Throughout the latter and then the first couple years of my high school and college experience, I daily received comments from acquaintances and strangers alike that I looked like Taylor Swift. My mom and I went to one of her concerts my freshman year of college and young girls were asking to take photos with me simply because I resembled her. Yes, I’m from Texas, but no, I do not live in floral dresses and cowboy boots (even though I secretly really like those outfits). My face doesn’t resemble hers in any fashion. And yes, I sing and play guitar, but I sounds absolutely nothing like her. Truth be told, it was all about the hair. It wasn’t quite as long as hers, but it reached my bust, is blond and is naturally curly. I was neither offended nor flattered by these observations; it was just how my hair looked.
About a year ago, I was going through a transition period and I just really wanted to make some changes in my life, involving my surroundings, the contents of my room, the people I spent my time with and the way I looked as well. I had been told this was the time to take chances, so I just went for it. I was really attached to my hair, and seeing as it was one of the only things people ever commented on about me, I felt that my level of attractiveness was totally tied up in it.
In all my pink hair glory.
Having sworn until then that I would never chop off my hair, I had a sudden desire to take the plunge. I’ve had the same hair dresser since I was twelve years old, and she didn’t want to do anything too drastic. To compromise, she cut my hair off to my shoulders. It was such a rush to watch my identity float to the floor. After a few days, the rush disintegrated and I wanted even more. Seriously going out of my comfort zone, I went to hair stylist in the town where I attend college and asked her to cut even more off. She then asked about color, if I wanted to add a streak of pink, blue or some other wild shade. So I went for it. I got a streak of pink in my hair that was more vibrant than I was expecting. And let me just say that this was before this was a huge trend.
Before the cut.
Okay, so this post isn’t really about what getting my hair cut off was like for me, but about something I wasn’t expecting at all: People actually started treating me differently and it was extremely obvious. First of all, I noticed a huge difference in the kind of guys that approached me. No longer were frat bros cat-calling me, and no longer were people using cheesy pick-up lines on me. Part of me wondered: Has this made me uglier? But then I realized it wasn’t that I wasn’t getting hit on by as many people, it was that the people who were actually hitting on me were completely different than the type of men I usually attracted.
One of my favorite women blogged about how men were intimidated by women who were willing to venture outside the “classic American beauty ideal”. She thought that this meant only certain types of men would approach you. I’m not really sure what my stance on this is. All I can say for sure is that there was a definite change.
Lovelies, what do you think about this trend of women chopping their locks? Have any of you had similar experiences to mine, or have you not noticed a change? And if you have, what do you think is the cause behind it?
rose / 802 posts
I shaved mine on a whim in college: http://www.suburbansweetheart.com/2011/05/time-i-shaved-my-head.html
The experience of being a bald woman without a terminal illness taught me so much about society – & myself. I promised I’d never date anyone who would’ve been appalled by my bald head, & I stand by it, seven years later.
guest
I think if a woman wants to rock a short hair cut, she should most definitely do! Audrey Hepburn, Halle Berry, Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Charlize Theron, and Ginnifer Goodwin are a few famous ladies I thought looked great with short hair.
It makes me sad to know that some people regard women with short hair to have something wrong with them. Some people make assumptions about them–and they are judged unfairly. To me, when I see a woman with short hair–I just see that. A woman with short hair.
The good thing about is short hair is, you can grow it out if you want to!
tulip / 16 posts
@babybug329@xanga - I totally agree. My mom was always urging me to take chances with my hair since it always comes back. It’s been so fun to try different things on. And it’s super rewarding to step outside of your comfort zone.
guest
It is so amazing how different you are treated when you change something about your appearance. Even just wearing glasses out brings a whole different type of people trying to chat me up. It’s interesting, really.
guest
I had mine cut to about an inch/inch and a half, but I’ve always had it varying. It was different shades of green from middle school to high school, then varying shades of red in college, and then green again when I got my first job. After that, I went through blacks and reds.
It’s longer now and I recently had it fire engine red and purple, but the color has faded to orange, which is okay with me. I’ve never really noticed what the opposite sex thought about my hair. I went to schools where everyone knew each other (very small), and I live in a small town. Most people who know me know the hair’s just part of the package.
guest
I was a classic american dream. Long wavy brown hair down past my bra strap then…
I chopped it to this
guest
Whenever someone posts a private blog in a public forum about themselves with pictures, and pretends it’s about anyone but themselves, I get irritated.
I recently got about 7″ of hair cut off. My boyfriend loves it and it looks much better on me. I don’t see much more significance to it than that.
guest
only those with heart shaped long slim faces like Audrey Hepburn or Natalie Portman can pull off short hair well and still look feminine and cute. The wider/rounder/more masculine your face is the more you’ll look like a lesbian or alternative rocker (not a bad thing if that’s the look you’re going for).
And yeah it’s obvious people will treat you differently, but I doubt men who don’t approach you because of short hair are intimidated lol (that’s a good feminist theory) it’s more likely that they don’t like the look or just not into you.
guest
I once had short hair, but I didn’t notice any obvious difference in the way people treated me. I just remember one guy saying “I prefer long hair.” At the time I thought he was rude for saying that but now I have to agree with him. Simply because I realized short hair isn’t as low maintenance for my hair type as I thought it would be, and I’m all about low maintenance. I do like it on other people though.
The weird thing is though that I do notice people treating me differently when I wear glasses. It’s funny how we all like to think we are not so superficial as to treat other people based on looks, but we all do anyways to some extent.
magnolia / 1054 posts
I cut off my hair for the Navy…it was kinda nice to see my hair grow
guest
I don’t get the obsession with it. It’s obviously just a trend inspired by people like Anne Hathaway and Natalie Portman – 99% of these women would do it if these celebrities hadn’t done it first, and frankly, it doesn’t suit most of them.
guest
I’d always heard that men didn’t like short hair, but you should have heard what they said to me when I had a pixie for years. They loved it. I loved it. Then I got one bad haircut after another overseas and let it grow out.
guest
Cute cut! You should have donated it too. I buzzed my hair off a year ago and yeah, the men who approach you change–for the better, I think! (:
guest
Meh, I’m not a fan of short hair on me. I can’t be lazy and pull it back into a pony tail or something, I have to manipulate it a lot with hairspray or heat tools and then I’m so busy damaging it just trying to get it to look good that I can’t even grow it long.
Plus I feel like you are a lot more limited when it comes to hairstyles. My friend had short hair and she couldn’t curl it without looking like a grandma with a poodle-do.
hydrangea / 59 posts
that is interesting that you seemed to attract different types after the cut, but I suppose it makes sense! bros are probably more likely to steer clear of harder targets- not that there is anything wrong with long haired conventional looking women in the least- I just imagine that an seemingly unconventional look on a woman would indicate that you are thoughtful and independent, thus less likely an easy target for idiotic bro harassment.
this became more of a rant about bros than a comment on hairstyles, sorry! I don’t wear mine particularly short, but I do dye it black. I have certainly noticed a difference in the types of people that approach me since the change
guest
Aw I liked this post. You were very pretty with long locks and you are very pretty with short locks as well. I will be chopping my hair off to a very short length soon (it’s shoulder blade length now). I’m still researching the exact shape and length I want it to be though, and when I decided that I have to find the right person to cut it.