Hairy impressions

I embrace curly hair. Okay, so I don't trek around and start hugging people's heads, but I admire kinks and curls. I kinda have to, what with walking around town looking like a lion ate my scalp. Maybe it's silly to have to take so long to accept the kind of dead skin cells that sprout from my head, but technically, curls went out of style at about the same time Michael Jackson stopped looking like a person. Thus, I've tried to flatten my hair into submission, wasting a precious hour that could be used, y'know, helping the homeless--or sleeping. Priorities, people. I've gotten some weird first impressions from others when I leave my hair alone. Seems a little like typecasting to me, but when I leave the 'fro look, I'm a hippie. When I battle with the hair straightener, I'm a Paris Hilton wannabe. If I dyed my hair neon colors would I be Pink? If I put meat on my head, would I be Lady Gaga? We're the only species that casts judgment because of how malicious your hairdresser was feeling that day. I'm sure we wouldn't be so quick to judge a dog's character if he sported a few curls. If anything, we'd be back to blaming the humans.

Obviously these owners aren't thinking straight...in more ways than one

 

 

 

  So is this scalp-burning piece of machinery worth the people pleasing effects? Maybe I do tend to feel better about myself after trying to deny genetics, but that could be responding to society's expectations rather than my own aesthetic appeal. When presenting the idea of chemically conditioning my hair to be straight, my dad demanded why. Without a hint of hesitation, my sixteen year old self would claim it's because I thought it looked better. My stepmother brought up the important reasoning that it's the code of youth. And while, at the time, I was furious that someone suggested I couldn't possibly think for myself, it turns out, she was right. I did get the odd sensation that I was setting my head on fire to fit in. I was sacrificing my own hair's health for the code of youth...and throwing away a couple hundred dollars that should have been used on freaking makeup textbooks. My life.

So the whole chemical procedure of "curing" my hair? Been there, done that. Gotten horrid split ends because of it. Yet I still can't be rest assured that it's never okay to be vain. I mean, obviously I know my self worth has nothing to do if I'm pulling a Blake Lively or Mariah Carey that day, but for some reason, my self confidence goes up when it looks like there's a bunch of straw coming out of my head. So perhaps the style itself isn't appealing, but everyone knows confidence is sexy as hell. (Since when has this expression ever made sense? Is hell sexy?) And hey, I can always use that hour to catch up on episodes of Heroes. It's a win-win situation.

Maybe I still have some growing up to do, and when I grow old, I can wear a shitload of purple and never straighten my hair and all will be right with the world. But as of now, if I'm feeling the need for an added confidence boost, I shall no longer wallow in a box of chocolate. I'm not about to base all my actions on which thing would look cuter, but I'm not afraid to admit to a "vanity day" every once in a while. Even if hippie hair can be pretty damn sweet on days when I'm just not caring.

Namaste.

In case y'all were wondering...and b/c today is one of those days where I get happier than I should about posting pics of myself (hah! I admit it!):

hippie hair...

The "girl who used to have free time" look

Would you judge someone's personality from their hair? Does that give any indication of how they might act?