LongHair Don't Care

I?m 56, I have long silver hair, and I don? t care BecauseI?mrebellingagainst twosocietal myths:one,that I shouldkeepdyeingmy hair tohideany signsof ageing,and two,that womenshouldcut their hair short asthey age becauseit?sastyleonly younger womencan pull off I?mpretty sureif you?rereadingthis excellent magazine,youarealready inthe silver hair camp,if not transitionedalready,so wecanall agreethat thetabooof silver hair is beingbroken.Let?stalk about thesecondoneabout longhair beingseenasunsuitableif you?reover 40

?40 or older ? above the shoulder?

Canyoubelievethisisactually asaying?What anastoundingassertion It begsthequestionwhomadethisstupidrule?Whoonearthhas theright totell anyonewhat todowiththeir hair at 40 or older?I?mguessingyou?re thinking?noone?and you?reabsolutely right I wroteanInstagrampost onthisrecently and hadsuchastrongresponseinsupport of long hair at any age,I couldn? t resist talkingabout it withyou.

Whenit comesdownto it,hair isn? t terribly excitingisit?It comprisesthinkeratinstrands that extrudefromour scalps,andif yougrow it nothingdramaticisgoingtohappen Thereis nolegal agelimit imposed onit,nolonghair policetocomealongand chopit off Somehow, though,special meaninghasbeenattachedto it by society andawholelot of shameand agesegregationhasbeenimposedonwomen who,frankly,haveenoughtodeal withwithout havingto think about this

The rootsof the idea

Sciencetellsusthat hair lengthislinkedto healthand fertility,and longhair signifiesthat awomanwhoishealthy enoughto grow it, is thereforeabletobear children Thismust ultimately havefilteredthroughsociety to imply that anolder womandoesn? t needlong hair asher childbearingyearsareover

Also,longhair isviewed,inmany societies,asafeminineandattractivetrait

Asyoungwomenweareshown that longhair representsour innocence,but alsothat longhair canbesexy andaweaponof sensuality tobe?let down?and,in doingso,loosenour inhibitions It?s crazy that incuttingit ?becausewe should?,weareallowingourselves tobesegregatedby our age,canlet society inhibit our sexuality or add other connotationsto it.

I wasshockedto readapieceby AlysonWalshfor TheGuardian newspaper (UK,2015)inwhichshe statedthisview (not hersI haveto say):

?There?sabelief that asyouget older,hair shouldbecome shorter ?that longhair equatestobeingeither a try-hardcougar or aslovenly oldhag?

Well.I?mpleasedtosay that this view seemstohavemovedon!

Sadly,bothsexesarebombarded frombirthwithimagesof the attractivenessof womenwithlong hair ?indeedevery Disneyprincess haslongglossy hair,alongwith every beautiful model inanadvert for hair dyeor hair products.It?s hardly surprisingthat thistropeis soingrained!

But here?sthecruxof thebias- if older womenshouldn? t havelong hair,thenit followsthat they shouldn? t beviewed asfeminine andattractiveeither Wow Harsh

A womancommentedinmy DMs that her hairdresser had toldher sheshouldcut her hair now aslong hair canmakeolder womenlook saggy

I?ddefinitelylook for anew hairdresser if thiswereme!

It?stimetosay thisloudly -

longhair isnot off-limitsat any age

Ageisnolonger thedecidingfactor.

If youlook now,therearemany prominent older womenwhoswishtheir longhair withprideand acertaindefiance JulianneMoore,MichelleYeoh, Beyonce,SarahJessicaParker,J-Lo,AndieMacDowell,and hundredsof Silver Sisters?all lookingtotally epicandsettingthestandardaswemove forwards

There?smore to it though?

Thereareother completely understandablereasonswomencut their hair whenthey get older.Thereduction inhormonesbrought about by the menopausecan,over time,result inthinningandweak hair,and many womenprefer to haveshorter hair whichcanbelayeredtolook thicker and healthier.

Inaddition,longhair ishighmaintenance?especially if it?ssilver (I know this!)Asthey get older,many womengrow tiredof lookingafter longhair, and get it cut tosavetimeandfuss

TheDailyMail(UK)rananarticlerecentlywhichgave46 astheaverageage womencut their hair

?Forty-sixisawatershedyear for many womenandweareall conscious of not gettingstuck inastylerut asweage Many womenfeel they need toadapt their hair asthey get older asthestylethat suited usinour twentiesmay not necessarilywork inour fifties?

If thisisyou,thengofor it.It?sall subjective.Nowadaysit?sall about feeling likeyour best self anddoingwhat feelsright for youinyour current circumstances

The final cut

Just becausesociety hashistorically demandedwecut it doesn? t meanwe haveto Andif someonedoesn? t likeit,they don? t haveto,but that?stheir problem.

Withthechangingnarrativeabout this,wecaneasily defy thesetraditional femininenormsandwalk our ownpaths,sopleasedon? t feel youhaveto chopit at 40,or 50 becauseyou?resupposedto

Our hair isanextensionof our personality andachoicethat wecanmake without prejudiceor shame

Wemaketherulesnow ?timeshavechangedand thescissorsarefirmly in our ownhands Andwiththat,I?moff toswishmy longsilver hair!

Let meknow if youhaveanexperienceof longhair prejudice?I?dloveto hear it ?catchmeonthefiftyist@gmail com