Thoughts: Is Curly Hair A Feminist Statement?
info curlisto • September 29, 2016
As women, we are often judged immediately based on our outer appearance. This could be applied to men too of course but (for once) we are not talking about that. Women are of course judged for many things: our bodies, our pliability, our dress. However, what we are going to discuss here is the judgement directed toward women’s hair.
Women’s hair. An innocuous subject to discuss of course, but here we are. What judgement befalls a woman with wild, unruly locks? What befalls her tame, fine haired counterpart?
Let’s of course preface this by saying that if you have a normal, level headed mature man at home with you, he probably doesn’t give a f*** what your hair looks like. He’s too busy thinking about his Android or his job or your pretty face or the next episode of South Park. But then there are men (AHEM Donald Trump) who go about their days judging everybody but themselves. And who better to direct these judgements toward but the closest woman in their vicinity?
But, I digress. The truth is, women with straight hair are, unfortunately preferred by the general American population to those with curly hair. Why is that? Because it is perceived to be less “ethnic”? Perhaps you just appear neater with straight hair. Less, “eccentric”.
So, what does that mean for us “curlies”? When you are preparing yourself for a business luncheon, an interview, an important date, do you find yourself reaching for the flattening iron, the gel, the blow dryer? What does it say to everyone if you opt out?
That is the question. Is curly hair inherently feminist? No, not exactly. The feminist statement comes from a woman’s refusal to conform. It is more that the constant attention paid to a woman’s appearance in general is strongly misogynistic. A woman will be who she is regardless of what she looks like, so where does this judgement come from?
Moreover, the question I want to leave off with- (did you really think all would be answered in a blog post on a salon website? Please) -is this: Why, in 2016, are women judged more for what grows out of their head, than what goes on inside of it?
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