Does your perception of long change?

[Guest]

I know when I first came to the board BRA STRAP seemed so long. Now that I'm there, it just seems like it's average length to me. And anything shoulder length and shorter is short to me. Now WAIST length seems so long. I wonder, if and when I reach that will I feel like that's not thaaat long too?

Any comments on this phenomenon?

 

[inthepink]

Caramela,

I feel this way. Sometimes I'll say I'm going to cut a few inches off my hair and people say "oh that's nothing b/c your hair is so long." But I don't see my hair as "so long." I mean, I know it's long but I don't feel it's any differen than being bra strap. But when I look back and see pictures of myself with bra strap hair, I feel like it looks short. Though when I see bra strap on other people, I feel like it looks so long. Strange, indeed. Is it maybe b/c we see ourselves and our hair everyday that we just adjust to the difference?

 

[Dutchess]

I know I feel the exact same way. A lady told me the other day that she would be ecstatic if her hair was the length of mine. I told her that I was trying for waist length and she thought I should be satisfied having my hair where it is at mid-back. It is strange. It's like when you lose weight, other people can see it but when you look in the mirror, you don't quite see what everyone see's. I think we are harder on ourselves than other people.

 

[Koffie]

Q: Does your perception of long change?
A: Yes, I always get people telling me this, but then I'm like WHATEVER!

Sometimes I think what their really trying to say is "Your hair is long..... For a black girl." Maybe I'm a little self conscious about my hair. I dunno...
Maybe because when I was in high school, this Caucasian girl told me "Your hair is long compared to most of 'em."
I was like "Most of WHO?" She acted as if their was nothing wrong with that statement. O.K. I'm venting now, let me stop!!

 

[Chimma]

Hmm, this has always been my perception:

Short: Shorter than shoulder
Medium: Between shoulder and hair fully at bra-strap
Long: Bra strap and below
Very long: - Waist length and longer

 

[Trinity1]

I agree 100% with Chimma. That has always been my take on hair length.


Tee Tee

 

[lisatamika]

Black people and other people definitely have different ideas of what long hair is. Too black people, my hair is like

and to everybody else it's just

 

[Faith]

I though it was just me being me. When I was relaxed I always wanted bra strap hair because to me it was soooooo long...never got it to that length. Then I chopped it all off and went natural and now bra strap length seemed realllly long to me and I faithfully tried to achieve it. But, funny thing is we human beings can be greedy

well, this time greedy in a a good way

So, after I got to brastrap my eyes started telling my brain..."told you it wasn't so long". You're right Caramela it seems average now and kinda short. So, I'm off to waist length but now I'm thinking will that be good enough for "my eyes"

 

[Nyambura]

[ QUOTE ]
Chimma said:
Hmm, this has always been my perception:

Short: Shorter than shoulder
Medium: Between shoulder and hair fully at bra-strap
Long: Bra strap and below
Very long: - Waist length and longer

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep.

But when I first came to the internet hair boards, I thought shoulder length was long. That seems such a long time ago

... Now I feel if I can just get my hair fully to bra strap...

 

[Supergirl]

Yep,

I remember when I first saw Waiting To Exhale & I was like "Wow, Bernadine's hair is soooooooo long!" Now, my hair is about that length & I'm like "Oh, it's normal length." (I have the video)

 

[Guest]

To me long is a little past your shoulder length and beyond...I know a lot of people who don't have shoulder length hair yet (including myself) and the ones who have hair a little past their shoulders consider it longer lengths of hair. To me, waist length would be TOO LONG...I just want my hair to frame my round face and I will be straight!

 

[Lindy]

[ QUOTE ]
Natori24 said:
To me long is a little past your shoulder length and beyond...To me, waist length would be TOO LONG...

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. I plan to just maintain bra-strap length hair when I get there. I don't really want my hair any longer than that... (Well, maybe slightly below bra-strap!!

)

 

[aqualung]

[ QUOTE ]
Lindy said:
I agree. I plan to just maintain bra-strap length hair when I get there. I don't really want my hair any longer than that... (Well, maybe slightly below bra-strap!!

)

[/ QUOTE ]

DITTO. I'm at that medium stage between shoulder and brastrap. It's like limbo.

 

[skegeesmb]

Yes. To me my hair seems short. It's a few inches (now about 2, 3 at the most) from braclasp. My cousin has about the same length, but since she's shorter it's right at braclasp. I look at her hair and see it as long. I see my hair as short even though we don't have that drastic a difference.

Maybe when my hair is a few inches from my waist I'll think it's long. But I have another year or more to go.

 

[Supergirl]

I used to think that waist length was too long, but now that I am close to my goal--I am considering this waist length thing.

 

[foxybronx]

I thought i was

for feeling like this..my hair length on someone else would probably be long to me..but for some strange reason i don't think my hair is long until i get to my waist.

 

[NAY007]

i feel the same way. whenever i see a woman with long hair i view her differently than i view myself. i do know that my hair is long but somehow it never seems long enough....it always looks longer on other people, although they might have the same length as me...that's weird..

 

[Lucia]

Nay ITA, When I first came tho boards I just wanted BS length then I got "inspired" by everyone and kept changing my goal tjo what it is now. I beleived that I would not get my long hair back and for a while I didn't so I guess thinkning something is acheivable is just as important as doing the actual work towards a goal-positivity is the key ladies-play on.

 

[bellydancer]

I feel exactly the same way.

 

[CICI24]

I know what you mean. 2 years and 9 months ago I cut my relaxed hair off and went natural. I had 1/4 to 1/2 inch of hair. I was too embarrased to wear my hair that short in public. I kept telling myself I would wear it out after it got to shoulder length. Now that I am 2 to 3 inches past my shoulders I still don't feel that my hair is long enough to wear out in public, I'm going to wait until I'm bra strap length. My ultimate goal is waist length.

 

[buffyangelfan2]

My perception has definately changed. I saw a girl at my job today that had long, pressed hair past bra strap. I got so jealous. And the stupid thing is, my hair is probably longer then hers!!!! I just started thinking that my hair really isn't as long as I thought it was. And now I have it in my mind that I need to get to waist length in order for it to truly be long. I feel that my hair has to be longer then everybody elses. And on the rare occasions that I go to the salon and get my hair pressed, my beautician tells me how long it is and I look at the length dissatisfied. I just don't see my hair the way she does. In my mind, it's only at an average length and I keep pushing to get it longer. It's like a disease.

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
buffyangelfan2 said:
In my mind, it's only at an average length and I keep pushing to get it longer. It's like a disease.

[/ QUOTE ]

Average length for most is above shoulder length..alot of people can't grow their hair past that-that's why alot of people use weaves. In the past, I used to think that people who had hair longer than shoulder length had a "special gene"-meaning that it ran in their family...but I am slowly changing that perception.

 

[LiqueXX]

I too used to think that shoulder length was long. I now think that shoulder length is short and bra strap and beyond is long. I am also noticing alot of black women with 4 type hair having bra strap hair (or longer), it is really inspiring. My hair is a little past shoulder length and I want to grow my hair to at least bra strap. I now think that that is a realistic goal.

 

[alibi]

The grass is always greener on the other side. I think I will always see other people's hair as longer than mine, even if it's the same length. It's just like my brother's height: he's 6'7, but I've been around him all my life, and he's been that height since high school. I'll see someone that'sike 6'3-6'4, and be like DAYUMM, he's tall!!! And my brother's like WTF?!?!

But's it's all just a matter of perception!

 

[prettyblac]

LADIES BRA-STRAP IS LONG HAIR TO ME! BUT I CAN SAY NOW THAT I'M ALMOST THERE THAT I BELIEVE I CAN ACHIEVE WAIST LENGTH WHICH IS A FAR CRY FROM MY HUMBLE BEGINNINGS BEFORE I WOULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT I COULD REACH THAT GOAL NOW I KNOW I CAN BUT I'M GOING TO GROW BENEATH THE BRA STRAP AND I'M DONE ANYTHING AFTER THAT POINT IS GRAVY! PEACE AND KEEP GROWIN'

 

[firecracker]

Past Bra strap is long to me. Waist length is great if you can do your own hair. I just hate that hair is so time consuming and frustrating at times. Just venting!! I don't want to get pissed and scalp myself again!!! lol

 

[divanrare4m]

It's funny how my perception of length has changed since coming to the board. As someone else stated, around shoulder length is short to me. My hair has always been somewhere around shoulder length. Right now my hair is the longest it's ever been and it's just a few inches past shoulder, which now to me is still short compared to bra strap and beyond.

 

[MissM]

I thought I was the only one with this "disease". My hair really doesn't seem that long to me either. Funny, there are people who would kill to have longer hair and here I am wishing it were like three inches longer. Then that would seem long to me.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Chimma said:
Hmm, this has always been my perception:

Short: Shorter than shoulder
Medium: Between shoulder and hair fully at bra-strap
Long: Bra strap and below
Very long: - Waist length and longer

[/ QUOTE ]

ditto.

 

[Karonica]

Bra-strap was and still is long to me. Unfortunately, when my hair reaches bra-strap, I won't feel that it is long because the sides of my hair are inches shorter. Perhaps when they fully reach my shoulders, and the back of my hair is past bra-strap, then I'll change my mind.