Why do women over 50 all have boy hair cuts?

Natural grey hair up in a braided bun gets me one thing that all the haircuts, dyes, and styling products in the world could not secure for me: Respect.

Outdoor running five days a week (and the resulting size 4 shape) achieves for me what all the makeup, clothes, or accessories could not secure for me: Once again, Respect.

I work with a bunch of guys half my age, most of them fresh out of the military, and very much into the whole youth-atraction-pairing-off time of life and culture.

But what I pick up from these young, smart, astoundingly vibrant guys is that they are wonderfully healthy and fit with nothing unnecessary added.

They pick up on dyed hair as something to conceal a failing.

They pick up on makeup as something to conceal a failing.

They pick up on the bling, the 'styles', the "body fat disguising" fashions as something to conceal a failing.

We talk about these things.

I get (healthy, age-appropriate) affection and respect with the batch of young guys I work with, and it is pretty much because in my own way I am not trying to be anything else but a fine example of an old lady.

I'm as natural in my own skin and hair as they are in their own skin and hair.

Long hair says I am female.

Long grey hair says I am just plain old.

Long grey hair in a bun says simple and classic: Retaining -- and restraining -- good natural female power.

Our ancestresses knew this instinctively.

Agreed.

Also, Lauren Cohan, most famously known for her role as Maggie in The Walking Dead.

She pulls off sexy short hair like it's nobody's business.

In person. She is a good foot taller than me.

Magazines, TV, and co-workers told me it is more flattering, classy, and appropriate for my age, over 50, to cut my hair above the shoulder.
However, as a newlywed, my husband says he loves my hair long.
Besides, the cats love it, and I like the way the sun makes rainbows in it as it falls across my face. Wind in my hair is a lovely feeling as well.
Sorry, magazines and TV, you lose.

i will NEVER cut my hair, its my crowning glory

it always varies some where between my shoulderblades and the middle of my back

any longer looks daft on anyone. pointless

ladies, do not cut your hair. short hair looks shit on every woman. sure, a pixie cut might look 'cute' on some women, but you would still look better with longer hair. people are just being generous when confronted with your new 'sassy do'

plus, shorter hair is actually much harder to manage. if its long, you just tie it back if youre not going anywhere, or its 'in the way'

put the scissors down. old hair ages you, don not listen to the tv style 'gurus', theyre patronising you

ever seen a successful tv makeover that involves having a womans hair chopped off? no, you didnt

ignore magazine and the tv. and your co-workers are probably jealous of your tresses and cant wait for you to lop it off

It is easy and they are not concerned about being hot or sexy for YOU. Aging men are plump and wrinkly, too, but don't have to put up with a bunch of crap from rude younger people about their short hair. Longer hair can look really shabby on any age person and usually does. Hairdos are expensive and hard to maintain. People are poor and don't have money to get their hair done or colored. Only reason my hair isn't real short right now is I can't afford a haircut. Blow it out your ass and mind your own business.

STFU ASSHOLE

Well I'm 45 and my hair is shoulder length, but I wish it was longer but it won't grow any longer, my hair dosnt grow like it did when I was younger I used to have real long hair, it just falls out faster now and when I have a trim it just dosnt grow much the growth has slowed down and the falling out has sped up so if that's whats happening to lots of women then maybe that's why they all have short hair, mine also looks thinner so maybe cutting it makes it look thicker and neater,most of the Hollywood starts bob have extensions wigs and all the rest of it.

I've always had short hair, long hair gives me headaches.

Also my big concern is not how attractive I can be.

Yep. And the changing hormones cause hair loss and thinning. Hair gets drier and lacks shine. You can see this happen to women who just gave birth too, or who recently stopped hormonal birth control. They shed for awhile.

What's more, a woman may decide now is the time to stop dying her hair and allow it to grow in grey. It's more graceful to simply chop it super short, removing all they dyed parts. Then allow it to grow back in again - or not.

There's also the possibility a woman with short hair is growing it back after a round of chemo.

Finally, there's an association with buns and grannies. The "Granny bun" is considered aging. Why not just chop off the bun, if you are wearing it up most of the time anyway.

Short hair does not look like shit on every woman.

I'm petite - long hair overwhelms my frame and my delicate features. The shorter my hair, the more volume at the crown. Literally adds a couple inches to my height.

What's worse is women who think longer hair makes them look thinner. It's like they are trying to hide under their hair.

Either way, nobody wants to look like this:

[link to www.rugusavay.com]

Agreed. There is nothing more unattractive that an older woman with long sgraggily hair. MEN as well as women get thinning hair as they get older and the hair also gets dry and brittle. The trouble with so many with short hair is that they don't have style and the chutzpah to pull it off. It's all in the attitude in how you put the whole image together. age and weight dont really matter, its how you pull it off.

One year ago I chopped my hair to chin length and stopped dyeing it after 33 (yikes) years of hair dye, I just grew tired of it.
Swore I was going to stop dyeing it when I turned 50 and chickened out.
When I turned 55 that was it, no more dye.

Other than a trim I let my hair grow out, natural colour came in and it is gorgeous. Mother Nature already had multiple built in highlights of gold and silver.

Love the natural colour.
Best decision I ever made was to let it go natural.
It is now shoulder length and I get asked all the time who my colourist is, lol.

Your appearance does not earn you respect. It merely gives an outwardly impression to others that might induce them to provisionally treat you with respect. (But shouldn't they be doing that anyway?) Simply because a woman does not share your high level of concern over how she looks to others does not mean she forgoes being respected. Quite the contrary, actually.

She's pretty open about wearing hair extensions.

I think appearance earns (or loses) you respect to a certain degree. I mean, who respects a chubby 35-year-old woman who is wearing a mini and has her boobs hanging out of her shirt? Who respects the 20-year-old guy in the grungy saggy clothes? Who respects the 300-lb woman in the polyester pants or her 400-lb dirty and greasy husband?

On the other hand, if you see a well-groomed man or woman (I'm not talking overly sexy - I'm talking classic) you tend to automatically think they are more successful and worthy.

I've tried experiments over the years shopping. I go in without hair fixed, glasses on, and no make-up with jeans and a college t-shirt. It's difficult to even get help from the store personnel.

Then I've gone to the same store with hair done, make-up on, contacts, and a classically tailored outfit. The help fights its way to help you (especially if they are commission salespeople).

I just had 8 inches of hair cut off. It was easy to send it to "Locks Of Love" and I felt like I did a good deed. Now my hair is shoulder length, but it will grow back in about 2 years time.

That's why I said it's provisional. There is a difference between being respected and being treated respectfully. Not one of the people you mention deserves to be treated disrespectfully based solely on the way they look. Should we care about the opinion of anybody who would look at us and instantly judge our character? I wouldn't want to attract such people to me.

That's true. I think it's a normal human condition to profile those we don't know and to make generalizations of their personality based on those appearances (not that we should). It's really more an instinctual thing honed through centuries and based on safety and sex. The only thing we have to go on when we meet new people are preconceived notions based on appearance. We can be wrong and change those opinions immediately upon meeting them, however.

But, we do this with pretty much everything. You are probably cautious if you see a great big, barking dog running towards you. I don't know about you, but I would be much concerned if it was a golden retriever than a Rottweiler or Doberman.

I agree with you in terms of safety and sexual appeal. It was the comment on respect that I was addressing, as it confounds me how a woman can think she has the respect of others simply by virtue of her hairstyle.

Why do boys/men wear shoulder length hair? More of a preference if you ask me and nobody's business.

I don't think that's the reason. I had longer hair when I was young, but never much longer than my shoulders (mid-back length). The reason? It was baby fine and limp. I would perm it and spend about 1 1/2 hours each morning drying it and curling with it hot rollers so that I would have the Farah-type poofy 1980s thing. Because it was so fine, it went limp in the slightest humidity also looked greasy early and I had to wash it once a day at least, and if I went out at night, I had to wash it again. It was a royal pain in the butt. I kept it as long as I did only because it was a very fine feature for me and complete strangers would come up to me when it was all done up and pretty.

I cut it when I had my oldest child because I got tired of always having to untangle my hair from my baby's fingers. Also, I no longer had the time/energy to mess with my hair when I had kids, a house, and a job. I found the shorter cut to be better with my hair type because the shorter hair gave it a little more bounce. It only took a few minutes to care for it. So, for me it was a matter of convenience. I have an oval face and either style looked fine on my face shape.


Interestingly enough, now that I am over fifty, I am getting gray hairs. They are thicker than my normal hair and I'm finding my longer hair easier to maintain and it looks fuller. I can just blow-dry it with a round brush and some spray and it looks good all day. I am naturally a light golden blonde and my gray hairs blend well but I have noticed that my hair tends to look a little more ash-toned these days than a bright gold, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I age, either.

Woops! Fixed it.

Um you are mistaken, any woman over 50 who makes an effort with her appearance, is healthy and active and has a sense of humor and some outside interests, is very attractive to guys that are older than she is.

And believe me there are a lot of lonely older men out there, divorced or widowed, there are a lot of them and I do get the eye and get approached. It's a whole other world when you get a little older.

I'm not saying that only older men check me out, guys my age and younger do too. But I think a woman looking at her future and worried about getting older, can count on attention from guys who are older than she is, if she doesn't drop the ball along the way and keeps up the good fight.

My mom told me that a long time ago, and she was right. She said someone had told her too, when she was younger and worried about it. Her friend said "Just you wait." She was right.

No shit, menopause made me try to get my hair to look as much like Dolly Parton or Farrah Fawcett for a while :-) it was fun but I'm toning it down a speck these days :-)

doesn't Dolly Parton always wear a wig?

People used to understand this. They used to know that you actually have a lot of control over how people perceive you, what kind of message you are sending, and that it affects how people treat you, how they respond to you, and it shapes the course of the events of your life.

That YOU are in the driver's seat in your interactions with others. That you have POWER to affect your own life by how you present yourself.

Why and how this topic became verboten I don't know, but it used to literally be part of the school curriculum. There were textbooks for it. It was part of Home Economics, which is basic life skills for how to live in this world.

When people react to the topic with anger and disgust, it shows they have been somehow twisted, something was intentionally left out of their education to keep them in their place, that's what I think.