Soccer Mom "Do"

[sanfen]

What exactly is a soccer mom haircut? I've tried looking it up but couldn't find it. :confused: Thanks!

[Wish]

I'm not so sure myself, but I thought this was kind of amusing :)
Soccer-Mom Haircut. Noun. Hair style frequently adopted by white, suburban mothers, characterized by shorter locks that are quick and easy to style. Frequently worn by SUV-driving Republican moms who can be seen in large retail stores yelling at their children and breaking copies of Grand Theft Auto.

[HairFaerie]

To me, in the area that I live in, what we refer to the "soccer mom do" is an inverted bob, like Victoria Beckham. If you Google, inverted bob, pics of that come come.

In other areas of the country/world, it might be something else, but here - that's what it is.

[luxepiggy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/popwrap/item_C0duUe8DO8AAbUvfy6IBRO

Courtesy of the NYP (^(oo)^)

http://www.stylelist.com/2010/05/17/mom-hair/

. . . and StyleList!

[sanfen]

Those were funny responses and went straight to the point! LOL Thanks for the chuckles. I was disappointed that the "mom jeans" video had been taken down. I am pretty sure that my zippers aren't 9 inches long and the legs are definitely not tapered.

I am also glad that I am well on my way to APL and nowhere near "soccer mom" length.

I do have to say that my son was never into soccer and he is 19, so it looks like I don't qualify anyway. In addition to the fact that I am not a Republican nor do I drive a SUV. :cheese: And I don't yell at my son. :)

[Jenn of Pence]

I thought StyleList kinda started off dissing natural, "unstyled" or unkempt hair, but I think I just misinterpreted its point because it ended with saying the natural look is "in" and one can rock a "messy" style with gusto, and who can blame a busy mom for a messy bun if they at least try a little bit? They also point out that women shouldn't necessarily cut their long hair when they have a child since it can definitely be harder to keep shorter hair than long and since kids will pull hair, long or short.
So maybe one definition of "mom hair" could be any cut a woman does that is child motivated. :)

[christi.adell]

Ugh I think I'm heading into "soccer mom" hair territory. I think of the mom haircut as from chin to shoulder length style hair, usually all one length. It's a horrible place to be (to me!) and that's why I haven't had long hair in ages. Since I get to this stage and can't stand the soccer mom-ness of it and hack it off!

[sanfen]

Ugh I think I'm heading into "soccer mom" hair territory. I think of the mom haircut as from chin to shoulder length style hair, usually all one length. It's a horrible place to be (to me!) and that's why I haven't had long hair in ages. Since I get to this stage and can't stand the soccer mom-ness of it and hack it off!

@Christi - I guess I started from a soccer mom cut as I haven't had my hair cut since Dec '09. I can't remember the exact length (had a reeeealllly rough year) Just take good care of it & ignore it!

[purplebubba]

I haven't read the links so I don't know what they say but it seems like whatever the current shorter than a ponytail look is being copied at a given time is called soccer mom. When I first started hearing / reading the words Soccer Mom Do it was around the time that women were all getting the about chin length to neck length style with layers that pointed away from the face. Recently the angled bobs were all over. Whatever comes next will be too.

[pepperminttea]

I generally think of "mom hair" as one of three haircuts; the chin length bob, a heavily layered barely-shoulder cut, or the Kate Gosselin 'reverse mullet'. They're what I see the most on mothers locally, but some of the grandmothers rock updos. :D

[Melisande]

Wow, I'm a bit shocked about the snarkiness directed at moms in those articles (I read the thing about the jeans, too). So the moment you are a mom you are a ridiculous, frumpy matron? It seems to me this a US thing because I know no German equivalent for these expressions. "Muttchen" is outdated.

I know it's all not meant so seriously but I find the amounts of drive-bys from women towards other women disturbing.

[Lamb]

Wow, I'm a bit shocked about the snarkiness directed at moms in those articles (I read the thing about the jeans, too). So the moment you are a mom you are a ridiculous, frumpy matron? It seems to me this a US thing because I know no German equivalent for these expressions. "Muttchen" is outdated.

I know it's all not meant so seriously but I find the amounts of drive-bys from women towards other women disturbing.

Thank you.

To the OP: "soccer mom do" is whatever hair that other woman you want to put down and ridicule is sporting. Period.

(general "you", of course)

[sally_neuf]

Really? I don't quite understand.. I mean, my mom uses a shoulder length bob :confused: .. it looks great on her. So, because she is a mom (Mine, in fact) and wears short hair, now she is some walking cliche? :(

PS: This is not directed toward any particular, just to.. society I guess, and how quickly it builds hurtful labels

[Juneii]

Really? I don't quite understand.. I mean, my mom uses a shoulder length bob :confused: .. it looks great on her. So, because she is a mom (Mine, in fact) and wears short hair, now she is some walking cliche? :(

PS: This is not directed toward any particular, just to.. society I guess, and how quickly it builds hurtful labels

Some women look great with the "soccer mom" hairstyle. It's just that we see a lot of mothers with the chin to shoulder length hair that requires a lot of styling to look perfect. And they don't style it or do anything with it so it doesn't look nice.
I've come to realize that just because your hair looks great coming out of a salon does not mean it will look great when you try to style it. It tends to look worse than if you just had a simple cut.

[sanfen]

I didn't mean to start anything negative here. When I had my hair short, I liked it a lot and thought I looked fine. I also think that many women who choose to wear their hair in a short style look great.

When I asked the question, it was only because I'd seen the expression and truly thought it was a specific haircut (or "do.")

The last thing I wanted to do is insult anyone. :(

[Cowgirl16]

I know it's all not meant so seriously but I find the amounts of drive-bys from women towards other women disturbing.

I agree with what other posters are saying.

[Cowgirl16]

I didn't mean to start anything negative here. When I had my hair short, I liked it a lot and thought I looked fine. I also think that many women who choose to wear their hair in a short style look great.

When I asked the question, it was only because I'd seen the expression and truly thought it was a specific haircut (or "do.")

The last thing I wanted to do is insult anyone. :(

You were not insulting in any way.

[spidermom]

When I hear "soccer mom cut", I picture a very busy woman driving children around, wearing a short and easy to care for style; shoulder length or shorter with layers; wash and wear hair. And there's nothing wrong with that! I wore short hair with young children. All I had to do to style it was rake gelled fingers through from front to back; good to go!

[sally_neuf]

I didn't mean to start anything negative here. When I had my hair short, I liked it a lot and thought I looked fine. I also think that many women who choose to wear their hair in a short style look great.

When I asked the question, it was only because I'd seen the expression and truly thought it was a specific haircut (or "do.")

The last thing I wanted to do is insult anyone. :(
Oh no! You were not insulting, :blossom: I didn't know either what was a soccer mom do.
As for the rest, I am assuming is a term that can be used as a way to describe a hair cut, which is fine, but I'm guessing that there are some other people who use it as an insult (like with everything :nono:)

As for you ladies, I'm more than sure that none of us would use it as an insult, because who could feel the pain of having unmanageable hair more than we? :p

[hela]

I remember my very first post in TLHC... I was considering getting a baby friendly haircut, out of my kid's reach. Now I know the concept has a name! :D Many of my friends went for that do with motherhood and look great in it, but I'm glad I discarded the idea, after all.

[prosperina]

I didn't think this thread was nasty at all--it was sort of a what do people mean when they say x? And yes, soccer mom can have bad connotations (for me it doesn't). Part of understanding the definition is knowing that it is *often* meant negatively. I don't think anyone was being snarky, even if some of the posted links were indeed snarky.

[x0h_bother]

I like this one http://soccertrainingtips.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/soccer-mom.jpg :)

[Bonkers57]

Ironically, the last time my hair was even close to being long (about APL) was from the time my son was born until he was about two. I found that a simple ponytail worked for me - and NO dangly earrings!

I'm glad it worked for you, too!


I remember my very first post in TLHC... I was considering getting a baby friendly haircut, out of my kid's reach. Now I know the concept has a name! :D Many of my friends went for that do with motherhood and look great in it, but I'm glad I discarded the idea, after all.

[WaitingSoLong]

I think the soccer mom term definitely has negative connotations in my neck of the woods. It is meant to define a woman who is "past prime" or "ruined" by mothergood and is no longer sexy. I think it broders on derrogatory. I have been "accused" of being such before. Too bad it is that way.

I cut my hair back when I was 22 and about to deliver my 3rd child. I cut from waist to above chin (long in front, almost shaved in back). My goal was to have easier hair to care for out of baby's reach. Of course that was way before LHC and the only updo I knew was a ponytail and that was long enough to get in baby's face when changing diapers so I cut it. I hated it. Honestly, it is one of the reasons I have my hair long now because I look back at those pics...

But that is ME. I, personally, cannot sport long hair (no pun intended, now back to the subject...) and shorter hair, IMO, is harder to care for than longer hair. I hate bed head!

To say a mommy this or mommy that has always been said with a note of "un-sexy" because apparently having children makes you ugly??? Or un-cool or whatever the term is these days. SIGH.

And I have no idea what a soccer mom do is before this thread, thanks for the education. I have heard the term but never thought to ask.

[bumblebums]

I remember my very first post in TLHC... I was considering getting a baby friendly haircut, out of my kid's reach. Now I know the concept has a name! :D Many of my friends went for that do with motherhood and look great in it, but I'm glad I discarded the idea, after all.

Hmm, totally off-topic, but I wonder if this isn't a possible explanation for why the people of the book insist on married women covering their hair. It's actually practical as it keeps your hair out of the reach of your kid's hands. I am sure I am not the first to have this brilliant insight...

[Melisande]

Just to make that clear: I didn't mean that anybody on this thread was snarky! But most of what was written outside of LHC about soccer mom hair and jeans was pretty snarky.

Sorry if I didn't formulate that clearly enough.

[Lamb]

Hmm, totally off-topic, but I wonder if this isn't a possible explanation for why the people of the book insist on married women covering their hair. It's actually practical as it keeps your hair out of the reach of your kid's hands. I am sure I am not the first to have this brilliant insight...

It's not just married women who cover their hair in several Christian groups, and unmarried Muslim women wear hijabs, too. :shrug:
Covering the hair can be practical or hygienic for a number of reasons even if you do not have kids: dust, wind, animals around the house, etc. etc.

[Nae]

Wow, I'm a bit shocked about the snarkiness directed at moms in those articles (I read the thing about the jeans, too). So the moment you are a mom you are a ridiculous, frumpy matron? It seems to me this a US thing because I know no German equivalent for these expressions. "Muttchen" is outdated.

I know it's all not meant so seriously but I find the amounts of drive-bys from women towards other women disturbing.

Well, just so you know men are not immune, not even the president. Obama got so much ridiculous flak for wearing "dad jeans" that I was embarrassed for the press. I mean seriously? http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/07/15/president-barack-obama-all-star-game-pitch/
Or http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/mr-obama-please-lose-dad-jeans

I will agree that most of these sorts of comments seem to be lobbed at women and it is pretty sad that saying you are a mom or dad is the same, in some circles, as saying you are no longer stylish.

I am from the same neck of the woods as WaitingSoLong and I can definately agree that these comments are pretty negative.

Let me reassure the OP and everyone else in the thread that this is just a general statement about society and it is not about this thread in particular. ;)

[lapushka]

I get where the name comes from, why people call a certain hairstyle that's being worn by lots of moms a soccer mom do, but how in the world did that word end up having a negative connotation? Where does all the negativity come from?

[Jemoiselle]

I've used that term before, on these boards actually, and to me it means the current hair trend all the clique Mommies are getting all at once hehe. I am a Momma, and noticed the phenomenon myself with the a-line bob thing this past year or two in the town I lived in.
I wasn't a part of the "in" super mom crowd lol because I had long hair without highlights and color and other reasons of course, and contrary to what I hear it means to others, if you didn't have a "soccer mom do" in this town, you were NOT trendy! It seems this term means different things to so many, but to little Clovis NM lol, if you were a soccer mom you still had it. How funny, all the variations! I never felt it was a negative term until I read this thread ;)

[bumblebums]

It's not just married women who cover their hair in several Christian groups, and unmarried Muslim women wear hijabs, too. :shrug:
Covering the hair can be practical or hygienic for a number of reasons even if you do not have kids: dust, wind, animals around the house, etc. etc.

Yes, I know. But the original custom was for married women to cover their hair. That is how it is practiced in conservative older Christian traditions (e.g., Eastern Orthodox) and in Judaism. The custom has been extended and modified in various ways by other branches of the Old World monotheistic tradition. Not news to anyone :)

My point was a bit of a joke, actually, but thanks for the lesson.

[sedonia]

Wow, I'm a bit shocked about the snarkiness directed at moms in those articles (I read the thing about the jeans, too). So the moment you are a mom you are a ridiculous, frumpy matron?

I do not think the "soccer mom hair" concept is about labeling all mothers as frumpy/ugly/unsexy. I think, rather, it is meant to be a label for those that have *chosen* to be exactly that.

I do not go around making fun of people's hair cuts or snarking, but yes, I do recognize (just in my own head) that there are alot of women who completely give up their identity as sexy, attractive individuals when they get older and/or have children. To me, a soccer mom hair cut is an unfeminine, unflattering haircut a women chooses to get because she believes all the hype that a woman older than x (fill in arbitrary age) must cut her hair.

[trolleypup]

I do not think the "soccer mom hair" concept is about labeling all mothers as frumpy/ugly/unsexy. I think, rather, it is meant to be a label for those that have *chosen* to be exactly that.

I do not go around making fun of people's hair cuts or snarking, but yes, I do recognize (just in my own head) that there are alot of women who completely give up their identity as sexy, attractive individuals when they get older and/or have children. To me, a soccer mom hair cut is an unfeminine, unflattering haircut a women chooses to get because she believes all the hype that a woman older than x (fill in arbitrary age) must cut her hair.
It seems to be used both ways.

Cut for convention, cut for convenience, get labeled either way.

And...often it is not just the haircut, there are a number of things that gets that label applied, just like the converse gets that other label applied.

[WaitingSoLong]

Ok, what is snarking? LOL I have never heard this term before this thread. DO I have my head in a hole or what?

I am guessing mby context it is laughing at others expense? Behind their back?

[Bonkers57]

You're right. It's like being catty.


Ok, what is snarking? LOL I have never heard this term before this thread. DO I have my head in a hole or what?

I am guessing mby context it is laughing at others expense? Behind their back?