Why do women cut their hair off?

[AJoifulNoise]

I always wound up cutting my hair because I needed a change in my life. I would get super restless and needed to do something, anything to change. So, I'd lop off inches of hair.

[Islandgrrl]

I cut because I couldn't figure out how to take care of my hair within the context of my very, very active lifestyle. Oh, if I'd only had LHC back then I'd probably be to ankle by now!

[thunderlilies]

When I was little I wanted to look like a friend of mine (who'd recently gotten her hair cut) so I begged my mom to cut it short too. It eventually grew back down to waist length (around 13) and I decided to cut it again because I felt like it was drawing way too much attention. A few years later when it was again quite long (around 16), I cut it because I simply wanted it short. At age 18 I got it chopped - out of rebellion - and I looked like a boy after - lol. Now, my husband won't let me cut it :P And so far so good

[akurah]

Once, when I was a child, waist length to shoulder length. I don't recall why, possibly because I didn't know how to take care of it.

Another time (Age 13 or so) was a super short boyish cut (above ears) because I wanted to embrace my tomboyness and I thought it was cute.

More recently, about 5 years ago, I cut off all my black dyed hair out of anger and frusteration because my boyfriend at the time was being an absolute jerk. I went from BSL to about shoulder length. I didn't regret that cut, amazingly, mostly because I didn't go shorter than shoulder AND because it got the black dye out.

And even more recently, about 2 or 3 years ago, I cut my hair to my chin due to bleach damage--I couldn't untangle my hair and even when I did, it tangled right back up almost instantly. I DID regret that cut and I wish I had attempted babying it first before doing such a chop. I was somewhere between BSL and APL pre-chop. This was also pre-LHC, if I had found this place, I may have attempted to deep treatment and slowly trim off the hair as it grew out until the damage was gone.

Since then, I've never cut off more than an inch at a time. My hair is BSL at its longest points and right smack between APL and BSL at its shortest (I have a V shaped hemline, though at my last trim the lady made it more U shaped than V shaped despite my instructions. C'est la vie).

[CurlyNinja]

Most of the times I've cut my hair it's because I just needed/wanted to do something different. Not too much else to it. Everyone needs a change now and then.

[Suldrun]

I had it cut and colored becasue I was bored with it and wanted to try something new. I loved it. then i had it cut shorted to get rid of the blonde partially because I became chemically sensative but also because the upkeep was hard.

I started growing long out of laziness to be honest. I also had long thin scaggly hair when I was younger lol now that I know better it is looking thicker and less scraggle Now I want to see what my terminal length is mostly out of curiosity. I did want longer hair when I was younger but it always broke off due to harsh treatment but its not a huge deal for me I don't regret anything or feel bad about it. I just didn't know any better.

[Meli]

I have had fairly long hair almost all my life. I spent most of my childhood between APL and BSL, with two exceptions:
When I was 6 years old I wanted to have a boy's cut. I can't remember why, not to save my life, but I was pretty much a tomboy so it could have something to do with that... I was allowed to cut it and as far as I can remember I was happy with it.
My second chop was when I was 11. I had grown out my bangs and cut it to shoulder length to even it up with my former bangs. This was by the way my last professional haircut - I have only trimmed since then, mostly myself. I was happy with this haircut too, but I remeber it felt very weird with that "short" hair. In my adult life, I have never had shorter than waistlength and would never cut it shorter.

[Anlbe]

Why do men cut their hair? Nearly all of us trim or style in some way, I think alot of the time we just do what we think looks nicest.

Saying that I have observed that often of the people I know who have cut their hair short from long are those who during their childhood were forced to have long hair by their parents, and that conversely those who during adulthood maintain long hair were forced to have short hair as children. I think most people want to see what they look like with both short and long hair at some point in their lives.

[Shypii90]

Why did I cut my hair. Let's see.

When I was 15 (2005) I was into the whole flat-iron, hair-dye, filling my hair with all sorts of gunk to make it straight and spiky thing. I didn't mind trimming it off a bit every few months, but after over half a year I realised how the straightening chemical never worked on my natural 3a hair, and how my hair felt damaged and horrible.

I cut it off because I wanted to get rid of the damage, and grow it out afresh, with my natural texture to see what I'd look like with longer hair. That and my mum took my school rules seriously and said if I don't cut my hair I won't be allowed to school (even though before cutting, my hair was 4 inches long). A month later I wore a long-haired wig for a Halloween party (October 2005) and I got so many compliments that it suits me and a lot of strangers thought it was real, that I decided to grow it out long-long like never before :P

Until I was 15 my hair was either crew-cut shaved, or grown-out-for-2-months-after-crew-cut. I grew out the straightening chemical when I was 15, but horrible hairdressers said if I want to grow it out I have to put the straightening chemical in it or it won't grow nicely. So i gave in, and the "Curly ends" were chopped off. Then I just didn't feel like any more hair-cutting. I left my hair for about 5 months, but didn't know anything about caring for hair. Sure enough in the end, everyone was bugging me to cut my 'horrible afro', so that I can get a job and won't feel so hot in the summer. That and I had about 2-3 inches of split, bent ends. *shudder*. I was 16 by now, and went to the same hairdresser of the last straightening chemical. I told her to cut off like half of my hair, to a slightly shorter style. She kinda went crazy with the razors and I walked out with shaved hair. I was so angry.

AT the time on the internet it said "if you grow out your hair you must trim it every 4 months", so changing my hairdresser, I started trimming it every 4 months, even though I didn't need it. When I told them "I'm growing it", they assumed I wanted my hair one length when I wanted to grow it out from shaved, with natural layers. After about 9 months I realised my hair looked like a bob, and I was really annoyed. Change hairdresser again. I got the bob-look removed and back to even layers how I wanted it. By now I was 17, but was still quite oblivious as to how to take care of hair. A few weeks later, I found a job (at McDonalds), who were super harsh and said if I don't cut my hair I can't work with them. I needed the money too badly so I just said "screw it" and cut it off.
2 months later I quit because my hair grew an inch and they said "OK time to cut it again!" and I was too pissed off at the job to give in.

I've been growing my hair since. Since I didn't know about LHC or any hair-support sites, I still thought the "4-month trim" was necessary. So in November 2007 I got it trimmed slightly. The hairdresser "thinned" my hair out because it's really thick and curly lol. Anyway. But I haven't been to a hairdresser since. And I get a lot of comments to cut my hair and look normal from both family and "friends" or I won't get a job and I'll remain poor and suffer.

I don't care. I don't want to listen.
They can shave their hair all they want. But let me be.
I have a lot of arguments with ignorant people because of my hair.
And if I don't find a job, then it's not my problem. Why should I have to change my appearance according to how strangers want it? Haha. Good one. No f***ing way

So I'm never going to hairdressers ever again!
I hope to master S&D missions when my hair is long enough to pull it to the front from the back. But until then, scissors are staying well away from my hair!

Sorry for the super-annoyingly long post lol. Just thought I'd give my history. I'm amused women cut their hair short thinking it will solve problems and such. It explains why a lot of female friends I have who are growing out their hair suddenly "want a change" and end up bleaching all their ends, or putting extremely strong straightening chemicals in their hair. How horrible.

[Wind Dragon]

I think some whack it off because they're unhappy about a situation and feel like changing their appearance to something new and fresh will improve their outlook. Others seem to cut their hair after they've changed a situation they're unhappy about (often dumping the good-for-nothing boyfriend), as though they're symbolically purging themselves of that period in their lives.

It probably looked like one of those things when I cut my waist-length hair into a pixie after my first marriage strangled itself to death, but while the cut went along with a fresh new outlook and a purge of much that was unhealthy in my life, I did not then and do not now consider it to have been either causative or symbolic. I kept it that way (or close to it, usually let it get way too shaggy before I trimmed it again) for about eight years and loved it.

Lots of people who cut for reasons like this seem to regret it, though I'm sure there are plenty of folks who don't, too. I also suspect that it's for people who cut for these reasons that other women rave about how much they love the new hairstyle. They figure the cut-ee needs all the encouragement they can get at this stage.

Maybe it's just me, but if I rave about a woman's new short do, it's because it looks awesome on her (or because she feels awesome in it, which amounts to pretty much the same thing.) Unless they look less than thrilled about it, I tend to assume that if someone's cut their hair, it's because they wanted it cut.