Last week I sat down and listened to a group of women engage in a serious discussion of how old you can be before you have to cut your hair. Before we go any further let me set the scene.
It was after the fast had ended and I had secured a quiet spot in which to try and eat. What I didn't count on was that so many other people had the same idea as me. Sometimes it is better not to be a trendsetter.
Anyway I was happily ensconced in a overstuffed chair with a cup of coffee and some great food so I had no intention or desire of moving any time soon. As I was enjoying my meal the others quietly moved into place and began their discussion. Initially it was about politics but the discussion got heated and they decided to switch topics to grandchildren.
That led to the comment by one of the women, "my daughter keeps complaining that the baby grabs her hair. I told her that it is time for her to cut it and get something more appropriate for her age."
If I am not mistaken the mother in question is about 40. Mind you that I really had little to no interest in being a part of this discussion. I'd like to have the option of growing my hair out, but that is not really something that I am able to do. I have a natural Jewfro that I kept very short.
However due to age, children and the Shmata Queen the front of my head is growing a bit follicly challenged. One day in the future I am going to probably shave the whole thing and we'll make like Mr. Clean. For now there is no need. The rule is that once it has become wispy than it goes. Right now it is still thick enough to run fingers through, more or less.
Anyhoo, there I was with my coffee and my dinner, comfortable and there they were, cackling... I heard all sorts of different stories about when they decided that long hair was no longer a part of their daily routine and all sorts of stories about how long it used to be.
But I never did hear why there is an age limit for having long hair. As I sat there trapped I let my mind wander. Something made me think of sitting with my grandfather and his friends at Farmer's Market. It was back before the place was swallowed by The Grove. One of the men went off on a rant about women and told me that I should never trust a broad. He was eighty something and had been married four times.
He shared a few other pieces of advice for me that day, some of which I'll hold on to, at least for now. I do miss those times. It was fun hanging out there. The guys used to hold court and argue about the best places to eat, what they did during the war and all sorts of other stuff.
They were some colorful characters.
Crossposted here.
9 comments:
I am 45 and I am growing my hair. My mom cut my hair when I was 14. I never had long hair again although when I had Spud I came closest. Now I just want to have it again. So I'll be the old hippie chick with the pigtail at the shuk.
So did I miss the conclusion? What age is a woman supposed to cut her hair? I still have my hair long and plan on keeping it that way.
Debbie Hamilton
Right Truth
The old hippie chick. Sounds promising.
Debbie,
Those women never did come to a conclusion or maybe I just fell asleep.
When does the hair "have" to get shorter? About the point where you take advantage of being old enough not to have to put up with all the fashion police and manufacturer's shtick, like wearing shoes that you can actually walk in rather than balancing like a circus performer on 1/4" thick 4" high stiletto heels. Or when you have been married long enough that you bravely sally forth from the house sans makeup of any kind. Or perhaps when you get sick and tired of sleeping on a sopping head of hair and waking up looking like a character out of a Stephen King movie, because who in their right mind is going to blow dry and style long hair at midnight? Or maybe when you realllly get tired of having to pin up 20" of hair under a sheitle in 90 degree weather. My friend put it this way: she cut her hair when her crowning glory became her crowning gory.
Strange, but the less hair men have the more they value long hair on their wives: Freudian transference perhaps?
Mine's covered, but it had been long since my late teens, and then it got annoying, so it got shorter. And then, at a certain stage in life, short hair became much more comfortable. Added advantage is that the hats fit better.
But honestly, not that I wasn't honest in paragraph #1, there shouldn't be rules, unless you pay attention to the mirror.
Mavericky maverick that I am, I've had long hair most of my life except during the Annie Lennox days of adrogyny and after my second child was born - the hair pulling thing.
However, I vowed that when I turned 40, specifically because everyone said that I'd have to cut my hair short? That I never would.
I'm 46 now and it's as long as ever and just yesterday I was in a Panera with my oldest child and there was a couple easily in their early 70s and the woman had long down to her waist hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail - and it was silver, black and white.
:)
Strange, but the less hair men have the more they value long hair on their wives: Freudian transference perhaps?
I have never noticed that. I'll have to ask the boys.
there shouldn't be rules,
Makes sense to me.
the Annie Lennox days of adrogyny
Children of the '80's band together.
Most women who have cut their hair short believe that other women their age should lop and chop also. Why? Maybe they get tired of their guys favorably pointing out other women in their age bracket whose locks have remained long! Every woman looks good with long hair, IMO.
I wore my hair down to my waist until I was in my mid-30's, when I cut it because I was getting too old. Well, now I am 60 and I am letting my hair grow long again. If you can't be who you want to be at 60 you should just hang it up!
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