Ok, so this challenge is a mildly rebellious one.  Whilst I have not had very short hair for some years, I noticed when I started going through the menopause that my hair was getting progressively shorter and shorter, was this me asking for it shorter ( subconsciously or not) or was the hairdresser trimming it shorter for some reason.  This made me think:

do people judge middle aged women with long hair?

When I reflect back all my aunties, nans, teachers, neighbour’s and people I could recall of middle age had short hair ( with the exception of the sophisticated Miss Harrison, the music teacher at school, but she was probably much younger than I think)…is there an unwritten rule somewhere?

I did a bit of research and was astonished at what was said about why women cut their hair or have shorter hair when they hit middle age such as:

• There is societal pressure to conform
• hair becomes thin and loses pigment so you must
• its a ‘mature’ style
• women have now earned the right to have it short

and my favourite

• at a certain age women need to reduce their attractiveness and show they have gone off sex which having a short masculine hair cut achieves

and, equally potentially negative comments regarding older women who chose to keep their hair long:

• they are flaming liberals
• a certain type of older woman who still wants to be ‘seen’
• raging feminists

What I know is that a woman’s hair length should be a matter of personal choice and not because of your age or silly societal pressure!!  And to celebrate that choice I shall continue to grow my hair, until my NEW hairdresser says for condition reasons I should stop!!!