Cut Your Ponytail

Woman who is ready to cut her ponytail
Photo: Depositphotos
Q: I used to be very proud of my long hair but the last few years I wear it in a ponytail most (something like 95%) of the time. One of my short haired colleagues made a comment on it.
 
She claims that she went through the same phase just before cutting her hair. She says that the all-time ponytail means that I’m ready for something new and shorter. What do you think? Should I cut my hair off?
 
A: Cutting you long hair short is a very personal and private decision. I can’t tell you whether you personally should do it or whether you’d be happy with short hair. What I can do is give you a bit food for thought, and conclude with my personal opinion on situations like this in general.
 
Long hair is generally important to girls in school and women in varsity as well as those who are in the first phase of their careers. The reason for this, in my opinion, is that girls and women between the ages of 6 and 26 years tend to evaluate their self-worth based primarily on the opinions of their peers.
 
Most of this self-evaluation is done on a subconscious level, so most aren’t even aware of this fact. In fact, most don’t want to believe that they dress, act, walk and talk in a certain way to be liked and accepted by their peers. Whether or not we’re open to accept this fact is irrelevant.
 
Society, hair and beauty houses, Hollywood, the music industry and glossy magazines have a certain, very set-in-stone vision of what a beautiful young girl or woman should look like. Go to a beauty contest, (whether it be a tweeny contest or Miss USA) and you’ll get a very clear look of what I’m talking about.
 
These girls have an enviable (mostly tall and thin) figure, a perfect smile, impeccable manners and fashion sense, flawless skin and make-up, and of course, a thick mane of perfect hair cascading down their shoulders and back. Girls and young women are encouraged by society as a whole to look this way if they want to be liked, accepted and cherished. Thus, girls and young women place a lot of value on their hair, its length and health.
 
Woman who is wearing her hair in a ponytail
Photo: Depositphotos
Between 26-30 years of age humans tend to become more self-confident and self-assured. We learn to be comfortable in our own skins and love and accept ourselves just as we are. We progressively place less value in the opinions of others, and more on what we know to be right or wrong, good or bad, attractive or unattractive, etc.
 
We progressively change our appearance to that which WE think is attractive, instead of blindly following the current fashion or hair and beauty fad. It sounds to me as if you’ve progressed from the first phase to the second phase mentioned above, without even noticing it. This is a good thing and something to be proud of.
 
In conclusion, I’ll say this. Long hair is expensive to maintain, takes a lot of time and effort to look good and isn’t very versatile in the day-to-day sense. Also, long hair has the potential to make one look older if you don’t put the effort, time and money in to make it look good.
 
If you’re constantly tying it up in a ponytail, why do you have it? You’re probably psychologically ready to part with your long hair. Look at shorter styles that you like and speak with your hairdresser on hairstyles that will suite you best.
 
©Hairfinder.com
 
See also:
 
Photos of hairstyles
 
When is it time to change your hairstyle?
 
Different reasons to cut your hair short