Are women with long hair taken less seriously?

Example of what I mean by long hair.

I had an interesting conversation last night with a 25-year-old chick in the working world. She used to have hair like me (like the picture above), but one day, she looked around the office and realized that no one else had hair like her. She felt that her hairstyle was making her look like she was 18.

She went on to say that when you have a career and long hair, up to a certain age, you just look too young because of it, and beyond that age, you look like you’re trying to look younger than you are. She also said that if she had a supervisor with long hair, it would be difficult to take her seriously.

She was not implying that you had to go totally short, but instead, implying that something like this is more appropriate for a woman with a career.

This kind of depressed me, as I love my long locks and was anticipating having them for many years to come. But of course, I would never want to look foolish or inappropriate.

What do you think?
– What would you consider the maximum age it is appropriate to have the type of long hair pictured above in the first link?
– Do you feel that women with long hair like that are taken less seriously in the working world?