Black women who choose to keep hair short...

[hopeful]

I'm one of those black women. For the majority of my life my hair was midback length or bsb/bsl. I cut my hair to shoulder length in the 11th grade and kept it that way for 3 years. Then I cut it to above earlength last february grew it back out to shoulder length and cut it again last month (siggy picture and avatar). I like shorter hair especially in the back. I like to see my neck lol I'm itching to cut again b/c now I'm touching full shoulder length again. my hair has always been a big experiment. I like to try new things.

My hair used to get "long" and I kept it short for yearsssssss because I liked it better that way. I could just un wrap my hair in the mornings and go!!

Dear Amerikan and StillALady, I hate both of you, really I do.

 

[lilsparkle825]

my best friend can't stand the feeling of hair on her ears or shoulders so she always keeps it short. she had SL tracks one time and hated it. lol

 

[glamazon386]

My granny.... I know a few others. They just don't like to deal with it.

 

[RegaLady]

Also, as beautiful as long hair is, some people don't really envy it. I was accustomed to my mother with it, and she really doesn't do much to it. Just wears a wig on top of it. In all honesty, if she went short it would REALLY be pretty on her. The long hair at her age, drags her down. So, it may be a privileged in the black community, but it depends on the person.

 

[hopeful]

Also, as beautiful as long hair is, some people don't really envy it. I was accustomed to my mother with it, and she really doesn't do much to it. Just wears a wig on top of it. In all honesty, if she went short it would REALLY be pretty on her. The long hair at her age, drags her down. So, it may be a privileged in the black community, but it depends on the person.

I think this is one of the reasons I'm not sure I want to grow my hair as long as I thought. When I flat-iron my hair it seems to highlight the aging. When it's in it's natural state and springy it seems to give me a lift.

 

[RegaLady]

I think this is one of the reasons I'm not sure I want to grow my hair as long as I thought. When I flat-iron my hair it seems to highlight the aging. When it's in it's natural state and springy it seems to give me a lift.

I am not old, by any means, but although short hair made me look more sophisticated or 'together', it also lifted my face, and made me more 'spunky'. Every time, I got a long straight weave, it dragged me down, and NOBODY liked it. I KNOW I am not trying to grow my hair BSL or even APL, SL would be the longest.

So, rocking natural, springy hair does give more of a lift. I am for flattering hair on me, over length.

 

[Reslnt1]

this is a pic of when i wore my hair short for 8 years....i reaaaaalllly miss it!! I chose to keep it short b/c i felt more mature.. and i also liked the low maintenance of it

 

[BroadstreetBully]

this is a pic of when i wore my hair short for 8 years....i reaaaaalllly miss it!! I chose to keep it short b/c i felt more mature.. and i also liked the low maintenance of it

FIERCE! Talk about low maintenance.

 

[Reslnt1]

FIERCE! Talk about low maintenance.

Awww...thanks a bunch....I saw this female at the mall today and she looked sooo good with her hair like that....it reallly made me want to find the nearest barber....i think this hair thing might get old really soon...i actually feel waaaayy more confident with no hair

 

[Neith]

I have had short, but very healthy hair for the past 4 years or so when i first found hair boards...

I've been right above shoulder length and I impulsively cut my hair to chin length and shorter. It really wasn't an issue of hair health or inability to grow. This year I've decided to just grow my hair out for a change.

I have extensions that are bsl length right now. Good lawd, I hate these things, lol. I think long hair looks sexy, but I truly don't like having it. Protective styling will not be hard to do when I get long hair.

 

[oooop2]

Once I leave Japan, I will be revisiting my barber and going back to my boycut hairstyle. I just LOVE that style on me. Cute and effortless

 

[Miss*Tress]

I have quite a few aunts and cousins who had WL and longer hair as girls and teens, but now keep their hair SL or shorter.

 

[oooop2]

this is a pic of when i wore my hair short for 8 years....i reaaaaalllly miss it!! I chose to keep it short b/c i felt more mature.. and i also liked the low maintenance of it

OMG..This is so me. I wore this EXACT style of 8yrs. I MISS IT A lot, but I'm not brave enough to cut it myself and my DH can't cut. So I'll wait until I move back to USA to have my barber cut it...

 

[carib_n_curly]

my mum has reasonable good hair pratices she got my hair close to MBL and my older sis WL but one day she had natural MBL hair and she cut it to EL and got a jehri curl.
once she was telling me when she was little her mum wouldn't help her with her hair so she got a scissors and cut it down to 2 inches.

another time her hair was about APL she cut it off and threw it in the bushes and got it relaxed.

now she is transitioning she told me to cut her hair to SL and it was close to BSL then she cussed me for cutting it.
months after this cut one day she got fed up and cut 3 inches off one sideshe looked so jacked up i had to make it even but her hair is SL now.

my mum always does this when she get close to APL she cuts it to SL or EL.

 

[PassionFruit]

my best friend can't stand the feeling of hair on her ears or shoulders so she always keeps it short. she had SL tracks one time and hated it. lol

thats me... I always think a bug is crawling on me... but its my hair... so when its long I wear a ponytail...or I cut it short

 

[LivingDoll]

I have a friend who does this. When she's going through major emotional upheavals, she cuts her hair. It usually revolves around a relationship ending badly.

I have had long hair before and have cut after a bad relationship. I've always been able to grow hair rather easily. My battle has always been an itchy, flaky, dry scalp. I've worn my hair short, grew it out, cut it again, etc. off and on for years. Long hair isn't the end all, be all for me but healthy hair is.

ETA: I actually think that short hair looks better on me.

 

[wannabelong]

OMG..This is so me. I wore this EXACT style of 8yrs. I MISS IT A lot, but I'm not brave enough to cut it myself and my DH can't cut. So I'll wait until I move back to USA to have my barber cut it...

That was me for 11 years! Now that is what you call low maintainance. I got more compliments with my hair like that than I do now. I miss it too. I often think about going back.

 

[DivaD04]

Oh, that was me. I used to love short hairstyles and if I seen something I like....I go into check mode...relaxer (or just a poo, co, or dc) check, my shears check, irons, check, double mirror, combs, products, check, check, and check! If I said, I'm going to stop cutting and grow my hair...I used to say it alot, I'll show up the following day with a new do and my friends woul say, I knew you wasn't going to grow your hair out! Now that I'm actually not picking up my shears anymore, they'll all get blown away cuz no hasn't really seen my hair. Even after reaching my first length, I may even hide it from them until my 2nd goal.

 

[d-rock]

Do you know any? I ask this because I work around plenty of yt women who naturally have long hair but choose to wear it short. It's as if long hair is just an option in their community, where as in ours it seems like a privilege. If you have long hair, it's almost taboo to want to wear it shorter. Do you know black women who prefer short hair to their naturally lengthy tresses? With black women learning about better hair practices and growing our hair long, do you think long hair will soon become an option once we know that we can have it as well?

I know a woman at work who use to have relaxed APL from the time she started working with us (2003) up until last year when she got sick of it and chopped it all off. Now she has a very short curly cut that looks great on her. She has vowed never to grow her hair long again because she can just wash her hair and go "without the drama," as she puts it. lol...

 

[Iansan]

Yes, me. I kept my hair between an inch and shoulder blade length for years. Sometimes for style and fashion other times due to color damage, but I didn't care enough about length to sacrifice my light brown, red and blonde hair. This is the longest my hair has been since high school.

 

[ladylibra]

i kept my hair shorter than SL for several years when i was in jr. high/high school. didn't really try to grow it out until the beginning of my senior year of high school for my senior pics... then cut it right afterwards back to SL. and cut it above SL for graduation.

this growing long hair thing really started for me in college. i was outside of the negativity of my hometown and decided i didn't have to keep my hair on the shorter side anymore. of course then i started having trouble growing it out and i was tired of all the maintenance of relaxed hair...

 

[RegaLady]

Oh, that was me. I used to love short hairstyles and if I seen something I like....I go into check mode...relaxer (or just a poo, co, or dc) check, my shears check, irons, check, double mirror, combs, products, check, check, and check! If I said, I'm going to stop cutting and grow my hair...I used to say it alot, I'll show up the following day with a new do and my friends woul say, I knew you wasn't going to grow your hair out! Now that I'm actually not picking up my shears anymore, they'll all get blown away cuz no hasn't really seen my hair. Even after reaching my first length, I may even hide it from them until my 2nd goal.

OMG, that was sooooo me! People now are still not taking me seriously. ANd I don't blame them. But, after I had my daughter and returned back to school, and my 25th Birthday something just said to grow it out. And what really convinced me was my last cut. For the very first time in years, I really felt like I wasn't true to myself, and was let down. I guess because I didn't stick to the script. I just don't have the urge to cut. But, those cuts very pretty, though!

 

[Mook's hair]

My grandmother in particular grew her hair to Mid Back length cut it when she had her first child and has kept it short ever since.

She has strong opinions that long hair (anything longer than shoulder length which even that is pushing the envelope) looks really horrible on older women. She Hates...Hates to see women 58 & over with long hair to her it is very unattractive and makes women look older and I think she even views it as homely. And it's not a matter of the hair being long but thin... She doesn't even like it when it's thick & yummy on older women.

She has no regard for grey hair though. That doesn't matter to her. And she tends to dislike seeing older women with dyed hair even when it's short like she likes it.

Weird! I don't get her sometimes.

 

[cheeks87]

I used to be one of those people. I kept my hair at shoulder length for years. It was not too short and easy to deal with.

My Mom's the same way. She keeps her hair really short(above her ears). It's like 2 inches right now.

 

[ladylibra]

My grandmother in particular grew her hair to Mid Back length cut it when she had her first child and has kept it short ever since.

She has strong opinions that long hair (anything longer than shoulder length which even that is pushing the envelope) looks really horrible on older women. She Hates...Hates to see women 58 & over with long hair to her it is very unattractive and makes women look older and I think she even views it as homely. And it's not a matter of the hair being long but thin... She doesn't even like it when it's thick & yummy on older women.

She has no regard for grey hair though. That doesn't matter to her. And she tends to dislike seeing older women with dyed hair even when it's short like she likes it.

Weird! I don't get her sometimes.

i understand, my great-grandma felt the same way. long hair has weight and it does make older women with loose skin look older by pulling their skin down with it (or at least, it seems that way to me). i've seen older women with long hair get it cut off and their faces really did look better.

and i gray hair. i saw a black woman on the bus once with BSL silver hair. i kept staring at her trying to figure out if it was really hers or not then once i figured out it was, i stared even more. it was so gorgeous against her chocolate skin.

 

[RegaLady]

i understand, my great-grandma felt the same way. long hair has weight and it does make older women with loose skin look older by pulling their skin down with it (or at least, it seems that way to me). i've seen older women with long hair get it cut off and their faces really did look better.

and i gray hair. i saw a black woman on the bus once with BSL silver hair. i kept staring at her trying to figure out if it was really hers or not then once i figured out it was, i stared even more. it was so gorgeous against her chocolate skin.

Isn't it!

 

[crlsweetie912]

I think I am going to become one of those women. Right now my hair is APL and is almost the longest it's ever been. But I relaxed this weekend and my hair is really suffering (stress related) I am going to go very short soon (earlength) I am scoping out who I want to cut it. I want to cry, but it's necessary. I have NEVER had short hair except once after my son was born. I hated it and began growing it back since the day I cut it.

 

[BklynHeart]

this is a pic of when i wore my hair short for 8 years....i reaaaaalllly miss it!! I chose to keep it short b/c i felt more mature.. and i also liked the low maintenance of it

Girl, you are the HOTTNESSS!!!!!

One of my good friends keeps her hair short because she short in height (4'11) and keeping her hair short shows off her face and body better. And believe me, this chick stops traffic!

 

[BroadstreetBully]

Awww...thanks a bunch....I saw this female at the mall today and she looked sooo good with her hair like that....it reallly made me want to find the nearest barber....i think this hair thing might get old really soon...i actually feel waaaayy more confident with no hair

You all are gonna make me throw my hair goals out the window and cut!

 

[BroadstreetBully]

Yes, me. I kept my hair between an inch and shoulder blade length for years. Sometimes for style and fashion other times due to color damage, but I didn't care enough about length to sacrifice my light brown, red and blonde hair. This is the longest my hair has been since high school.

See, this is the reason I do plan on cutting eventually and dying my hair. I don't want to worry about trying to retain length with coloring. With shorter hair I can bleach, dye, bleach, dye, mohawk...fade...whatever I want to fit my mood.