Why do women prefer to have short hair after a certain age?

“I remember when women grow up, they shouldn’t have long hair. But who said that? If our hair can be long and not damaged, then why can’t we maintain this length?” asked Demi Moore in an interview with the magazine. People in July, thus rekindling the debate over the received idea, which has a tough skin.

A new social norm

Michel Messou, sociologist and book author Ethnologist in the barber shop (Éditions Fayard), affirms that “woman’s hair has become shorter due to the evolution of her social activities and therefore the reduction of time devoted to hairdressing. The more active she was due to social changes, the less time she had to take care of her hair, so she cut it short.” The specialist reminds that the sculptural hairstyle has long been an element of class differentiation, to which women gave a lot of time and importance, especially during the time of Queen Marie-Antoinette.

“In the 17th and 18th centuries, when the activity of a noble or bourgeois woman was essentially to appear in the world in beautiful ways, she spent a lot of time making very elaborate hairstyles. So she kept her hair long to afford it. Among the workers, too, women kept their length, but made practical hairstyles by braiding or, for example, covering them in scarves, so as not to be ashamed of their activities. However, their common point. “They wore long hair because, according to the stereotypes of the time, it was a sign of femininity. The beauty of a woman was especially manifested in this long hair, which was very strongly associated with seduction. It was related to its desirability for men,” continues the expert.

Technical progress

Then, in the 1960s, advances in cosmetics (particularly with the launch of the first Elnett hairstyle from L’Oréal) brought new possibilities to women’s hairstyles to combine practicality and beauty. “During the 20th century, these technical developments allowed women to wear shorter but still attractive hair, making it easier for them to interact in this new social world, this active wage life. She was able to maintain the seductive potential of her hair by arranging it in such a way that it would not be an obstacle to her activities,” explains Michel Mesu.

Today, major beauty players continue their scientific developments in this direction. The number of new “anti-aging” treatments or procedures designed to stimulate hair growth multiply on our store shelves, hair salons or esthetician’s offices. Nutritional supplements, mesotherapy or even “microneedling” are enjoying increasing success.

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Less maintenance

However, for practical and economic reasons, short hair has advantages that still appeal to many women. “Until I was 40, 45 years old, I had long hair in the middle of my back, but over time it can quickly be ‘neglected’ if you don’t style it,” 59-year-old Clementine testifies, also considering that she is “not old enough anymore” to keep it long. to wear because it will “age” him. On the other hand, there is no question of going ultra-short for him. “It’s not for me. I tried it and it was a disaster.” Today he wears a square.

Care regimen

As for herself, Lawrence, 48, enforces a muscular regimen to maintain the very long and straight brown hair she’s sported for almost a decade. The program includes two double shampoos a week, followed by a keratin mask and a little serum on the ends before brushing. She also gets Botox hair treatments once a year, and last year started coloring her roots and highlighting her lengths. Her hair care efforts have earned her many new compliments. “Before, I almost didn’t get ready for it when I wore my hair short. Today, whether they are curly or hard, they always have their effect,” he rejoices. And to add that they have become an integral part of his personality. “I don’t feel myself without them. I had in mind Demi Moore’s look in her early forties when she wore maxi hair with very smooth, straight bangs. I dreamed it and I did it. He was the one who broke my ridiculous blockage that made me believe you had to be young to have waist hair,” she admits.

This choice, which Lawrence fully embraces today, however, contradicted what he had been taught in the past; “My mother always said that at 40 you should cut your hair. When I grew up, it was impossible for me to give in to this received idea. Hair length is not a matter of age, but of maintenance. If they are beautiful, healthy and well-groomed, I don’t understand why my age will deprive me of them,” he answers. As for the idea of ​​going back to short hair one day. “Never again! In time I could wear them not so long, but on my shoulders. As long as they remain healthy and therefore beautiful.”

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Hair aging

Many people lack not the desire, but the material. “Women in their 40s and 50s all think of Gisele Bundchen or Elle Macpherson’s long hair. Except that not all of them have thick enough and high-quality hair to be able to wear it as long as they are,” says Natacha Dzikovski, the author of the book. I am the age I want to be (Leduc publications). According to the 50-year-old, who describes himself as a “happy-age activist,” the archetypal short haircut has gained popularity, particularly because it allows him to “give volume to those who don’t have it.” “It’s interesting when you start to have thinner, less vigorous and less dense hair as you age,” notes someone who has experienced it herself.

Indeed, we are all born with our own “hair capital” that wears down over time and affects the appearance of the hair. “You have to accept the fact that your hair ages and loses its strength just like your skin. It evolves over time and follows a life cycle that changes every seven years. Sometimes it can be radical,” explains Hovik Etoyan, founder of Le 14 salon in Paris. While genetics play a big role, “how you treat your hair throughout your life will also affect its condition later on. You can put effort into your routine and your lifestyle to delay this as much as possible, but over time they will weaken, thin and grow less and less quickly. Hence the use of a short cut to “minimize this aspect in terms of lengths,” notes Natacha Dzikowski.

Some clients want to delay the transition to a cropped hairstyle for as long as possible because they feel that once they get there, they fall into the “old lady” category.

Hovik Etoyan, hairstylist and founder of Paris salon Le 14

Take a step

Accepting this reality is not always easy for some. “Some clients want to delay the transition to short hair for as long as possible because they feel that once they get there, they fall into that stigmatizing category of ‘older’ women. They think that they cannot return after that. There is a real traffic jam,” says Hovik Etoyan. “Some people come with a photo of her in her 30s and ask us for the same haircut as then. They know deep down they can’t get the same thing, but they need to hear it from their barber.”

Natacha Dzikovski admits that she has reconciled herself. “I’ve always dreamed of having full hair, with beautiful curls and volume. Obviously, I have the complete opposite, they are thin and smooth. I can’t let them reach my shoulders anymore because they are too tired, faded from fading, and frayed at the ends. However, I’m not going to wear super short hair because I don’t like it either,” she says. As a result, “I have a degraded and structured cut down to the neck. It allows me to maintain length and volume. It is the sum of a number of realistic compromises. I know what I can and cannot do. If one day I want to have Gisele’s hair, I will buy myself a wig. But I like my hair like this, we got used to each other.”

The idea is not to look like a teenager at 50, but to be in tune with yourself in the present moment, to be in tune with your age.

Hovik Etoyan, hairstylist and founder of Paris salon Le 14

Because, after all, it’s not just a matter of age, it’s partly the hairstyle that makes the decision. If you don’t have material to work with, you can’t do much and you have to accept it,” claims Hovik Etoyan. And to finish. “The idea is not to look like a teenager at 50, but to be in tune with yourself in the present moment, to be in tune with your age.”

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