at what point would you SAY SOMEONE HAS LONG HAIR?

[cecilie]

Bra strap lenght

 

[TLC1020]

Voted APL.. APL front and back is long to me..
However, BSL on me I would say that is long

 

[Ms Lala]

BSL in the hairboard world.
APL in real life, even when I got to purchase wigs, the ones that are around APL and longer are classified as long so I would say this is long

 

[Caramela]

Before I reached APL, APL was long. Before I reached BSB, BSB was long. Before I reached MBL, MBL was long... WL seems long to me now that I'm striving for it. Once I hit WL... who knows, girl?

 

[lovenharmony]

I voted for BSL as but I believe anything below APL will look long on me since I'm a shortie doo wop

 

[ladybug71]

APL is definitely long hair to me.

 

[Solitude]

Honestly, I think anyone with healthy hair at or past full SL has long hair. That was my opinion before I joined this board and it will continue to be.

 

[Lanea87]

Since my hair is like a tad bit past SL. I would say APL is long to me.....Thats just me!

 

[chebaby]

it depends on how long their neck is. because on some people apl looks sooooooo long and on others not so long. but if the hair is really thick then sl can look long too. so im going to say between sl and apl. although my goal is mbl.

 

[sexyeyes3616]

Ok I change my answer. At first I though APL was long hair but now that my hair is about .5 inch away from APL, APL doesn't seem long to me. So I'm going to say BSL is long hair.

 

[BrooklynBeauty]

i consider beyond midback to be long...but that's just me

 

[anon123]

Just because a group of people believe something doesn't make it right or true.

Reality is, shoulder length hair isn't long, despite the fact that so many black people have convinced themselves that it is.

But gradable adjectives like "long", "short", "big", "small", "short", "fat", etc. are notoriously subjective and context-dependent. So for these things I generally wouldn't say that there even is a "true" short or long. It's going to have to be evaluated in context of those around you. Like that particular group of Chinese women who all grow very long hair traditionally (wish I could remember the group) might think anything shorter than wl is short and I'm not going to say that is flat out "false" so much as I'd say for my surroundings and upbringing it's not true.

eta: see, guess i shoulda read before writing, kels had already said it:

I don't think it's necessarily that the standard should be lowered. But 90% is the majority. So that 10% is usually something special that you aren't used to seeing. Whether the potential is there or not.

Our perception is determined by our reality. If my reality is that I'm surrounded by tall people, then someone who is 6'3 isn't really that tall in my perception. But if my reality is that I'm surrounded by short people, 6'3 is a friggin giant.

Hope this made sense.

but yeah, sl is short, apl medium, bsl is long. generally. the fuller the cut, the longer i consider it (because it is, right, the sides have to be actually longer to get a blunt cut vs. a v). But this is for straight hair. even though i do the "pull the hair thing", my hair always feels short because it is natural and the 99.999% of the time that i'm not pulling on my hair it is around shoulder length or higher. my hair gets bigger or smaller more than it gets longer or shorter, haha.

 

[JessCNU]

I would say full shoulder length..... but hey, my hair is short

 

[CHECKMATE!]

BSL with full ends

 

[Chrissmiss]

Right now the persons hair has to be as long or longer than mine for me to consider it long. I chose bra-strap. As my hair gets longer that will probably change to mid-back.

 

[Christina Dior]

apl.... but healthy SL would also be long to me also how it sits on the persons head

 

[thaidreams]

Let's all remember that our answers are our opinions, and we're all entitled to them.

IMO Long is relative. On lhcf an average of the women have apl hair. So on lhcf bsl would be the standard for long.

IRL an average of aa women will have sl hair. So, irl long to me is anything that is a thick, even, healthy apl. Two strands touching apl does not count.

I'd have to agree with the above in bold. When I see a girl with healthy APL hair I think Wow, she has long hair. This board was setup so that we could reach beyond the standard lengths, but you in our everyday lives most of us do not see women with BSL hair or longer that is not a weave. Hopefully this will change one day.

 

[Kalani]

Right now the persons hair has to be as long or longer than mine for me to consider it long. I chose bra-strap. As my hair gets longer that will probably change to mid-back.

Thats how I am. I used to consider bra-strap length long but now that I'm approaching bra-strap it somehow doesn't seem as long anymore so I now I consider mid-back long.

 

[Tinkerbell19]

ok - I may get stoned for this.

But with all of the challenges we face with our hair between relaxing, blowfrying, dying, and flat ironing all in one day( just kiddin), reaching anything below the shoulder is a freaking milestone.

with other races of women when I see armpit, I may not think her hair is long because it is so common to see women of other races with longer hair. Although with our hair it is becoming more common to see longer lengths after years of the halle berry phase. It's like:

white woman: armpit- ok she may have cut it.
black woman armpit- ok she grew it.

ya know what i mean? I mean it's all perspective.

not everyday you see an african american woman with armpit hair and you think she cut it from waistlength.

In my opinion armpit is considered long for our hair.

By the way I have heard many times that my hair was long and it's not quite armpit yet.

ok stone me. lol

I totally agree with you! Well said!

 

[yuriko]

I think the average non LHCF black girl. Full shoulder length hair is considered long

 

[babs19]

before i knew about this forum and BHM i would have said apl but now i voted BSL

 

[Encore]

to me healthy blunt APL. I believe the thickness and bluntness also reflect on the beauty of the hair not just the overall length, ive seen some ladies scraping BSL with jagged see through ends but to me its not long....now if i see a blunt thick APL...thats where the credit goes
IMO

 

[NYAmicas]

It's crazy but I see ladies with APL and even SL and get a little jealous even though my hair is longer-it's like I dont realize it.
Before I thought APL, and it is an admirable length to get to but now Im heading towards MBL and I now think that sets the bar.

 

[vestaluv1]

Its weird because, before LHCF, I always had shoulder length and to other black girls, my hair was long... I used to get the, "is that your real hair?".
My mum who is now neck length says I always had long hair... erplexed... WHAT?
My boyfriend and his friends think my hair is long too.
Up to now, I still don't think my hair is long, and I'm around APL.

I think I wiill consider MY hair long when I reach BSL.

However, sometimes APL can look long on some people, regardless off race (especially if they are all or have a long neck/back).

 

[**SaSSy**]

Oh short women (under 5'5) I think anything past APL is long, on average to tall women I think anything past BSL and over is long.

 

[chicacanella]

I was thinking before this site that BSL was long, because even with my bad hair practices I reached APL effortlessly. But now I am BSL and I know that my hair is long but I still don't know or really think it is. It's very thick and I only can realize it is long when it is in a pony tail. I guess I won't consider my hair long until the shortest layer is MBL and the rest is WL. I want to get to full WL though.

Now, my shortest layer is between sl and APl. I don't think I want any layers until everyone of them has grown out.

 

[ImFree27]

I voted bra strap length

 

[dinaaike]

I think anything exceeding twice the length of someone's face is long. That's when it really starts to LOOK long...to me, anyway.

 

[glamazon386]

[/B]

I agree with you... I'm 5'9", I think that APL is long on me.

It's gonna be long on me too looking from the back of the head. That's why I'll be stopping there.

 

[cuteazz1]

I voted for armpit length.Full APL is long to me..But I am more interested in seeing healthy hair at all lengths.I love seeing healthy ends and shiny,healthy hair.