Last week, I had my monthly appointment with my 50-something massage therapist, and she made an interesting remark I've thought far too much about in the last week. She noted that my hair has gotten longer, and I said yes, I'm wearing it long (about shoulder length) again after years of wearing it short. I was ready for a change. She then asks me how old I am, and when I replied 37, she said, "Yeah, that's not too old to wear it like that."
Not too old to wear it like that. Presumably, that means a certain age comes where society expects you to cut it off. You're supposed to stop all this silliness of trying to look attractive and give over to the matronly image of Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. Cleaver and all the coiffed, sprayed, dyed blue hairs over at the old folks home. Who are you kidding? You're past 30. No one wants to run their fingers through your hair. Can you tell that comment bothered me?
I wonder what the magic age is? If it's 50, or God forbid 40, someone needs to tell Christie Brinkley. And Jane Seymour - she's completely outta control. I don't have fabulous locks like Christie and Jane. My hair is fine and straight and my ponytails are about the circumference of a spaghetti stick. But that's not really the point. My hair was fine and straight when I was 20, too. Should it be about whether you have shampoo-ad hair? If it's NICE enough, you can wear it long past 42?
Are you allowed to keep it long if you'll put it up, like Grandma Walton did? As it happens, I wear mine up alot, but that's because I like how it looks. I don't much like being told by an arbitrary society rule that I have to.
So, I've decided that society can lump it. Maybe I will cut my hair if I get tired of dealing with long hair again. But it won't be because I'm "too old" to wear it long. It's my hair and my appearance and this is a free country, and as long as I'm happy with it, that's all that matters. If my massage therapist thinks she has to wear hers short to please the world, that's her business. Me and Grandma Walton, we don't care what the world thinks.
1 comment:
Girl, the shortest my hair has ever been was some gosh-awful quoif I had in 7th grade. The 'fro of the pasty white girl. Blech. Since then, I've been a "just off the shoulder" to "almost sit on it" kind of hair girl. And, I'm fine with that at any age.
Now grey hair? I got those, too, and if they keep growing in their obnoxious directions, then I might resort to a short style, but ONLY to control the freak-greys I have, not because I am "too old" for long hair.
Wear it proud!
By the way, you are NOT old - I'm older than you and I am NOT old either!
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