rockin'robin

I feel great about my hair.

I have long hair. I’m not talking about long enough to brush gently on my shoulder — when I tilt my head. I’m not talking about being a couple of weeks late to the hairdresser. I’m talking long. Long enough for a ponytail with swing to it. Long enough to sit against when I’m in a chair. Long enough to have to lift it up out of the sweater I’m pulling over my head. Long enough to braid.

What’s worse (to my critics) is that my hair is graying. Of course it is. Everyone’s hair is graying. But some of us aren’t ready to go there. That’s fine with me — I’m not judgmental about dyes. In fact, I find the range and variety of synthetic hair color to be an impressive testament to our unending chemical creativity. I’m particularly fascinated by that streaky kaleidoscopic thing some blondes do that looks kind of like Hair of Fawn. For my own head, I’m a tad paranoid about smelly, itchy potions.

No one seems to have any problems when a woman of a certain age cuts her hair off. It is considered the appropriate thing to do, as if being shorn is a way of releasing oneself from the locks of the past. I can see the appeal, and have, at times in my life, gone that route. Some women want to wash the men (or jobs) right out of their hair. Others of us have to have at them with scissors. Again, I do not judge. Go right ahead, be a 60-year-old pixie.

So why do people judge middle-aged long hair so harshly? I’ve heard enough, by now, to catalog the multitudinous complaints into several broad categories.

YOU’RE ACTING OUT. Long hair is not the appropriate choice of grown-ups. It says rebellion. Hillary Rodham Clinton softens her do, and sets off a bizarre Howl of Angry Inches, as if she had betrayed some social compact. Well, my long hair is indeed a declaration of independence. I am rebelling, variously, against Procter & Gamble, my mother, Condé Nast and, undoubtedly, corporate America in general. Whereas it used to be short hair that was a hallmark of being a liberated woman — remember the feminist chop? I do; I did it — these days, long hair is a mark of liberation.

YOU’RE STILL LIVING IN THE ’70S. And why not? I like being 55 going on 15. As far as I’m concerned, we never did get better role models than that gang of girls who sang their hearts out for us through lusty days and yearning nights: Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Cher. Emmylou Harris is still a goddess in my book, with that nimbus of silver hair floating past her shoulders. Next thing you know, we’ll take to wearing beaded leather headbands across our foreheads. And, I might add, that was a good look.

LONG HAIR IS HIGH MAINTENANCE. Yes, I’ll admit that it is a look that requires tender loving care. It is impossible to body surf without getting seaweed tangled up in it. It is impossible to get it completely dry when one is in a rush to get to a job interview or a blind date. It is impossible to forget one’s hairbrush when one travels. It is impossible to garden or farm or weave or cook without one’s hair getting in the way. I have knitted many a gray strand into many a scarf. Which, by the way, I consider a nice touch. Anyone who disagrees can send me back his Christmas present. It is impossible to let the vacuuming go for too long, lest the bezoars (new vocabulary word) become large enough to choke a tiger.

MEN LIKE LONG HAIR. Wait. You say that like it’s a bad thing? Long hair is archetypal. And everyone knows that archetypes are all tangled up with desire. There’s a reason mermaids, Selkies and witches have long hair. Ballerinas, too. We all know Rapunzel’s tale, how she sat at the top of her lonely tower, her long hair hanging out the window, until finally, a prince climbed its ropy length to rescue her. Or impregnate her, depending on which version you read. Either way, it worked.

Men like to play with women’s long hair. They like to run their fingers through heavy tresses. They like to loosen tight braids. They like it when long hair tents over their faces during soulful kisses. The long of it is that long hair is sexy. (So is short hair, of course, but in a different way, and we’re not making that case — yet.) The short of it is that long hair means there is always, at least, hope.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/fa...general&src=me

Deafness

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whatdidyousay!

I have seen women in their 60's with long white and some have a ponytail.
It was very common for women to have long hair years ago. I had clients that were 100 years old and they long white hair, I thought it looked nice.
I been thinking of letting my hair get long again . It getting to cost a lot to get a good hair cut. and my poodle haircost money too.

deafskeptic

I've tried to have long hair in the past but I look awful in long hair. This has nothing to do with the fact that I'm middle aged.

Some fashion advisors think that middle aged women shouldn't have long hair as it makes them look old. Personally, I think it's up to the lady if she wants long hair despite her age.

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sheila022

i've seen *too* many old women with short curly, poodle-dog hairdos which just looks annoying to me. So kudos to you if you have a long hair at your age. I'm thinking that I'll just keep my hair long when I get REALLY old *thinking 50's or old*

rockin'robin

My hair was mainly shoulder-length, until a few years ago, I cut it very short. No one liked it. So I let my hair just grow and get a trim off and on....it's very long now, down my back. Wear it in a pony tail unless I'm going out and then use hot curlers...there's so much you can do with longer hair.

Reba

Some women look better in short hair, some look better in mid-length hair, and some look better in long hair. It depends on the shape of the face, texture of the hair, etc. It also depends on how well the woman maintains her hair.

The general reasons why older women don't look as good in long hair are that long hair can emphasize the downward sags and lines in the face, and the gray hairs can be duller and a different texture from the rest of the hair.

I've had long hair during periods of my life but short hair usually works best for me. My hair grows very unevenly, in all kinds of directions (no symmetry at all), and is even thicker on one side. I've tried blunt cuts and layers; nothing really worked. I did color if for many years to cover the gray.

Finally, I've decided that life is too short to waste precious time on struggling with my hair. I keep it short and tousled, and quit coloring it. (Some people think that I streak or "frost" it though because of the way gray is scattered over my head; most of it shows as white bangs, then graduates to dark brown in the back.)

I can shampoo and blow dry it quickly. I can freshen it up with wet fingertips, and it's convenient for the beach.

That's my personal preference but it's not for everyone. Yes, I'm old (almost 60) but I had short hair during much of my youth, too.

I've noticed that many women get shorter, simpler hairdos after they have children because they don't have time to fuss with their hair.

My daughter prefers mid-length hair but she grows it long once in a while so she can donate to Locks of Love. Then she starts over again.

shel90

I have never had long hair all of my life because of the kind of hair I have so yea, I will most likely have short hair for the rest of my life. What I find weird is that my hair curls better as I get older. Now, I have natural spiral curls when in high school I tried and tried to make my curls curl like that. Everyone loves my hair but I prefer thick and straight hair. It would have been fun to experiment what it would have been like to have long hair and I alwasy thought the best kind of hair to do that is thick and straight.

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deafgal001

I would love my hair like Katharine Hepburn

I hate going to hairstylists so my hair is usually long.

katz4life

There is nothing wrong with any middle-aged and senior citizen woman who happens to have a long hair. I don't see why people are such judgemental about this. I'm kind of terrified to cut my hair short when I hit middle-aged, because I never had a short hair before so I don't think it would look right for me if I cut my hair so short. Lol. My mom always have had her hair long length down to her torso for more than 35 years. A few years ago, she finally cut her hair shorten up to near her shoulder and had donated her locks for children's cancer society. That's true about the hair fashion of women that their hair cut short first noticed in during the Roaring 20's. Short hair symbolized a rebellion and equality.

DDU

it depends on the hair and the shape of your face. long hair is great but for some women it just don't work. look at shelia and her raven locks, great now but in 20 years who knows? my mom looked fine into her 60's then looked better with shorter.

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katz4life

Oh my god. I can't believe that I used a word torso. Wtf! I really meant that my mom had her hair lengthen down to her WAIST for more than 35 years. *redface* lol

DDU

didn't you mean down to her azz?

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katz4life

Lol, naw...just above her azz. But my cousin, oh yeah her hair is still pass her azz down to her knees. She never cut it since 1979?

Beowulf

The older a women gets, the less oily her hair becomes, so she doesn't need to wash it as often. God bless them.

DDU

i find long hair erotic. beats viagra hands down. japanese culture made an art form of this long ago. but then again the japanese have a very very imaginative sex culture

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deafskeptic

I would love to have sleek hair which but that won't work on me because I have naturally curly hair that insists on turning into curls at the ends. I have a long face so ultra short hair or ultra long hair isn't going to work on me either.

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deafskeptic

You may see me in fairly short hair but I'd never wear those poodle dog hair dos even when I get old.

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sheila022

Haha, I'm still going to look young in 20 years...because I'll be 40 by that time, and my mother still looks young at that age from what I remember her at that age...and you know that Asians don't tend to age that fast

And my hair can change in 20 years, maybe less dry, hopefully. My hair's always been naturally curly and wavy since I...uh...hit puberty. God, the first 5 years of puberty was SO BAD. I had something like an afro back then and it was extremely difficult to manage my hair, but it's getting better now...but it still needs care and stuff. I guess I just don't have the typical sleek Asian hair you find in most asian girls for now. >_>

Good. One less poodle dog hair in the world = better place. God, I would never wear my hair like that. Most women just don't happen to look good in that hairstyle, in my opinion anyway. xD

deafgal001

they do the poodle look just like why Black Americans do their hair in certain way. I work with alot of elderly's hair when I worked in the nursing home for over 3 years. They have a difficult time finding a hairstyle that look good because their hair is very thin (think of nearly bald). There are women who never had a poodle perm where I used to work, and every time they decide to go for it, it really does look great on them! I know people don't like it, but if you understand their hair texture and situation, you'll believe it does look good on them. Of course, some people choose wigs.

sheila022

Ah, that makes sense since they're balding. *sighs* Getting super old like that doesn't look fun at all =/ =/ =/

deafgal001

of course there some who choose to do the poodle look when they look great without it (for some of them, their hair look very big because they have thick hair)

whatdidyousay!

Wow, you think 50 is old! I am older than that and I am not really old. I call 'really old' 90 or 100 years old. I took care of people 102 or 104 years old. Now that is really old.

whatdidyousay!

I had long hair when I was younger and I have a cow lick in front so my hair would fall over my left eye in a wave. I was always told to get my hair out my eye by one teacher! People said I looked like Joan Baez when I was younger .

whatdidyousay!

My mom came home with the poople hair cut once and my younger sister cried saying you're not my mommy! LOL

sheila022

HAHAHA! That's hilarious! xD

Reba

I know what you mean! My reaction was the same.

deafgal001

no, what she saying is those 80's and 90's years old look like they are 50's years old.... probably because of their poodle hair. LOL

Reba

Wow! If a poodle style could make me look 30 years younger maybe I should try it!

iSign

I've always had thick curls. My hair was actually just right on top of my bottom but I spazzed around about cutting it lol and ended up with hair over my shoulder. That was a year ago and I'm happily letting it grow until it gets to it's usual length. And when my hair starts turning white, I won't dye it or cut it cause then I'll think myself as Storm from the XMen lol!

deafskeptic

I think by next year, I'll look like Storm and I just turned 44. My hair is mostly gray. You just cant' see that from the dye. I'm letting my dye grow out though I loved my black dye cuz I can't afford a lot of money for my hairdos.

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