Topic: Hair Items
I had an interesting experience this week and since I'm not quite sure what I think of it, I thought I'd share it with my readers.
I have insanely kinky, natural hair that I flat iron straight once a week. When I come out of the shower its an afro - I roller set it wet, let it air dry then spend ages to flat iron it to shoulder length. To do this over and over again would not only be 1) damaging but also 2) time consuming. Note: Before you email “well why don't you just rock your afro?!” A lot of people look beautiful with afros – I am not among them. That's it. Don't read something into it that's not there. So to preserve the flat ironing, I usually just pull my hair back in a bun and go about my way until the next straightening session seven days later. Have I set the scene for ya?
Ok, so the other day I meet a dear friend of mine out for breakfast and I wear my hair totally down. Remember, this is an odd thing for me – I'm always seen with a pony tail, bun or Heidi buns (think lowly goatherd Heidi, not Heidi Klum Heidi). So this guy walks right past me, turns around and freaks out. He goes on and on about how good I look and blah, blah, blah. At the moment, it was an awesome ego stroke but then – at least in my head – it took another turn. Dude keeps talking and talking and talking about how I should always wear my hair down and then tries to touch my hair (at this point you should have figured that we're of different ethnic backgrounds). I'm a little weirded out, but let it go. I mean whatever right?
WELL – that same day, I meet another friend for lunch. Same spiel: “why don't you wear your hair down all the time...you look so good this way...” Really? What was I before? Some cave dwelling troll or something? Nothing else had changed, I always wear my (dare I say fabulous) makeup, I'm regularly in jeans and a tshirt – the only difference was the hair. I asked him point blank, “is it [hair] that big of a deal for guys” and tell me point blank, “yes.”
I have known both of these men forever and know them to be good, decent human beings. So what just happened? Was it an issue of shallowness or American ideals of beauty? Could it simply have been that my hair was just different and I should take compliments at face value? Curious indeed. Thoughts?
