To the roots: The day I cut my hair, did I stop being feminine?

[ad_1]

After spending days searching for photos to show Alex, my longtime stylist, I finally found the one that inspired me to cut my hair. It was Emma Watson, with a pixies very elegant and sophisticated. I saved it on my Blackberry (yes, because it was a long time ago, when I was 16) and the next day I ran to the beauty salon.

For context, the amount of hair she had was enough to make two full wigs (and maybe a sweater for a dog). It was very long. If she smoothed it, it would brush below her navel. She could never let it loose, she always gathered it up in a bun that lacked body and shape. She hated him! I still remember that day: I woke up so excited because I knew that I would finally get rid of my frizzy, frizzy, impossible-to-style curly hair.

There I was: sitting in front of the mirror very sure of my decision, but the first thing Alex did when I showed him the photo of Emma Watson was to open his eyes as big as a telescope fish and ask me more than three times if I was sure to cut it that much. . I said yes and she made me promise that she wouldn’t sue him if I didn’t like the result, since she had already had bad experiences.

Emma Watson with short pixie haircut
Emma Watson’s cut is the one I chose to change my ‘look’. Credit: Gregory Pace/EIB/Shutterstock.

Finally, he got to work: weaved two braids and cut at the nape of the neck. At that moment, my mother shed a couple of tears and the other eight clients (ladies, adolescents and girls) screamed. I, the truth, did not understand why the tension in the environment. Alex finished and I was very happy (I didn’t sue him), although I didn’t lack desire after I ended up with a hairstyle in the style of my grandmother: with a lot of volume, the eighties fringe and 900 layers of spray ––nothing but water from the shower could not undo.

The following days were strange experiences for me. There were discussions among my group of friends, due to separate opinions between women and men. Some of them asked me why I wanted to look like a man, and others said that there was nothing more attractive. My then boyfriend’s mother felt very embarrassed to introduce me to her acquaintances and, in restaurants, the waiters brought me the bill (because the man always pays). And that’s not all, I stopped having suitors and began to be a magnet for women. That says a lot, doesn’t it? That, regardless of the gender we belong to, we always judge others based on social constructions.

The truth is that negative comments never affected me. I didn’t give them much importance either, I just knew that I loved the short hair. However, I also realized that the culture on this side of the hemisphere (in the 21st century) associates long hair with beauty and short hair as a simple act of rebellion, which is unattractive to many. Short hair was exclusive for men and long hair for women. But weren’t Emma Watson and Rihanna style icons at the same time? I have never understood the contradiction of the matter.

Since then, more than 10 years have passed, and I don’t know if I can say that things have changed… A sign of security and trust. Courage. Symbol of resistance and freedom. Beauty and self esteem. Femininity, power. These words are just some of the words that describe what it means to wear short hair today. Do you realize how everything comes from something negative? For example: it’s beauty and self-esteem because it’s rare for a woman to feel that way if she doesn’t have long hair. And why bravery? Because you break with stereotypes. To have short hair is to defy everything and everyone.

Tilda Swinton with short rockabilly haircut
Tilda Swinton has broken all the social rules and wears whatever cut makes her feel like herself. Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock.

It even strikes me that “court tomboy” is a search trend on Google. But it is that, in Spanish, tomboy means tomboy: a woman who supposedly behaves like a man. What people are looking for when typing this term are images of short cuts, with masculine winks, which today have been given a “positive” connotation; those who are worn by women with style and who dare to break the barriers of gender. Ah!, but they have made us believe that a looks This type is not for everyone, it is exclusive to the pretty ones, with finite features. If not, it is not desirable.

For their part, there are those who associate it with a cycle closure, with the need to change the page, with a restart. Although it is valid to do it with that intention, I do not consider it to be the only reason. It is simply a style that you like and that you want to wear, it does not have to have a deep meaning behind it. Perhaps, like me, you simply found it very comfortable to cut your hair and it is also worth it. In the end, there will always be someone who disapproves, but that doesn’t matter.

All this tells us about how much remains to be done. Isabel Allende, acclaimed Chilean writer, would well say that feminism never dies, it only evolves. Let’s give ourselves the opportunity to reflect through our hair who we really are. It doesn’t matter if it’s with short hair or long hair, let’s free ourselves from stereotypes, from rules. Let’s learn that all change begins with ourselves. Negative comments don’t matter, the real you does. Dare to be you!

The post To the roots: The day I cut my hair, did I stop being feminine? appeared first on All Things Hair Mexico.

[ad_2]

Source link