage. He also was getting more gray and he didn't want to color it. He also said that he has a convertible and loves to drive with the top down and even in a braid his hair got dry and tangled. He had several other reasons including how much time it took every day to care for his hair, detangle it, condition it, etc etc.

Mostly I think that he was just tired of it and decided that he really wanted a change and an easier routine. He went with a short layered look with shorter sides and layers on top.

He loves his new look and really enjoys it. I have to admit that even though I prefer men with longer hair, he looks really great. It made him look 10 years younger and all the damaged hair was removed, which made a huge difference.

He told me that he has gotten lots of compliments on his new style and that he can swim without a cap, drive his car with the top down with no tangles and he gets to sleep later because his hair is definitely wash and wear.

I can tell you for sure that this man did not cut his hair because he was having a mid life crisis. He was just sick of long hair and wanted a change.

I am not condoning what he did. I personally love long hair but I agree that everyone should wear their hair how they feel it is best for them...long, short, etc.,

I hope to have my long hair forever but I don't try to force that opinion on anyone else. People tell me that because I run a company I should have short hair. I smile and wear my hair the way I want.

So my opinion is that people change their hair for many many reasons and probably only a small number do so because of mid life crisis issues. Madonna does it to get attention...ditto Jennifer Aniston Pitt. New mothers cut their hair sometimes because it makes them feel more mature or because they feel it is easier to care for (whether that is true or not). Men get their hair cut to give a different image or for convenience or because their wives/girlfriends want them to.

Bottom line, mid life crisis is probably in the mix but not a big deal overall.

Best wishes,
Karen Shelton
(expressing her own private personal opinion and not speaking for Hairboutique.com) :-)



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That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)

Posted By: wolfgang
Date Posted: September 30 2000 at 7:59am
I am male, 47 and let my hair grow (since 1 year, it reaches my shoulder now). Don't know if I have a midlife crisis or not. Usually I get no comments about my hair. Most of my co-workers have very short hair and they are 10 - 20 years younger then I. But this job may be only temporarily, I work for a personal hiring firm. I am curious what they will tell to me if the job should be changed to another firm.

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