WHY should I cut my hair?

I'm a 59 year old woman. I have hair that has no gray and is a little past my shoulders. Been trying to get it to grow for years, but it just doesn't. So several people recently asked me when I was going to cut my hair, because I am a women over 40. Who the hell makes these rules for women? I have my nose pierced, 25 tattoos, and I dress very trendy and act like I'm 25. Why do people expect us to get a certain age and start wearing polyester clothes, cut our hair, start hitting the seniors hangouts to play bingo? I don't get it. Do similar rules apply to middle aged men? Are there unwritten rules that they are expected to follow when they hit 40?
So I am interested in hearing from people to get your take on whether they believe women should cut their hair and dress a certain way after 40 ? I personally think it's stupid to expect that of us, but that's just my opinion.

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ninalanyon · 61-69, T

Don't do it! My wife was made to cut her hair when she was a young teenager but it was so slow growing that she almost never needed to even trim it for the next fifty years. It was something she regretted all her life.

Dress how you want to dress, have long or short hair as you like! There are no rules, just people who don't like to stand out of the crowd and think that no one else should either.

Two people whose sense of style I admire are Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Vivienne Westwood: "When in doubt dress up".

Here's Helen Mirren at 78

And Vivienne Westwood, at about 80 I think

I spent a lot of my life blending in but eventually decided to get more colourful and everyone likes it as far as I can tell. It is said that one should grow old gracefully; I'm going to grow old disgracefully!

Dressed for my COVID jab last week, I'm 67:

Mardrae · F

@ninalanyon you go!! You looked awesome for your jab!! I love that outfit! And I have admired those two women too!

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Mardrae Thank you. Going out to a flea market tomorrow so I'll have to spend a while deciding what to wear. It's getting cold here so thicker tights might be in order.