Medium Length Hairstyles. What Is The Definition?

A lot of hair myths exist involved "medium" length hair.or hairstyle.  Really, what is the true definition of medium length hair versus very short, short, long and ultra long? 

Even more confusing is the fact that what hairdressers define as medium length hair or styles is not what hair consumers might define as medium. 

I know this for a fact because I have spent the past 10 years adding thousands of hairstyles to the HairBoutique.com Galleries and have sat and starred at in-between hairstyles for hours trying to figure out...is it really medium or is it short or even long?  Even hairdressers don't necessarily agree with each other over what is the definition of medium length hairstyles.

What do I do in the HairBoutique.com Gallery when I can't decide?  I select short AND medium if it could be either or I select medium and long. 

If you surf through the myriad of useless "supposedly" medium hairstyle sites on the web you will see what I mean.  Most of the sites throw up random photos without any thought to what really is medium.  At one site I saw photos that were labeled as "medium" hairstyles that were below the shoulder and way about the ear.  This could mean that they are only displaying photos to get advertising rather than to help provide serious guidelines. I call these types of trashy sites "hairstyle spam websites" because they are a waste of time and mouse clicks. 

One of the "so called" hairstyle sites defined medium hair as "between short and long".  OK.  Well not very helpful but better than showing images of people wearing hair way below their shoulders.  Don't get me started on all the copycat hairstyle sites that don't offer even valid hairstyle images that could even remotely be considered "medium".  UGH.

Most hair consumers believe the definition of medium length hair is hair that extends from the roots to either right below the end of the earlobe to the top of the chin.  This definition depends on the texture of the hair as well.  Hair that is thick or full of curls and/or waves may be considered a medium length hairstyle when it extends slightly below the chin but does not touch the shoulders.

Hairdressers may or may not agree with the above definition.  Although there is no rule of thumb, many hairdressers would consider medium length hairstyles to extend even to the top of the shoulders. 

The point to all this chatter?  When in doubt about the definition of medium length when dealing with hairdressers always take several photos of hairstyles you wish to have them copy and don't worry about putting the long, medium or short label to the photos.  What one hair consumer or hairdresser defines as medium may not jive at all with what you believe.

What do you think is the best definition of medium lenght hairstyles?